CHS, SJA students reach out to St. Lillian

On a brisk March 14 morning, students from St. Lillian Academy in Baton Rouge stepped onto the Catholic High School campus in Baton Rouge. There waiting, CHS friends in the My Brother’s Keeper Club greeted them by name, ready to hang out and let them experience the large high school campus atmosphere.

Jackson Whitlow, a CHS junior and founder of My Brother’s Keeper, has a brother with high-functioning autism.

“By the time I was ‘up and moving,’ my parents already knew he was autistic and had been trying to put him through schools for a long time,” said Whitlow. “The biggest problem was that there weren’t any public schools that were equipped to teach him.”

His parents struggled to find a school that could help their son that was within their budget.

Whitlow’s aunt, Christine Whitlow, was then hired as principal at St. Lillian Academy, which has as its mission to provide a quality education for students who have communication and learning challenges, providing them the opportunity to maximize their futures and become active members of the community.

Whitlow appreciates the school’s work with children and was inspired to do something to help others. He worked with Scott Losavio, director of campus ministry, to establish My Brother’s Keeper. Its core mission is community service.

In what seems a divinely orchestrated movement, in the fall of 2021 St. Lillian parents indicated they wanted a “larger campus” experience for children who were at or approaching high school age. It was determined an existing high school would provide many of the experiences they were hoping for their children.

This led the program committee at St. Lillian to draft a High School Inclusion Partnership Program (HIPP). Whitlow informed Losavio about the HIPP and said it would be a “great fit” for the club.

The club members, accompanied by St. Joseph’s Academy in Baton Rouge students, visited St. Lillian’s campus twice. The first was for a kickball event.

Additionally, this past fall the St. Lillian students started volunteering at the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank. Near Thanksgiving the St. Lillian students initiated a food drive for the Food Bank. The My Brother’s Keeper members/SJA students joined them for lunch and then sorted out food and loaded boxes to be picked up by the Food Bank.

SJA senior Ginny Bowen, who like Whitlow has family members with disabilities, appreciated the opportunity to visit St. Lillian.

“I got involved with My Brother’s Keeper because autism is something that my family is very heavily affected by,” she said. “I have several family members with autism, epilepsy or other disabilities, and most of them actually went to St. Lillian Academy, so this has always been a big part of my life.

“When I was in eighth grade, my middle school did monthly volunteering with St. Lillian,” she added. “Everyone got partnered up with a kid, and we just got to hang out with them for the day. Going back last year, I got to reconnect with my little buddy, and it was honestly a very special moment for me. When I first met him, he was probably 9 or 10, and getting to see him grown up was really special.”

During the visits SJA sophomore Caroline Roussel enjoyed seeing the students open up and talk about their lives, friends and families and what they do during their free time.

“I learned that people with disabilities are truly the same as we are. The kids we met were around our age, give or take, and they had the same humor and attitudes we had, just a little less experience out in the world. They are so special and a gift to the world,” Roussel said.

More opportunities are open for the disabled in the workplace and other environments, Whitlow noted.

“It’s important for people to make it comfortable for themselves and the disabled,” Whitlow said. “A big part of this is that in helping them, we are helping ourselves by establishing these friendships.”

The SJA students serving with the club agree.

“We made good friends with them and had a blast,” said sophomore Julia Johnson. “I have most enjoyed becoming friends with the kids at St. Lillian. They’ve taught me so many new perspectives of life that I have never thought of. I’ve learned things that would’ve been hard to learn without really being with the kids with disabilities.

“When I first went to St. Lillian, I can’t deny that I was nervous. When I got to know the kids, though, I felt silly. The children there were adorable and sweet, funny and smart. I had a hard time seeing the difference between them and my best friends back home. They put a smile on my face. They’re some of the kindest people I’ve ever met.”

CHS junior William de Souza, who befriended St. Lillian student Pete Knapp, said he was surprised with “a friendship that I wasn’t really expecting.”

“I like hanging out with Pete, and he definitely brings some happiness in my life. A pure joy and peace that helps me realize things about myself,” de Souza said.

The St. Lillian students enjoyed the “hustle and bustle” of an active CHS campus during their visit. Their parents on the trip were overwhelmed by the club members’ acceptance of the children and hospitality.

“Our children overcome challenges like these young men do every day,” said Misty Welch, her voice swelling with emotion. “But these young men, you can see their heart when they talk to these kids. Everyone deserves a chance to be heard and seen and for you to look past their actions and look at them for who they are.”