Bob Seipel?s 7-year-old son, William, has cerebral palsy and a seizure disorder.
Seipel, who works for Boeing Co. in Annapolis, is also the PTA president of Cedar Lane School in Fulton, where William is in his fifth year.
And because of Seipel, the Boeing Co. renewed the school?s $15,000 grant, allowing teachers and other staff to learn more about the ever-changing world of special education.
“It?s so great to see a large aerospace company interested in community development in a section of the community that will never contribute to the aerospace industry,” he said.
This is the third year Cedar Lane has been awarded the grant, which allows staff to attend conferences and workshops like the World Congress on Disabilities and training from the Treatment and Education of Autistic and Communication Handicapped Children.
The publicly funded special education school has 97 students between the ages of 3 and 21, and all students have severe cognitive disabilities, said Nicholas Girardi, who has been the principal at Cedar Lane for 20 years. The county refers students to the school.
There are six to seven students in each class, and most students are completely nonverbal, he said.
While county schools receive large grants from the state all the time, it was unusual for a public school to seek out their own grant from a corporation, said Howard County school spokeswoman Patti Caplan. The school received information about the grant from Seipel, who lives in Elkridge.
Last year, Boeing donated $38.3 million in grants nationwide in five different areas: education, health and human services, arts and culture, civic and the environment.
Boeing supports programs that promote teacher effectiveness with an emphasis on math, science, literacy instruction and school leadership, according to www.boeing.com.
