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Jan 27, 2008 11:02 pm US/Central
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School Helps Families Stay Together During Illness
(WCCO)
What would you do if one of your kids was sick and needed medical treatment far from home? Would you bring their healthy brothers and sisters along or leave them behind?
The Twin Cities Ronald McDonald House helps families stay together, and those who run the house makes sure kids get all the benefits of being home, even an education.
School there doesn't take place in your typical classroom. A couple weeks ago, there were 23 kids attending school at the
Ronald McDonald House. Today, there are only six.
Teacher Cindy Britain started the day listing "positrations," good things going on in these kids' lives. This exercise is not necessarily easy when you've got a seriously ill brother or sister and you're a long way from home.
"There's always something good. No matter how difficult a situation is, there's always something good you can find in it. So that's what we do. We look for something good every morning," said Britain.
Some list seemingly mundane things, such as a surprise guest, but the "positrations" of others hint at serious issues.
"He was awake most of the night ... for a couple hours," said one student named Christopher.
"He was awake for a couple hours and responding to the parents. And that may seem like a little nothing, but to Christopher, that's huge," said Britain.
About a third of the families at the Ronald McDonald House are from Minnesota. Another third come from nearby states. The rest come from across the country and, in fact, from around the world.
Samantha Maurer is an 8-year-old from Sebeka, Minn. Her big sister is sick with Ewing's sarcoma. She has been living and learning at the Ronald McDonald House for months.
According to her mother, Merry Maurer, without the Ronald McDonald House school "our only alternative would have been to split the family up. One parent would have had to stay home with Sam, so she could continue her schooling, and one parent would have come down to fight cancer."
For Samantha Maurer and her classmates, school offers a welcome distraction -- from chemotherapy, from radiation, from worry.
"It's kind of given her a way to have some normalcy in the crazy world of cancer," said Merry Maurer.
"Mrs. Britain ... she's really, really nice. She's funny. She gives me a lot of work, which I do really like," said Samantha Maurer.
Britain's reputation as a tough teacher has garnered results. Earlier this school year, she helped one girl jump two reading levels in only two months.
"I just love it. I just love it. I love being able to move from the kindergartners to my 12th graders to my ... It's a joy, it's like a family," exclaimed Britain, noting her enthusiasm for her motivated students. "They want to do this. It's not getting up in the morning and, 'Oh, I've got to go to school.' They want to do this."
Weeks, months, sometimes even a year passes before it's time to go. Then, the Ronald McDonald House place will fade from memory.
The school is celebrating its 10th anniversary. There are Ronald McDonald Houses all over the world, but employees at the Twin Cities house said it is the only one with a K-12 school on site.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)