COMMUNITY
Lauren Gochenaur is the mother of Evan Gochenaur, a little boy here in Jones County with special needs, and like every other mother she was concerned about her son flourishing in school, but she said the Jones County Pre-K staff has subdued a lot of her worries and helped her son prosper in school.
She said she grew up in Jones County, and her husband grew up in Florida. She said they moved to Jones County with Evan when he was two years old. She said she heard great things about the special needs programs in the county, so she thought Evan would have a fighting chance to succeed in school.
“This is home for me. It’s a little bit of a drive to the Warner Robins Air Force Base for my husband, but he knew how important it was to get Evan into a decent school,” she said. “I have a lot of family here, and the family atmosphere is great in Jones County.”
The mother said she was worried at first about her son, but the Jones County Pre-K has really stepped up and shown her that Evan has a chance at a bright future even with his issues. She said he enjoys school a lot.
“Evan is five, and he was born with Tetralogy of Fallot, which is a heart defect. He was also born with a cleft lip and palate, and he’s done speech therapy and physical therapy since he was an infant. We have tried a different kind of preschool with Evan, but he needed more attention than they could give him. We enrolled him in the Jones County Pre-K, and before he started he was tested to figure out a baseline for him,” she said.
Gochenaur said they were able to figure out the classroom to place Evan from there, and it was a transition for him. She said he eventually thrived in the classroom with direction, because he’s very social. He also gets speech therapy and occupational therapy at the Jones County Pre-K.
“His speech has done wonders since he’s started school. They go above and beyond to help him,” Gochenaur said. “He has ADHD. We wanted to try behavioral modifications with him, because medications with his heart defect is a whole process. If he gets overwhelmed in class, they take him out of the classroom and teach him how to calm himself down.” She said the teachers at the Jones County Pre-K really have worked with her son this school year. She said they take the time to explain to him why some of the choices he has made might not be the best choice, and they lay down and hold his hand at nap time, because he needs physical contact to be able to fall asleep.
“It’s the simple actions of love they give Evan that matters. He’s improved socially in school, too. He plays with other kids now. The teachers all keep me very well informed and even send me pictures of him throughout the day,” she said.
The mother said she’d like to thank the faculty and staff who have worked hard with Evan at the Jones County Pre-K this year. Those ladies are Lauren Hoffman, Susan Turner, Misty Pollock, Brianna Kelley, Lynette Maddox, Stacie Kelly, Melanie Suk, and Mrs. Alford.
Gochenaur said Evan loves all of his teachers, the paraprofessionals and all of the other staff who work with him. She said he tells her about the teachers and his day. She said he is now prepared for kindergarten and will be attending Dames Ferry Elementary School next year.
“We don’t know if college will be in his future or not, but I want him to excel in whatever he is good at. I think the education he gets here in Jones County will provide that for him,” Gochenaur said. “When someone takes care of your child it’s just a really special thing, and these ladies at the pre-k have done that.”
