{"id":8184,"date":"2022-07-28T13:15:04","date_gmt":"2022-07-28T18:15:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=8184"},"modified":"2022-07-28T13:15:04","modified_gmt":"2022-07-28T18:15:04","slug":"blugolds-travel-to-washington-d-c-to-lobby-for-students-in-higher-education-with-learning-disabilities","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/blugolds-travel-to-washington-d-c-to-lobby-for-students-in-higher-education-with-learning-disabilities\/","title":{"rendered":"Blugolds travel to Washington, D.C., to lobby for students in higher education with learning disabilities"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Erik Marcotte (left) and Caden Joergens spent several days in Washington, D.C., this summer lobbying Congress for legislation regarding students in higher education with learning disabilities. The Blugolds are leaders of the UW-Eau Claire chapter of Eye to Eye-National, a mentoring movement that focuses on elementary and middle school students with ADHD and learning differences. They joined students from around the country for the national \u201cLearning Disability Day of Action.\u201d (Submitted photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Campus leaders from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire joined advocates from around the country in Washington, D.C., this summer to lobby for legislation regarding students in higher education with learning disabilities.<\/p>\n

However, it wasn\u2019t UW-Eau Claire administrators or faculty or staff who met with members of Congress and national education leaders \u2014 it was two undergraduate students who shared their personal experiences during the national \u201cLearning Disability Day of Action\u201d efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe young adults educated members of Congress on what learning disabilities mean, how they affect our lives and education, and what can be done to create more equal access to education for those with learning disabilities,\u201d says Erik Marcotte, a senior from Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, of his advocacy efforts in the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n

Last year, Marcotte and Caden Joergens, a senior computer science major and physics minor from Louisville, Kentucky, were leaders for the campus chapter of Eye to Eye, a national mentoring movement that focuses on elementary and middle school students with ADHD and learning differences. UW-Eau Claire was a charter member of Eye to Eye when it was established on campus in 2016.<\/p>\n

Eye to Eye-National invited the two Blugolds to Washington, D.C., to join its lobbying efforts. This is the first time UW-Eau Claire students have participated in \u201cLearning Disability Day of Action\u201d activities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not something that our mentors have done in the past, which says a lot about their character,\u201d Dustin Behlke, the campus liaison for the Eye to Eye-National\u2019s Eau Claire chapter, says of Joergens and Marcotte.<\/p>\n

Advocating for change<\/h3>\n

The Blugolds and other Eye to Eye-National student leaders from around the country participated in seminars and more than 50 meetings with education leaders and members of Congress.<\/p>\n

Their goal was to advocate for the RISE Act, which supports students with learning disabilities at postsecondary institutions; and the IDEA act, which would provide funding for special education, including funding for research, teacher training and resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cA big issue in schools is the lack of education and knowledge teachers and counselors have on ADHD and LDs, which strengthens stigmas surrounding ADHD and LDs,\u201d Joergens says of why the legislation is so important.<\/p>\n

Marcotte says it was incredible to meet with some of the country\u2019s top education leaders, including Miguel Angel Cardona, the U.S. secretary of education.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecretary Cardona and his team were kind and seemed invested in our stories,\u201d Marcotte says. \u201cTogether, we all listened to firsthand experiences and worked with Secretary Cardona on solutions that the U.S. Department of Education could start working on to aid our concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n

A native of Minnesota, Marcotte also met with a representative of Sen. Tina Smith\u2019s office to discuss how the RISE Act could help students with learning disabilities transfer their learning accommodations to college. They also talked about the current mental health crisis and how it\u2019s connected to students with learning disabilities, he says.<\/p>\n

For Marcotte, another highlight of the advocacy initiative was meeting a brain chemistry expert.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring a panel, I got to ask the brain chemist about how nutrition is linked to the latest research and development on brain chemistry and learning disabilities,\u201d Marcotte says. \u201cThis question was aimed at my concern regarding the symptoms that come from prescription medications for ADHD. Me being a chemistry major and interested in social interactions, this conversation gave me a new perspective to build from after I graduate.\u201d<\/p>\n

About Eye to Eye<\/h3>\n

Eye to Eye is a national mentoring movement that focuses on elementary and middle school students with ADHD and learning differences. The program pairs middle and high school students with college students who have similar disabilities, giving the youth mentors to look up to who\u2019ve overcome similar obstacles in academic settings, Behlke says.<\/p>\n

The program uses an art-based curriculum, with a goal to help students understand how they learn, to assist them in building self-advocacy skills and to empower them to be proud of their learning differences, Behlke says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are skills our mentors had to learn on her own as they forged their way through high school,\u201d Behlke says.<\/p>\n

Last year, UW-Eau Claire\u2019s chapter had three mentors working with 12-15 students at Altoona Middle School, Behlke says. Numbers are down compared to pre-COVID years, but he\u2019s confident they will go up again now that most students are back to in-person learning.<\/p>\n

While the numbers were small last year, the students\u2019 impact on the middle school students has been significant, Behlke says.<\/p>\n

\u201cErik and Caden are such wonderfully motivated and driven mentors and represent exactly what the Eye-to-Eye program was hoping to capture,\u201d Behlke says. \u201cThey are both willing to be creative, vulnerable, but most importantly, they show up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are there for their mentees each week and form meaningful relationships that allow everyone to grow and learn about themselves. They are also great ambassadors for UWEC, as they represent us in the best possible way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marcotte says he was confident that his efforts during the \u201cLearning Disability Day of Action\u201d would make a positive difference in the lives of others. The surprise, he says, is how much his experiences in Washington, D.C., changed him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe impact I left was great, but the impact left on me was even greater,\u201d Marcotte says. \u201cI finally found a community that I belonged to and wasn\u2019t just an ally to. It moved me to tears.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joergens agrees, saying their time in Washington, D.C., with other students associated with Eye to Eye-National was a powerful experience. He says that for him, a \u201cmajor part of Eye to Eye and the D.C. trip was the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joergens says he was the only student in his high school classes with accommodations relating to ADHD\/LD, so there was no sense of community or support.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not a strong ADHD\/LD community because many people struggle with the stigmas,\u201d Joergens says. \u201cThe D.C. trip was only three days, but in that time we all became close friends. It was an amazing experience. Conversations flowed differently, and we shared similar lived experiences, which was amazing.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the fantastic things about Eye to Eye is that the mentees get a chance to build a community and see that they aren\u2019t alone, and the mentors also build a community. It\u2019s so important to know you aren\u2019t alone and to find people who you can talk to and know they will understand and not judge. Eye to Eye has given me a lot of purpose in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Changing lives<\/h3>\n

When Marcotte graduates in December, he\u2019ll have a degree in chemistry, a minor in environment, society and culture, and a lifetime of memories from his years of competing for the Blugolds as a member of its swim and dive team.<\/p>\n

He also will take with him an ADHD diagnosis, a diagnosis that inspired him to join Eye to Eye-National, which he describes as \u201cthe most impactful journey of my college career.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am passionate about exploring new things and people,\u201d Marcotte says. \u201cEvery person\u2019s brain has a unique way of operating, and learning how chemistry is associated with brain operation and social relationships is where I hope to take my degree after I graduate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marcotte credits the staff in UW-Eau Claire\u2019s Office of Services for Students with Disabilities with helping him find his place on campus and with connecting him to the Eye to Eye-National movement. SSD currently serves 720 students on campus, facilitating accommodations and services to students with disabilities that ensure equal access to university programs, services and activities.<\/p>\n

SSD staff thought he\u2019d be a good fit for the national program, something he says they were \u201cabsolutely right about,\u201d Marcotte says.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s rewarding to help the younger students understand their unique learning styles, Marcotte says. It\u2019s especially meaningful to know he\u2019s giving the middle school students opportunities that weren\u2019t available to him at that age.<\/p>\n

\u201cI faced many life challenges associated with my ADHD,\u201d Marcotte says, noting that he didn\u2019t start getting proper help for it until November 2020 when he already was attending UW-Eau Claire. \u201cI wish I would\u2019ve had help earlier in life. So, I\u2019m confident I\u2019ve made a positive influence on my students\u2019 lives. I hope that it will help them in their futures, in and out of school.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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