Mrs. Lusch is a general education teacher who is tireless in her determination to ensure that all children learn to the best of their ability. She is a teacher who expects the very best from all children, including her students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. For her it is a privilege to have students with additional support needs in her classroom. For this reason, students with disabilities have been placed in her classroom since the adoption of the Mater Dei program at The Basilica School of Saint Mary in 2019. Mrs. Lusch's 18 years of experience and openness to learning new things have made her classroom a warm and welcoming place for all students. Her dedication is leaving an indelible mark on her students, their families and the entire school community. 

St. Leo Catholic School is a pioneer in the movement to provide meaningful employment for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities as the school was involved in the Employment Pilot between the Diocese of Arlington, Porto Charities and GMU-LIFE in 2019.  During 2019-2020Z, Zach, a young man with Down Syndrome, was hired as an an intern. The experience went so well that Zach was hired as a paid employee in 2021. Currently, Zach works as a school assistant and interacts with nearly the entire school staff and student body. In 2022, St. Leo expanded their inclusive employment opportunities by hiring Morgan, a young woman with Down Syndrome to intern as an assistant in the school office and with the Art teacher.  Beyond simply creating these positions, the faculty and staff at St. Leo have embraced inclusion. Both Zach and Morgan  are invited to the faculty meetings, events, parties and happy hour outside of school. St. Leo the Great School has transcended the inclusion learning curve and has achieved a level of mastery exemplified by very natural interactions among coworkers with and without disabilities.

Cooper Metz has attended Bishop Ireton for the past two years and has loved being a part of the peer mentoring program. He started his work with peer mentoring at West Springfield High School with the Best Buddies program, where he served on the board of the program as a sophomore. Cooper has a passion for helping others. He believes that everyone deserves a chance in life and he wants to help people reach their dreams. Over the summer, he met his very good friend Gavin. Gavin has taught him so much about living with Down Syndrome and how special it is to be kind and considerate to all. Gavin has become one of Cooper’s closest friends and he loves that he is able to see him at school every day, where Gavin now works. Cooper works with many students in the peer mentoring class, and it is by far his most favorite time of the day. He looks up to them just as much as they look up to him. Cooper will be going on to play Division 1 lacrosse at Iona University and he hopes to work with children with special needs in the future. 

St. Mark School was the first parish school in the Arlington Diocese to offer a program for special education. The first student was enrolled in 2004, and since that time St. Mark School has served 30 students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Thirteen have gone on to diocesan high school inclusion programs. The culture of love, faith, and openness really translates to the wonderful teachers and staff members that also work at the school. That, in turn, translates to the classmates and families also adopting the same mindset - that all children with disabilities deserve to be there, and are welcomed members of the classroom and the community. St. Mark’s has also invested in professional development on inclusion and best practices for its teachers.