On Monday Sept 24th, DSHA coach and Oak Creek High School special education teacher John Klein, will receive a special award from Life Navigator's, a Milwaukee-based charitable foundation dedicated since 1949 to "improve the quality of life for individuals with developmental and related disabilities, their families, and the community through information, education, advocacy and life planning services."
The Klein family's inspiring story is well-known by those close to him in the teaching and rugby community. Their story was also recently told in a wonderful article in Saturday's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. According to the article, "Klein grew up in a family where both his parents and his only sibling, an older sister, were intellectually challenged with cognitive disabilities.
From a young age, he was the reader for the family. At age 9, he was deciphering bills for his father and helping him manage finances. "
The full article can be read here. John Klein says "he never felt deprived as a kid. His parents shopped for Christmas presents and new clothes before each school year started. The children never went without food or clothing or a roof over their heads.
"They don't know how to write a check. They don't know how to read. But my parents do know how to love somebody," he said. "And as long as you feel loved, anything is possible."
Chin, as he's been known since 9th grade, "says he shares his own upbringing with the emotionally and behaviorally challenged special education students he primarily works with at Oak Creek High, though he's not always sure they get it.
"I try to open their eyes to see that you can make choices that others don't always have" - people, for example, like his sister and parents.
"You owe that to people who don't have the opportunities," he said."
For anyone interested in attending the dinner, where John Klein will speak, or going to the golf tournament prior to the dinner, you may register at the Life Navigator's website
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