Page 18 - Abacoa Community News - July '24

Page 18, Abacoa
science on tHe cutting edge

Education. “Having our graduates find a rewarding
job and becoming self-reliant is our ultimate goal
and we are so proud of Whitney and Michael who
are pursuing their dreams.”
This polo season, Wiley worked at the National
Polo Center in Wellington handing out event programs
and enjoyed watching the end of the matches. The
Florida Atlantic University 25-year-old hopes to find a new job that involves
Academy For Community horses and even rides them weekly at Vinceremos
Therapeutic Riding Center in Loxahatchee. “I was
Inclusion Celebrates Program’s so excited because I made it!” she said of graduating. Dawn Furlan and Rangasamy
“It was a really big accomplishment for me. I was so
Milestone 50th happy to wear a cap and gown. I learned how to get Ramasamy, Ph.D., professor,
around the community, be safe and stay safe, health FAU ACI student Holden Kasky Department of Special Education
And 51st Graduates! and fitness, and social skills.” with his father Jeff Kasky at FAU
Johnson, who owns a food truck with his dad,
Program Provides Students Who Have said that the ACI program helped him become a better business advocacy of founding ACI Principal Investigator Dr. Mike
Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities With owner and entrepreneur. “I learned about money, employment Brady, who was a dedicated faculty member and chair for the
An Enriching And Authentic College Experience and how to do paperwork,” he added. Department of Special Education in the College of Education,
ACI allows students to earn certificates in supported until his passing in 2021. Rangasamy Ramasamy, Ph.D., a
Two very special employment, supported community access and supported professor in the Department of Special Education at FAU,
students who have community living. These certificates are offered in an inclusive presented Dr. Brady’s partner, Dawn Furlan, with the Crystal
autism walked across college environment on both the Boca Raton and Jupiter Owl Award for his dedication to those who experience disabilities
the Florida Atlantic campuses of FAU. The program allows students to participate and his generosity in supporting this legacy project through his
University (FAU) in college activities, clubs, events and organizations that are estate plans.
graduation stage during available to all FAU students. ACI also offers a residential About Florida Atlantic University
spring commencement, experience program each summer, when students get to spend Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially
marking a milestone one week living in the dorms opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in
for the Florida Atlantic on the Boca Raton campus. Florida. Today, FAU serves more than 30,000 undergraduate
University Academy The mission of ACI and graduate students across six campuses located along the
for Community is to increase overall southeast Florida coast. In recent years, the university has
Inclusion (ACI), independence in employment, doubled its research expenditures and outpaced its peers in
a college program self-determination and student achievement rates. Through the coexistence of access
for high school community experiences for and excellence, FAU embodies an innovative model where
graduates who have individuals with intellectual traditional equity gaps vanish. FAU is designated a Hispanic-
been diagnosed FAU ACI Class of 2024 graduate a n d de ve l opm e nt a l serving institution, ranked as a top public university by U.S.
with intellectual Whitney Wiley; Kelly Kearney, Ed.D., disabilities. Through a News & World Report and a High Research Activity institution
and developmental BCBA-D, associate director of FAU’s generous partnership with by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
disabilities, including Academy for Community Inclusion in longtime benefactors the To learn more about the FAU Academy for Community
Down syndrome and the Department of Special Education; Taft Foundation, ACI was Inclusion, visit fau.edu/education/academicdepartments/ese/
autism. FAU ACI students Chloe Thibault and developed and launched in aci/ and click here to make a donation.
Whitney Wiley and Holden Kasky 2017. The partnership was FAU ACI student Lily Doyle and
Michael R. Johnson, due to the vision and strong her mother Katherine Trusky Science On The Cutting Edge on page 19
both Wellington residents, received certificates from the FAU
Academy for Community Inclusion as the program’s 50th
and 51st graduates. They were celebrated during a brunch
on FAU’s MacArthur Campus in Jupiter during graduation
weekend. Friends, family, ACI students and alumni, FAU staff
and community partners attended. Two ACI students, Chloe
Thibault and Holden Kasky, emceed the event. Holden’s father,
Jeff Kasky, gave a poignant speech highlighting the positive
impact ACI has on students and their families.
“The ACI program is an important part of the community.
Knowing that there are 51 graduates who have an intellectual
or developmental disability who are working right next to any
other employee is something that makes Palm Beach, Broward
and Martin counties special and that should be celebrated,” said
Kelly Kearney, Ed.D., BCBA-D, associate director of FAU’s
Academy for Community Inclusion in the Department of Special

FAU ACI Class of 2024 graduates Michael Johnson and
Whitney Wiley with FAU’s mascot Owlsley

Dr. Angelica Downey, Department of Special Education at
FAU; FAU ACI Class of 2024 graduate Whitney Wiley and Dr.
Gwendolyn Carey, Department of Special Education at FAU