DISABLED KIDS GET A CHRISTMAS PARTY.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
This is how special Patty Ives Ives , Charles Edward 1874-1954. American composer whose works anticipated those of later 20th-century musicians in their abandonment of conventional tonality. His Third Symphony (1904-1911) won a Pulitzer Prize. Noun 1. is over at Leichman High in Reseda. When she walks through the doors of this school for the developmentally delayed, Christmas officially starts, says Principal Leslie Zarate-Wise. I've heard a lot of lofty praise for some pretty incredible people over the years, but it doesn't get much better than someone saying Christmas starts the day you walk in the door. For the last 11 years, Ives and a few of her friends have been throwing a special Christmas party for the Leichman kids and teachers over at Fallbrook Mall food court. When you're in charge of a school where the kids basically have been isolated by most of society, where kids feel like no one in the community really cares about them, you count your blessings when people like Ives walk through your door, Zarate-Wise says. This is the only real party these kids ever get invited to, the principal says - at least where they're not an afterthought af·ter·thought n. An idea, response, or explanation that occurs to one after an event or decision. afterthought Noun 1. . ``The difference is she comes to us,'' Zarate-Wise said. ``Normally, we have to go to people and say, please, include us, remember us, we're out here, and our kids want to be invited, too. ``It's so important because the hardest thing to teach these kids is hope,'' she said, ``hope that they'll be accepted like other kids. This party makes our kids feel normal and special, part of the community, not apart from it. ``To Patty, we're not an afterthought. We're the main guest list.'' And that's why when this West Hills woman walks in the front door at Leichman every year with her party invitations, Zarate-Wise turns to her staff and tells them to get out the decorations and start playing carols. Christmas is here. She still remembers the little girl's smile - even now, more than a decade later. It lit up the Fallbrook Mall gift shop where Patty Ives was working. ``That year there were eight kids from Leichman visiting the mall with a teacher,'' Ives recalled Monday while she stacked Stacked is an American television sitcom that premiered on Fox on April 13, 2005. On May 18, 2006, Stacked was cancelled, leaving five episodes unaired in the United States. The last episode aired on January 11, 2006. some of the more than 200 presents she has bought for children at Leichman this year. ``One little boy walked up to me and said, `You know, today's her birthday' and pointed to a little girl. I bought one of the teddy bears teddy bear cuddly commodity named after President Theodore Roosevelt. [Am. Hist.: Frank, 46] See : Cuteness in the shop and handed it to the girl. ``Her smile absolutely melted melt v. melt·ed, melt·ing, melts v.intr. 1. To be changed from a solid to a liquid state especially by the application of heat. 2. my heart, and she gave me a hug,'' Ives said. ``I fell in love with all those kids that day - and have been in love with them ever since.'' Ives soon met Hank hank n. 1. A coil or loop. 2. Nautical A ring on a stay attached to the head of a jib or staysail. 3. A looped bundle, as of yarn. Hensen Hen·sen , (Christian Andreas) Viktor 1835-1924. German physiologist noted for his research in embryology and his studies of the sense organs. and his Hole-in-the-Wall gang of retirees who sit in the mall's food court most mornings, drinking coffee and holding court on life. ``We'd see the teachers come into the mall with the kids, trying to teach and assimilate as·sim·i·late v. 1. To consume and incorporate nutrients into the body after digestion. 2. To transform food into living tissue by the process of anabolism. them into everyday society, and we just sort of adopted them,'' Hensen said Monday. When Hensen asked Ives if she'd be interested in helping them put on a Christmas party for the kids, she said count her in. ``You know, every year the teachers come up and thank us for doing so much for these kids, but in reality it's them doing so much for us,'' Hensen said. Ives agrees. As far as she's concerned, the guest list for this Christmas party, Dec. 14 at Fallbrook Mall, is strictly VIP. There are no afterthoughts on the guest list. ``I wish everyone could see their faces when these kids come back from the party,'' says teacher Marilyn Zeff. ``They're so excited, showing everyone in the office the presents they got and talking about who was there. ``Many of these kids are in foster homes or group care, and they don't get invited to many parties.'' ``Sometimes, there's no Christmas celebration at all, except here at school and the Fallbrook Mall party. So, yes, it means an awful lot to them.'' It means a real-life lesson in the toughest thing teachers like Zeff try to teach these wonderful kids. Hope. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Patty Ives packs a pickup Pickup A gain in yield made by selling one bond and buying another. Also referred to as "yield pickup." Notes: When the present yield is relatively low compared to the longer-term yields, pickups will be done by investors trying to increase the yield and duration of their truck with gifts she'll give developmentally disabled kids at their Christmas party Dec. 14. Michael Owen
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