BATESVILLE — Lorrie McClure’s son Matthew has achalasia, a rare condition causing his esophagus to become nonfunctioning. Because of the condition, she and Matthew must make regular trips to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.
But McClure doesn’t let that stop her from making time to devote to the futures of all the other children in Independence County as the Parents as Teachers and supplemental programs coordinator for the Batesville School District.
“Seriously, she is selfless and serving,” PAT educator Kristi Moody said about McClure. “It is her ministry, and everyone knows this.”
Everyone does seem to know this, which is why Citizens Bank and the Batesville School District presented McClure with the Citizens Bank Above and Beyond Award in October.
“Lorrie embodies the spirit of the Above and Beyond Award, which was created to recognize individuals who consistently exceed expectations in the performance of their jobs,” said John Dews, Citizens Bank president and CEO. “She clearly is passionate about ensuring the success and effectiveness of the Parents As Teachers program, and to helping the people who are served by it. We applaud Lorrie for her dedication.”
Parents as Teachers is a program for parents of preschoolers. It advocates more parental involvement with support, meetings, screenings and information to enable parents to help their children develop and prepare for kindergarten. The program is free.
After graduating from Highland High School in 1992, McClure went to the University of Central Arkansas in Conway and earned her history degree.
McClure, who has been with the Batesville School District for seven years, was the first director of the Independence County Big Brothers Big Sisters chapter. After four years there, she went to work part time at the Independence County Juvenile Detention Center, working the rest of her work week with the school district in the PAT program. Then she said she had to make a decision which direction she wanted to go with her career.
“I really like at-risk kids,” she said. “At JDC, I saw kids in orange jumpsuits, and it made me see that if I cold get to them sooner, I could keep them from being there.”
So she chose to work with the school district and help parents give their preschoolers a solid educational foundation.
“Most parents you meet want the best for their kids, but sometimes they don’t know how to get them there,” said McClure, who supervises 10 people, conducts home visits and group meetings, manages the Resource Center at the school, the food closet, writes and administers grants, and sits on the Coordinated Care Network and the state advisory board for Parents as Teachers.
Some of the other free programs the district offers are:
• Beginning Steps is a program for parents of newborns, which is provided by the district and White River Medical Center and provides information on safety, nutrition, development and resources;
• Grandparents as Parents (GAP) is a program for grandparents who have custody of their grandchildren, and it helps provide a system of support including monthly meetings, diapers and car seats.
“We start with prenatal visits,” McClure said. “We help make sure they have vitamins, especially the teen moms. We help them get ready for the baby, and then we get to watch them grow up and present a packet to their kindergarten teacher.”
McClure said children are the best gifts anyone will ever be given, and they must be cherished. She said she not only believes that about her own children — Matthew, 9, and Mallory, 12 — but all children.
Matthew has a surgery scheduled on Nov. 15 at Texas Children’s Hospital. She said because his condition is so rare, the surgeon who specializes in such conditions has only performed 12 Heller myotomy surgeries, which has a good chance of restoring some of the function of his esophagus to where he will be able to digest food. Until then, he is on a liquid diet. A Heller myotomy procedure is a minimally invasive surgical technique used to treat achalasia.
Staff writer Jeanni Brosius can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or jbrosius@arkansasonline.com.