A Young Boy with a Giant Heart

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A Young Boy with a Giant Heart

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The story is about a young boy with a giant heart.  His name is Sonny.  Sonny is a second grader at Trinity Lutheran School.  He attended kindergarten at another school but was met with poor academic success and frustration.  His mother decided that he would repeat kindergarten when he transferred to Trinity Lutheran School in Tinley Park.

At the beginning of the year Sonny’s teacher closely monitored his academic progress, and referred him to Arlene Lapsansky, Trinity’s LSEM teacher/consultant, to figure out the Sonny’s learning puzzle.  Arlene quickly discovered that Sonny was an articulate boy with an extensive use of vocabulary and background knowledge.  He could actively participate in class discussions about science and/or social studies topics, but having trouble learning letter sounds and learning to read basic sight words even after much review.

During the course of the year and the following years Sonny worked on the Lexia Core 5 Reading program which he loves.  He often sings and dances to all the opening music.  Sonny enjoys going to different parts of the world.   He also works on recalling letter sounds and reading basic sight words.  Slowly he was showing progress. This year he mastered all the second-grade words and even third grade words which made him so proud. He would see Mrs. Lapsansky in the hall and stop her to tell her that he was not the last one to finish his phonics worksheets.  What a transformation for a child that was diagnosed with a learning disability in reading in first grade!

Thank God that He gives us strengths.  One day, I noticed Sonny outside at recess, and with the care of a grandfather Sonny showed a younger student how to kick a football.  He demonstrated the actions and then molded the younger boy’s body so he could kick the ball and not get hurt.  He double checked that the younger student understood. He made adjustments to the boy’s actions as they played.  That day Sonny could have played with any of his friends, yet he chose to teach a primary student how to play football with the skill of a professional. Sonny is definitely an inspiration for all of us.