Ribbon Finally Cut at Augusta Levy Learning Center in Wheeling
Augusta Levy Learning Center student Adelynn Gaiser, left, and her mother, Suzanne Gaiser were among those participating in Thursday's ribbon cutting for the James and Sue Porter Building constructed specifically for use by the learning center and the autistic children it helps.
Photo by Joselyn King
Supporters turned out Thursday for the ribbon cutting for the James and Sue Porter Building, constructed specifically for use by the Augusta Levy Learning Center and the autistic children it helps.
Photo by Joselyn King
Kathy Shappell, founder of the Augusta Levy Learning Center, speaks prior to Thursday's ribbon cutting for the James and Sue Porter Building. The facility was constructed specifically for use by the learning center and the autistic children it helps.
Photo by Joselyn King
Delegate Erikka Storch, R-Ohio, speaks prior to Thursday's ribbon cutting for the James and Sue Porter Building at the Augusta Learning Center. The facility was constructed specifically for use by the learning center and the autistic children it helps.
Photo by Joselyn King
Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott speaks prior to Thursday's ribbon cutting for the James and Sue Porter Building at the Augusta Learning Center. The facility was constructed specifically for use by the learning center and the autistic children it helps.
Photo by Joselyn King
Augusta Levy Learning Center student Adelynn Gaiser, left, and her mother, Suzanne Gaiser were among those participating in Thursday's ribbon cutting for the James and Sue Porter Building constructed specifically for use by the learning center and the autistic children it helps.
Photo by Joselyn King
Supporters turned out Thursday for the ribbon cutting for the James and Sue Porter Building, constructed specifically for use by the Augusta Levy Learning Center and the autistic children it helps.
Photo by Joselyn King
Kathy Shappell, founder of the Augusta Levy Learning Center, speaks prior to Thursday's ribbon cutting for the James and Sue Porter Building. The facility was constructed specifically for use by the learning center and the autistic children it helps.
Photo by Joselyn King
Delegate Erikka Storch, R-Ohio, speaks prior to Thursday's ribbon cutting for the James and Sue Porter Building at the Augusta Learning Center. The facility was constructed specifically for use by the learning center and the autistic children it helps.
Photo by Joselyn King
Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott speaks prior to Thursday's ribbon cutting for the James and Sue Porter Building at the Augusta Learning Center. The facility was constructed specifically for use by the learning center and the autistic children it helps.
Photo by Joselyn KingTrending
WHEELING - Patience is a virtue, especially when it came to finally cutting the ribbon on the new site of the Augusta Levy Learning Center, which came Friday afternoon.
The learning center's facility, located next to Springhill Suites off of National Road in Woodsdale, opened in January 2021. But employees at the center, which works with children with autism, hosted its long-awaited official ribbon cutting on Friday alongside supporters and public officials.
"It was because of COVID," explained Angela Wood, executive director for the learning center. "We had to take extra precautions."
Among those speaking before the ribbon cutting was Wheeling attorney Arch Riley, who has served as president of the board for Augusta Levy since 2004
He explained he is the parent of a daughter with autism - Sarah, who is now age 35. She went on to graduate college and has worked for HIghmark for 10 years, and he credits the learning center for putting her on a successful path.
"This place have our family a sense of well-being knowing that she was receiving real treatment," Riley said. "It changed her life and our lives."
Suzanne Gaiser served as a member of the capital campaign committee raising funds for the current facility. She also is the parent of Adelynn, age 8, who is a student at the learning center.
As Gaiser rose to speak before the ribbon cutting, Adelynn jumped up and followed close behind.
"Don't forget me! Don't forget me!" she said as she ran along.
Gaiser also thanked Augusta Levy employees.
"You helped Adelynn find her voice, thrive, and be her own person," Gaiser told those present. "We hope this center can continue to grow so other families receive the same care we receive."
The newest facility is the fourth to be occupied by the Augusta Levy Learning Center - but the only one to be constructed for the school and designed to meet the specific needs of its students, Wood said.
The original learning center was started in 2005 at the Zion Lutheran Church in Bethlehem by founder Kathy Shapell. In 2008, it moved to the bottom floor of the Sacred Heart Church in North Wheeling and served students around the Ohio Valley for nearly a decade.
Then, in July 2018, a fire destroyed the church, the school's space and all equipment and records associated with teaching students there, Shapell said.
The learning center would work out of a space above the Children's Museum in downtown Wheeling before moving into its permanent home.
Shapell spoke of the early days of the learning center, and of how she came to name the facility for Augusta Levy - a teacher of students with autism in Brooklyn who later relocated to Maryland, where she met Shapell.
Levy often assisted Shapell in teaching her students prior to her death in 1998 at age 92.
"We've gotten through four years of challenges, between both the fire and the COVID pandemic," Shapell continued. "It's a wonderful feeling to now celebrate this building."
The overall belief at Augusta Levy is that "everyone is a superhero," and each room inside is designed to show a "superhero" theme, Wood said.
Outside the playground area even has been crafted to accommodate the special needs students, with adult swings so they can swing along with the students.
"We can program specifically for these kids," she explained. "And we're up on the top of a hill away from traffic.
"Everything here has been built with the idea of how to best help these kids reach their full potential."
The building contains eight classrooms. The first four center on early intervention attention for children with autism, while three others are designated for pre-adolescent students.
Additionally, there is a room for vocational training used by adolescents. In that room, students are exposed to many different career paths - from sewing and cooking to animal grooming and carpentry.
Each student has their own interests, and offerings are intended to meet each student’s aspirations, Wood said.
"I can't think of how many families whose lives have been changed for the better because of this facility," said Delegate Erikka Storch, R-Ohio.
Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott added it's important money is invested in children at the earliest ages.
"We can do so much to help them reach their potential," he said. "That way, we're not spending so much down the road."