{"id":184565,"date":"2018-06-27T11:03:51","date_gmt":"2018-06-27T16:03:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=184565"},"modified":"2018-06-27T18:58:27","modified_gmt":"2018-06-27T23:58:27","slug":"madison-gap-college-down-syndrome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/madison-gap-college-down-syndrome\/","title":{"rendered":"Madison has Down syndrome, but she graduated high school with a 3.7 GPA"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In 2016, Madison Essig, with a GPA of 3.7, graduated high school with 400 other classmates — including her own 17-year-old brother, Zach — at Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington D.C. But what’s special about Madison’s graduation is that she is believed to be the first student with Down syndrome to do so, and with a full diploma, no less.<\/p>\n

\"Down<\/p>\n

The Federalist<\/a> noted at the time, “Schools were often hesitant to let Madison study at the same pace as the other students, as no other student with Down Syndrome had ever graduated with a full high school diploma from D.C. Public Schools, according to the school system\u2019s records, which date back to 1996.” But Madison’s mother, Kimberly Templeton, said she wouldn’t allow her daughter to be limited or treated differently than other students.<\/p>\n

She said that when Madison was born, her parents “were told that she would walk, but there was no guarantee that she would ever read or write.” But Templeton’s inspiring philosophy was always the same: “Until she proves she can\u2019t do it, let\u2019s not stop her now.”<\/p>\n

READ: ‘First married couple with Down syndrome’ celebrates 28 years of marriage<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

According to the Washington Post<\/a>, Madison achieved such great things in high school “by taking the majority of her courses in mainstream classrooms without an aide. Other courses \u2014 including geometry \u2014 she took in a class with a special education teacher but followed the standard curriculum and workload.” She had been taking mainstream classes since grade school. Despite this, there were always struggles, as can be common with any student, not just those with disabilities. When Madison struggled in class due to difficult conceptual or abstract concepts, she made sure to speak up and tell the teacher she didn’t understand. This is something that can be frightening for any student to admit, but Madison boldly did so… and it helped her to overcome those problems to learn the material.<\/p>\n

Essig adopted her mother’s same attitude. “Don\u2019t give up. School will be your best friend even though you might not like it,” she said. “It\u2019s going to be a building block to a lot more stuff that\u2019s going to help you in life. Let\u2019s see where life takes me!\u201d<\/p>\n

Essig’s high school principal, Kimberly Martin, told the Washington Post that Madison’s family’s approach to her education “opened our mind to what is possible. We shouldn\u2019t just reach to the minimum status. We should push all students, regardless of their \u2018labels,\u2019 to their best.”<\/p>\n

Madison had plans to enroll in George Mason University’s LIFE program, which is “tailored to postsecondary students with intellectual disabilities” so she could earn a four-year degree and “become a professional advocate for people with disabilities,” according to the Post. She is now be well on her way to earning that degree. Madison’s mother says in the video below, “You will continuously be amazed if you keep that bar high….”<\/p>\n