01/04/2024
DESSIE SCOTT CHILDRENS A BEACON OF LIGHT IN THE COMMUNITY
By Josh Smith
Friday, December 15, 2023, I had the privilege of attending a Christmas party for the boys of the Dessie Scott Children’s Home at Pine Ridge.
I honestly had no idea what to expect at the party as I drove to the historic Dessie Scott Campus in Wolfe County. The Dessie Scott Children’s Home resides on much of what was once the historic old Alvan Drew boarding school. As a member of the local media, I was invited to the party to tour the instructional part of Dessie Scott, and to meet the boys that call it home.
What I knew prior to my visit was generic information that lots of folks can access online, or what they have learned through word of mouth about the children’s home. Taken directly from the Dessie Scott website, the home “houses only males ages 12-21 through residential treatment.” The description goes on to say that “most of our clients are committed to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services and may been through multiple placements and treatment options prior to arriving at Dessie Scott.” I also knew that those same boys have development delayed or intellectual disabilities. Like many others, my understanding of disabilities sometimes borders on misconceptions at times and even downright ignorance. I am not an expert on autism or learning disabilities.
Not long after walking into the Dessie Scott gymnasium, the site of the Christmas party, the staff recommended I take a tour of the facility and talk with some of the kids that were in different parts of the school. Dessie Scott itself consists of two components really: the staff that are caretakers of the children and the instructional staff. Teachers, Debbie Harris, Carolyn Brewer, and Jessica Treadway are specially certified to work with these particular kids, but they work under the Wolfe County School System banner along with Principal, Robert Scott Creech (many readers will know him as the Wolfe County Wolves basketball coach). Everyone else is employed by Buckhorn Children & Family Services, with Billy Smith as the 5-year CEO (his career with Buckhorn stretches 20 years).
After making some acquaintances with the staff, I was given a tour of a mockup apartment where Dessie boys are taught life skills - how to cook, clean and manage day to day tasks. To be clear, not all of the boys at Dessie are capable of interacting with situations similar to the life skills area -- but some are. Some of the kids at Dessie are non-verbal. However, one of the Dessie students came up to me and led me around the room describing everything there in great detail. He pointed out with pride their microwave, refrigerator, pots, pans, bowls and cooking utensils. The young man told me that they had just fixed their own Christmas dinner. While I was in the staged apartment, students were also being introduced to our State Representative Timmy Truett, who came to check out the facility and spend some time with the boys at their Christmas party. Later on, Principal Robert Creech came back to the room, rolled up his sleeves, and helped the boys do dishes.
The halls of Dessie Scott were bright and happy with handmade Christmas decorations and houses from “Whoville” and characters from the “Grinch.” Classrooms were warm and inviting, decorated with lots of learning cues to engage the kids.
As I walked back into the gym, more of the Dessie kids were mingling about. Their disabilities were all different. Some were completely non-verbal. I was surprised when one young man engaged me in a conversation about muscle cars and engines. Still others were delighted that the facility had newly renovated the stage in the gym, with a huge bookcase centerpiece. There was a great flurry of activity as some of the kids were having visits with Santa and others were selecting books to take back to their cottage or living facility. My tour guide from earlier informed me that dinosaurs were his favorite subject and he had got a couple of dinosaur books from the giant bookshelf. Another student was opening a giftbag that contained a penguin ornament, among other things, and one of his teacher’s quizzed him on penguins since they had recently discussed the birds in class. He proudly answered that the world penguin started with a “P”. I was truly humbled to watch this kid be able to display what he had learned in class.
Before I had went to the party, I kept thinking about the bad hands so many kids get delt in life. It’s an unfortunate but nevertheless true observation that kids are hurt, go hungry, and suffer across the United States every day. Sometimes children are abused at the hands of adults, sometimes they go without food because they are forgotten. Still, most kids in need in this country have some kind of safety net that we hope will catch them eventually. There are good foster parents out there, and families eager to adopt. There are programs to feed starving children. Many times, family members step up to take kids into their homes when their parents cannot or will not take care of them. But what about these boys at Dessie Scott? The children’s home is the last and only safety net for them. They’ve had so many strikes against them in life. These are kids that rarely get placed in foster homes or adopted due to their disabilities.
With that in mind going in, I was totally stunned at what I saw at the Christmas party. These weren’t kids that were miserable or unhappy. I watched smile after smile, as the staff of Dessie Scott doted on these kids like they were their own. They interacted with them, patted on them, and made them feel special. The kids were excited for Santa Claus, as well as an appearance by “the Grinch”, and they enjoyed all the goodies that Dessie staff had fixed for them -- meatballs, crackers and cheese, brownies, cake -- everything the rest of us enjoy at parties. These boys HAD quality of life. But that quality of life takes work, and the staff, teachers, and administration of Dessie Scott were doing everything they could to make their lives better. These kids deserve to be happy, and we as a society and a community should do everything in our power to help them.
Several influential people were invited to that Christmas party. One was Representative Timmy Truett. Truett is also an educator, and I think he was moved at what he saw. A representative from Congressman Hal Rogers was also in attendance. Governor Beshear couldn’t be there but sent the kids and staff of Dessie a Christmas greeting by video.
It is important that Dessie Scott gets recognition from state and federal agencies, and therefore -- hopefully more funding. But that’s only part of what Dessie Scott needs. What the facility and those kids need more than money or Santa Claus -- is YOU.
The Dessie Scott Children’s Home can only accept a number of kids that’s in proportion to the staff they have. They desperately want to hire more Residential Youth Workers. With more of these positions filled, the home can accept more boys into the program. These are almost all permanent wards of the state that will be shuffled throughout the system unless they can come to a place like Dessie Scott. Those positions start at $15/hour, (with a $1,000 bonus after 6 months and a $1,000 after a year), plus benefits including health, dental, and vision insurance, life insurance, vacation and sick leave, and retirement. Applicants must be 21 years of age or older, have a high school diploma or GED equivalent, and have a clean background check. Other requirement information can be obtained by calling Patty Wilder at Human Resources at 606-398-7000, toll free at 1-800-472-3678 or email at [email protected] If you are out of work, in-between jobs, or just can’t seem to find a job that fulfills a higher purpose -- joining the staff at Dessie Scott might be for you. I’m not going to sugar coat the job -- there will be trying times and difficult times. But the highs this job offers eclipses anything you’ve ever done before. You won’t be simply “punching the clock”, but really making a difference in the lives of these boys as a caregiver and mentor. What the boys at Dessie Scott need -- money can’t buy. They need your time, compassion and the skills you have to offer.
