Louisa Strong, a fifth grader at Geiger Elementary School in Lewiston, was honored recently by the Cromwell Center for Disabilities Awareness as the winner of their Caring Classrooms Contest. The contest encourages students served in the center’s Grades 1 through 6 disabilities awareness program to write about how the program impacted them and their views on respect, empathy and inclusion.

“I want to thank the Cromwell Center for realizing something it’s taken most of humankind to realize – that everyone has a story, and we should hear it” said Strong.  “Everyone is a person, and not just a person – they all have unique thoughts.”

Strong received her award at the Cromwell Center’s Annual Dinner & Auction at the Marriott Sable Oaks in South Portland, which raised a total of $125,000 to support the center’s mission of promoting safe, respectful, and inclusive schools and communities. Strong also received letters of congratulations from Governor Janet Mills and Senator Susan Collins, the latter of whom was a previous honoree at the center’s Dinner & Auction.

The Cromwell Center for Disabilities Awareness works to change attitudes and build understanding resulting in equal respect, support and opportunity for people with disabilities. Programs for children, parents, and teachers build sensitivity, understanding and inclusion, reduce bullying, and help create safer and more welcoming schools and communities. 

Thanks in part to a donation by Unum, the Cromwell Center for Disabilities Awareness has been able to suspend their wait list for their school-based programs and will be able to service an additional 12 schools before the end of the 2018-19 school year. The center is on track to set a record this year by servicing approximately 16,000 students at 894 schools by the time programs are completed in June. For more information, see www.cromwellcenter.org.