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At 17, Malverne High School junior Jo Elizabeth Hartz has already earned special recognition and a jump-start on her career through her Intel Science Research project, which reflects her genuine interest in working with children with severe and profound disabilities.
"I grew up understanding them, trying to get through to them, and not treating them any differently than I would treat anybody else," said Hartz. "When I got into the program, everyone was researching DNA, biochemistry and stuff like that. I don't have an interest in anything but this."
Formerly known as the Westinghouse competition, to be a participant in the Intel Science Research Program requires a lot of dedication. Ninth grade students must choose a topic to research in depth for three years, and find a mentor within the field. Participants attend class before school from their sophomore through their senior year and earn college credit for their work. Summer research is required at a designated facility, where they must document everything learned and submit an annual report. All this prepares each student for the actual Intel competition, which is entered during senior year.
Hartz's Intel project, entitled "The Effects of a Total Communication Approach on Children with Multiple and Severe Challenges," falls not into the natural sciences, but rather the social sciences.
"Total Communication is a an adapted approach to speech for non verbal children," explained Hartz. "It's basically any way a child can communicate that is non-verbal-body language, sign language, voice output devices, all levels of technology."
Together with graduate-level students from Queens College, Hartz spent her summer as an intern at P.S. 811 in Little Neck, Queens, a school for children with special needs. Supervising her was Dr. Freda Brown, author and chairperson of the department of special education at Queens College, whom Hartz chose as her Intel mentor.
As part of her research, Hartz worked one-on-one with four students using different Total Communication methods. Hartz hopes to conduct more research at the United Cerebral Palsy Foundation in Roosevelt, where she plans to select four or five children to conduct case studies on.
"I've seen her working with these children, the look on her face, the look on the children's faces. She has a tremendous ability to reach out and touch these kids," said Ginny DeLeo, a biology teacher who supervises the Intel program at Malverne High School.
Although she will officially enter the Intel competition next year, Hartz's work has already earned her an award from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, which she personally accepted in October at the 2000 New York Council of Exceptional Children, Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (MRDD) Workshop in Niagara Falls. The scholarship is ordinarily awarded to a full-time college student majoring in special education.
"Her research project is a breath of fresh air," said Dr. Rodney Cavanaugh, MRDD Division President. "To advance knowledge about how to improve the quality of people's lives, particularly those with disabilities, dramatically increases the social value of the scientific process."
Last month, Hartz presented at The Association of People with Severe Handicaps (TASH) 2000 National Conference in Miami, where she explored various college internship opportunities and received a personal invitation to train parents and teachers in South Florida.
"I couldn't be more proud of her," said Mary Lou Bensi, Jo Elizabeth's mother, who has worked with children with special needs for thirteen years. "These were people from all over the world: professionals, college professors and Ph.D.'s, and she kept up with everybody."
A dancer since age four, Jo Elizabeth studies only English and social studies at school, then transfers to the BOCES Cultural Arts Center in Syosset, where she studies ballet, jazz, and modern dance. An avid figure skater, she spends up to 20 hours a week at practice. She also takes sign language classes at Hofstra University, works part-time at Roosevelt Field Mall, and is currently involved in her school musical. She has been elected president of her class for the past three years.
"My main concern is to find a college program that excels in severe and profound special education," said Hartz, whose interests include dance therapy, speech pathology and teaching children who are both deaf and blind. "I also want to start teaching."
Jo Elizabeth Hartz's mom says with pride, "I never would have imagined that she would take this path, but she really has it in her heart. She's got the gift."
