Satchian’s Story

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Satchian’s Story

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— written by Katie Peters, LSEM teacher —

Satchian is a ninth-grade student at Lutheran High School in Springfield, IL, and is part of our LSEM program. This is actually Satchian’s first year attending school. Prior to his freshman year, he had been homeschooled for three years.

Satchian was adopted from a third world country around the age of 12. He was brought to the United States by his wonderful mother Kristen Fergusen and instantly became a part of their beautiful family. Satchian was born with a severe cleft pallet that made it very difficult for him to eat much of anything except soup. When he was brought home by Kristen she immediately had it fixed so that he could be better nourished and thrive. If asked, every single member of that family including Satchian would say that God brought Satchian into their lives because they were all meant to be together.

Kristen and their entire family worked diligently to teach Satchian to read, write, develop math skills and speak English correctly. At the freshman year mark, Kristen decided that it was time for Satchian to attend traditional school. She chose Lutheran High School because two of her other children were attending there as well, one as a freshman. Satchian was overwhelmed at first but felt more comfortable going to school with his siblings and he developed great friendships right away.

Satchian works very hard every day maintaining his grades. There are times where he struggles in certain areas but he never stops trying and neither does his entire support system, including LSEM. When benchmarked, Satchian tested at the fifth grade level. This itself is a miracle with his few years of education, but for him to be thriving in the high school setting is an even greater miracle.

Satchian is an amazing young man who will go on to do great things. It is a rare thing to have a story with a perfect ending and it’s been a blessing to get to interact with this entire family and witness the love they have for each other. Their faith and perseverance is truly amazing.