Sarah Durham, Molly’s mom, said Molly has been faith-based since she was very young, so being able to send her to St. Jude School, her alma mater, is a real blessing. Molly is part of the school’s inclusion program, which means that special student needs are met in the classroom.

Molly Hibler, St. Jude principal, said students in the program may require specialized instruction such as assistance from an interventional specialist, a speech therapist, hearing specialist, physical therapist or occupational therapist. All the students have an individualized education plan, known as an IEP.

Sarah was working at the school as an occupational therapist when Molly was ready to attend kindergarten. Her older daughter Gia was already a student, so she asked if Molly could enroll at St. Jude, since the school already had a small inclusion program.

“We tested her and decided to give it a try,” Hibler said, noting Molly was the first child in a wheelchair to attend St. Jude. The inclusion program has grown since Molly’s enrollment. “The other students really embrace her. They want to help her.”

Hibler said the school made a few changes to accommodate Molly’s wheelchair, including adapting a restroom for her use and adding exterior ramps to access the building.

“(Molly’s) our reason for thinking outside of the box,” said Jennifer Rowe, dean of student services at St. Jude. She calls the school “a hidden gem on the west side.” Sixty of the school’s 552 students have some type of disability. As an inclusion school, their needs are met in the classroom where they are mainstreamed with the rest of the students. Jennifer said parents from more than a dozen school districts have sought out St. Jude for its inclusion program.

“There is so much joy in this school,” Sarah said. “You walk down the hall, and everyone says ‘Hi’ to you. Everybody knows everybody. I think that’s the Holy Spirit working for us in our daughter’s life by giving her opportunities to grow, to build skills and to see that she is important in this world.”

She said Molly was born prematurely at 29 weeks gestation, weighing 3 pounds, 1 ounce, and spent six weeks in the newborn intensive care unit at Cleveland Clinic Fairview Hospital. As a newborn, she had a brain bleed, which Sarah said was difficult for the family to deal with. “But I had complete faith in the NICU staff.”

The Durhams learned soon after her birth that Molly, their second child, had cerebral palsy, a permanent, lifelong condition. As a result, she has experienced muscle tightness, muscle weakness and fine motor and gross motor difficulties, making it hard to do many things. She’s also had some challenges with her speech and sensory sensitivities, Sarah said. Molly tires easily and walking is difficult, so she usually uses a motorized wheelchair. Sometimes, she uses a gait trainer (similar to a walker), and they have a smaller, manual wheelchair she may use for activities or family trips to places like Cedar Point.

“The power wheelchair was a game-changer,” Sarah said, noting it provided Molly with more independence. “It really opened up her world and gave her more confidence. She loves it. She’s met new people, and her confidence has grown.”

Despite her challenges, Sarah said they are very lucky because overall, Molly’s health is good.

Sarah is contracted with Mercy Hospital in Lorain to work three days a week as an occupational therapist at St. Jude. She also works at the hospital’s cancer unit and supervises occupational therapists for other schools. Her training and experience are helpful in dealing with Molly’s challenges.

The Durhams — and the St. Jude community — treat Molly like any other 12-year-old, but they make accommodations for her disabilities.

At school, she has an intervention specialist to help her in class. Molly also has physical, speech and occupational therapy sessions.

She participates in choir, drama club and Special Olympics at St. Jude and was a cheerleader for the Jaguars. She attends the North Pointe Ballet program and has appeared in their holiday performances of “The Nutcracker.” She will be a Pink Lady in St. Jude’s production of “Grease Junior” in March. Last year, she had a role in “Shrek Junior.” (See “Shrek” photo at lower right.)

Some of her school activities overlap with those of her sisters, Gia, 14, an eighth grader, and Annie, 10, a fourth grader.

During a recent school Mass, Molly was beaming while singing with the student choir.

“I love to sing,” she said. “It makes me feel good and I want to do it every day. I feel good when I sing because it helps me.” When she feels tired, Molly said she takes a break. “But I feel joyful because I love singing about Jesus.”

The Durhams attend Sunday Mass at St. Mary Parish in Elyria with Sarah’s family. Gia and Annie are altar servers, and Molly embraced a new ministry as a greeter. “She loves to talk to people, so we decided to try it,” Sarah said.

She enjoys being with her friends at school. “They help me a lot,” she said.

Sarah said Molly uses voice to text for some of her schoolwork and to communicate with her friends. “We are so fortunate she was born when she was, because she can take advantage of the technology.”

“Our teachers embrace the (inclusion) program and the students. This is a real collaboration, and I think Jesus would want this,” Jennifer said. Students in the inclusion program want to be like their peers, she said, including Molly. Being in the same classroom, riding the same bus and having the opportunity to participate in the same activities is “huge because people see beyond what they can physically see many times in a disability,” Jennifer said.

“It’s been wonderful having a place for us to be able to send our child that has a Catholic education, is so wonderful with inclusion and accepts all of Molly’s many needs,” Sarah said, adding “It’s wonderful for her to be with her peers, to be like her sisters and to do what they do. We’ve pushed through all the limits and really tried to include her in everything that we can.”

Molly said she loves St. Jude School, noting she feels God’s love “every single day, every single minute, and every single hour.”

“I think this is a great example of being like Jesus. We’re accepting all, we’re really making changes in how we teach, how we interact, and everything based on what every student needs, not just what we want people to do and to be like,” Sarah said.