UA RISE Graduation to be Held July 26

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama’s RISE Program will hold its annual commencement ceremony Thursday, July 26 at 6:30 p.m. at the Stallings Center on the UA campus.

The graduating class of 15 includes Maren Mills, daughter of UA professor Carol Mills, who moved from Chicago to Tuscaloosa just so Maren could attend the nationally renowned early intervention program for preschoolers with disabilities.

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 over the past 30 years. In 1999, RISE received accreditation from The National Association for the Education of Young Children; a prestigious recognition only achieved by 7 percent of early childhood programs, nationwide.

The RISE program, located in the Stallings Center and named for the Stallings’ family, looks like any other daycare center, except 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 in to the Stallings Center, so the children have all their treatment in the same location. Even students without disabilities attend RISE. This creates a true mainstream environment in the program.

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.

NOTE TO MEDIA: Dress rehearsal for the RISE graduation ceremony will be held Thursday, July 26 at 10 a.m. RISE parents and RISE director Martha Cook will be available for interviews during that time.