50 years of special education in Lake County

What began in one room at Highland Junior High School in 1960 has become a thriving special educational program that has taught more than 100,000 children and now includes seven schools.

The Special Education District of Lake County marked its 50th anniversary with a reception at Cyd Lash Academy in Gages Lake on Thursday evening.

The nearly 225 guests were treated to dinner, dessert and a slide show of historic photographs of the district's history. The gym was lined with student-made posters that displayed school spirit.

A number of speakers including current and former staff and board members, talked glowingly about the progress the district has made in the last half-century. The comments were peppered with funny stories about the early days.

Harriet Brent Donndelinger started as a secretary in 1965.

"Our first office was a farmhouse. Central filing took place on the porch, social work was in the kitchen," Donndelinger smiled. "The assistant superintendent's office was in the hall. The conference room was the dining room."

Donndelinger said things improved when the staff moved to the old Viking Home in Gurnee, but her office was still something less than plush.

"The only space they could find for me was a bathroom," she laughed. "They removed the bathtub, put in two filing cabinets, brought in a board and I had a desk." she laughed.

But not all the stories focused on those formative years.

Former teacher and board member Ben Martindale said the district has kept pace with the demand for the specialized services it offers.

"SEDOL has always been on the cutting edge of program development," Martindale said. "As I view SEDOL, the passion, the caring, the focus and commitment have always been there."

The district currently has 2,500 students and 36 member school districts. The district's schools include, Cyd Lash Academy, Laremont School, Marjorie Ureche Early Childhood Center, Gages Lake School, John Powers Center, Sally Potter School and the ROE Alternative Program of Lake County.

Current Superintendent Bill Delp looked to the future with positive thoughts.

"How SEDOL has grown to meet the needs of the special students in Lake County is just unbelievable," Delp said. "The future holds many great technological opportunities, but some things will not have changed. SEDOL will have the privilege to employ the highest qualified, most caring, compassionate, lovinging individuals with the highest expectations for every student."