Carolyn Prunkl

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Parents are always saying they would move heaven and earth to help their children. Well, in the case of Carolyn Prunkl, her parents literally moved their whole lives from Decatur, Ill. to Tuscaloosa so she could attend The University of Alabama’s RISE Program, the nationally renowned early intervention program for preschoolers with disabilities.

Carolyn, who was born with Down syndrome, was among the 17 graduating from the RISE program, Thursday, July 29 at Stallings Center on the UA campus. And she was not the only one who moved for RISE, another 4 of the graduates also moved to Tuscaloosa to have their children attend RISE.

According to Dr. Martha Cook, RISE director, the program has helped prepare more than 2,000 children, both disabled and non-disabled, for public school classes during the past 30 years. In 1999, RISE received accreditation from The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC); a prestigious recognition only achieved by 7 percent of early childhood programs nationwide.

The RISE program, located in the Stallings Center, named for former UA head football coach Gene Stallings, looks like any other daycare center, except further provisions have been made to address the children's specific disabilities. Classrooms, from infant to preschool, have been set up with age-appropriate toys, and each is staffed with a master's level teacher and their aides.

Each class follows a curriculum for their age level. Speech, physical, occupational and other therapists are brought to the Stallings Center, so the children have all their treatment in the same place. Students without disabilities attend RISE, creating a true mainstream environment.

While RISE aids in the development of disabled children, RISE is also used as a hands-on training facility for UA students majoring in early childhood education, communicative disorders, nursing and social work.

The 2004 RISE graduates are: Max Bassett, J.T. Chambers, Alyson Joyce Clardy, Landon Stuart Clark, Jennifer Alexis Duff, Jeremy Keith Elliott, Olivia Read Green, Gray Woodard McDaniel, Michael Kolby Mihal, Zachary Lyle Petruccelli, Lucas Ryan Phillips, Carolyn Prunkl, Frances Winslett Richardson, Kaitlynn Mallory Sparks, Kylee Joy Stapp, Lillian Ruth Woolf.

For more information on the RISE program, contact Dr. Cook at 205/348-7931.