AMAZING ACHIEVEMENTS

MARCY PETERS

Marcy is a graduate of Jacqueline Vaughn Occupational High School, Class of 2009. As a student, Marcy won an internship with Access Living, a cross-disability organization governed and staffed by a majority of people with disabilities. They foster pride, dignity, and self-esteem in people with disabilities and enhance the options available to them so that they may maintain individualized and satisfying lifestyles. At Access Living, two of Marcy's supervisors encouraged her to become involved with organizations that are affiliated with them. She was the peer mentor for a group of young adult women. As such, she ran the meetings and organized their outings. Marcy also attended a rally in Chicago to support the elimination of I.Q. scores as a college admission requirement.

In November of 2010, Marcy presented her own seven-page, PowerPoint program entitled, Disabled Etiquette, at the "Speak Up and Speak Out," seminar in Springfield, Illinois. In a letter to Dr. Rusty Burnette, principal of Vaughn Occupational High School, Bertha Peters, Marcy's mother, stated that she believed that Marcy's ability to accomplish what she has is the result of the caring education that she received from the staff of the high school. Marcy's supervisors at Access Living are very proud that Marcy has displayed such leadership and courage. Dr. Burnette and the Vaughn staff have expressed their pride in Marcy's accomplishments and know that she will continue to achieve whatever she pursues.

Marcy always embodied that special spark of leadership, and Vaughn High School programs and staff nurtured and encouraged that quality. In 2013, Marcy became a member of the Vaughn & Friends Alumni Board, dedicated to creating a business to train and employ as many of our members as possible and to make our organization self-supporting. Marcy was elected treasurer of the Vaughn & Friends Alumni organization and has served in that capacity for the past three years.