Grace College Welcomes Brant Hansen to Campus for Council for Exceptional Children’s ‘What’s Next Day’

The Grace College Student Chapter of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) will host the seventh-biennial What’s Next Day at the Grace College Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center on Friday, Feb. 11, 10:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. This is an opportunity for high school students with disabilities to explore post-secondary options that are available in the community.

The event will begin with an inspiring keynote address by Mr. Brant Hansen, an author, nationally syndicated radio host, and advocate for healing children with correctible disabilities through CURE International. Hansen addresses issues of public policy, culture, sports, faith, and Asperger’s Syndrome, with which he has been diagnosed.

Following the keynote address, students will visit a Transition Exhibition where area agencies, educational institutions and businesses will have display booths for opportunities and resources available as the students plan for post-graduation. Students will conclude the day with lunch at Alpha Dining Commons with members of the Grace College CEC chapter who plan and execute the event for more than 200 students in the community.

Jenna Parker, CEC president and facility and event major at Grace, has played a major role in pulling the event together. “What’s Next Day really encompasses all aspects of our CEC chapter’s mission. I am excited for our campus to join the high schoolers in listening to Brant Hansen’s keynote address during the chapel hour. All of us from CEC are excited to have fun with those who attend, as well as encourage and show love to them,” said Parker.

What’s Next Day is the culmination of the school’s campus-wide Disability Awareness Week. Over the course of the week, students on campus will have the opportunity to hear stories from those with disabilities at chapels and engage in meaningful conversations at a lunch Q + A.

One of the focal points of the week is a student-led fundraiser for Mason Metzger, a Warsaw native who was diagnosed with Spastic Cerebral Palsy at the age of one. Grace students are helping Mason raise money for a van which the Vocational Rehabilitation Services have agreed to convert charge-free.

“Having this mobility will be a life-changing gift to Mason who is preparing to graduate from college this spring,” said Dr. Cheryl Bremer, dean of the School of Education.  “I’m so proud of our students at Grace and their initiative to be the hands and feet of Christ to meet a tangible need in this way.”

To learn more about Grace College’s School of Education, visit www.grace.edu/academics/undergraduate/academic-schools-departments/school-of-education/.