This booklet was provided to myself the end of the school year. I made the choice to hold my daughter back because she had such a wonderful academic growth year with the combination of teacher/aide/parent and students. The teacher embraced my plan to keep Kaitlyn totally included even though many thought fourth graders were at an age that Kaitlyn may not be accepted as she had in the past and the year could be miserable for all..... please read what her peers wrote ....
What we learned from Kaitlyn Pringle
With love,
Mrs. Stamps Fourth Grade Class 2005-2006
Katie has helped me learn that people with Down syndrome are just as cool as me. I did not think she was a capable as me but she is pretty cool. She has taught me do not judge a book by it’s cover. That’s because in the inside she is actually really cool.
By Richard H.
Dear Kaitlyn,
I learned people with Down syndrome aren’t different. Their abilities don’t work like everyone. But that doesn’t mean they can’t learn or become a normal person. When she likes something she gets happy and laughs.
By Gregorio
Dear Katie,
You have improved over the year. I think that Katie is very intelligent for a girl who has Down Syndrome. I have taught her not to take someone’s food even if he offers her his or her food. I learned from Katie how girls with Down syndrome act/ I hope that Katie does really good next year.
By: Casey
Katie helped me by learning that even though she looks different on the outside she is still a regular person on the inside. But at first I did not really like her but now that it’s almost the end of 4th grade she is really not different. She was just trying to learn from what we did but sometimes she copied us when we did something bad.
From your friend
By: nick
I learned many things from Katie P. I have also taught her stuff. I helped by getting her to her bus on time, I also helped by reading with her in reading class. I taught her not to throw food in the cafeteria.
First, I helped Katie get her bus on time, She rides 989 she almost always rides the bus. She always asks me if I can take her to her bus.
Second, I helped her by reading with her in reading, We did a skit and she read with us. She didn’t read the real story She just said words.
Third, I taught her not to throw food in the cafeteria. She threw food a;; the time. We told Mrs. Rowe. She stopped.
I think being in Katie’s class helped me get to know her better.
By: Sabrina
Kaitlyn taught me that there are millions and billions of people on the earth. We are all the same. You should not single people out and say that they are different. We are all just people
By: Matthew S.
I’ve learned from Katie so many things but I think the most important thing is patience., I have learned that it takes patience to teach Katie something and ever since I met her I have done half the yelling at my younger sister. With my sister it takes so much patience to teach her something new. I am really happy I have met Katie.
By: Amber
I learned from Katie that people with Down syndrome are not different. At the beginning of the year I thought she was not a cool person. But now I think differently Just because she is different, nobody needs to treat her differently. She is just a human being like us.
By; Pascual
Katie helped me understand that people with Down Syndrome are like us in their own way.
By: Ellis
Dear Katie,
I want to tell you about all I learned from you. At the first day of school I thought I was cool and I used to say “Get away from me”. But now I understand that you are a normal person like me. I certainly hope you learned something from me because I learned a lot of stuff from you.
LOVE
By: Cristian
Katie has taught me by making me realized that no matter how different she is she is still a very nice person. I think Mrs. P (her mom) was very thoughtful to let Katie be in around regular kids. Even though Katie is different she is still a human being so you have to be kind and treat her with respect. One time I helped her by finding her bus on the chalkboard. (She even thanked me once)
By:Blasia
I learned from Katie that people with Down syndrome are not different from us. Katie is a good friend. She likes to hug people. She likes to be with her friends. I also learned from Katie to be patient with my friends and family. And to not yell at my brothers
By: Desiree S
Dear Katie,
You have learned something and we did too. You taught me not to move from seat to seat. I also helped you with lots of things, like finding a book. I also helped with your stuff at the end of the day.
LOVE
By: Julia
Dear Katie,
You are a great girl. Please stay the same forever. Remember when Julia and I helped you walk faster and go faster in the bathroom? You are like us but slower. No matter what, I’m your friend.
LOVE
By:Ariel
Dear Katie,
We had good times. We had a good time in Kindergarten. You are a really good friend to me. We taught you how to be good, and you listened. I hope we have a good time on the last day of school. I learned from Katie that she has the same ability as me.
LOVE
By Michael
Dear Kaitlyn,
Thank you for teaching me to be nice to people. You made me realize over the 4 years that you are sweet. You are kind and I’m going to miss you. See you around.
Your Friend
By Alexie T.P.
Katie taught me she may be different but she is the same as us. Like sometimes, she walks slowly and leaves a gap in line. Sometimes she takes too much home. And sometimes she runs in the hallway. And every once in awhile she copies me.
Katie taught me she was the same as every one else but it just takes a while for her to learn. Like once she was doing the same thing as us it took her awhile for her to learn it.
Katie taught me not to treat people with Down syndrome any differently. Like at the beginning of the year I stayed far away from Katie. But now I know her better so I am fine and she is great. She is not different at all.
By: Elijah B
Katie has taught me things over the course of the year. She has taught me patience. She has taught me she is different. She has taught me she isn’t something to be afraid of. She has taught me she is slower at some things than others. But she is still special
By: Kevin A.
Dear Katie,
You are the greatest friend. You have learned a lot of stuff when you came to the class. Do you remember when I took you to the bus? And I helped you catch up in line. All the enjoyable things I do for you are because you are the finest friend. The first day I saw you, I thought you were different than us. Now I know that you are just like us.
By: Tania
At the beginning of the year. I didn’t like Katie because she looked different. But then I found out that she has DOWN SYNDROME. It’s when your brain forms differently than normal kids’ brain. It is hard to understand her, so you have to listen carefully.
What I learned from Katie is that kids with DOWN SYNDROME have it hard. So you have to make sure you are nice to kids with DOWN SYNDROME. But it is nice having her in the class.
By; Brooke P.
Kaitlyn taught me how people with Down syndrome are like regular people. But she needs help but to remember not to ignore her. She is a nice person and she might give you a hug in line. She might even slow down the line a little bit, but that’s OK because that’s her thing, So not push her she is like us.
YOUR FRIEND
By: Daniel
Dear Katie and Mrs. P (her mom)
The thing I learned from Katie is even though she has Down syndrome she is like everyone else. She can do what she can do it just takes longer for her to learn these things. There’s other things that I didn’t understand like why she looks so different? Anther thing is, why is she happy and smiling all the time? But I understand not that this is the way she is and that I have to accept and get to know her.
There’s another thing that she taught me and everyone else is that we have to be patient with her. And that what we do she is going to do and we have to show her good examples. What if we started acting mean to people and disrespectful in front of her? She is going to do it too and then we have to teach her all over again about these things and set better examples. If we don’t she is going to do it when she is older and if we baby her she is not going to learn how not to do things.
Katie taught us a lot and she taught me that just because she looks different doesn’t mean she is that different. Everyone is different and looks different in a lot of ways.
So I wanted to say thank you Mrs. P for bringing Katie to our class. I had a great time with her and matured a lot because of her. I love Katie, She’s so sweet. I wish she could be in my class next year.
Thank you Mrs. P and you Katie
LOVE
By: Manushka G
Katie has Down syndrome. But she has taught us a lot. The thing O learned is that people with Down syndrome aren’t that bad, but of course she has times when there’s a gap in the line or times when she hugs. In the beginning she did every single day. Now it slowed down. I will miss Katie but she is in a good place.
By: Katelyn D.
Dear Katie,
Over the year I learned that if you have Down syndrome that you are not different from anybody else. I enjoyed you this year!
YOUR FRIEND
By Shannon
My response:
Dear Mrs. Stamp and her Honorable fourth grade class of 2005-2006,
I want to tell you all how much I appreciate your insight in the book you put together for Katie and I to cherish forever. I read it with tears of joy when she first came home and again as I read it to her grandparents and family friends.
I would like you all to know what this has taught me.
Your acceptance of Kaitlyn makes my dreams for her within reach, my goals for Kaitlyn reasonable and the expectations of her real.
I could have never asked for a more perfect group of mature students for Kaitlyn to spend her fourth grade year with. She too learned more from all of you, more than you will know.
Thank you and know you are all welcome to call Kaitlyn just to say Hi and remind her of all the things you shared in 2005-2006 at Skyline in Mrs. Stamp’s Fourth Grade Class.
With all my love,
Mrs. Pringle
Kaitlyn’s Mom
