Junior Eliza Kim looked at the fish on the top of her rod, amazed at the sight. It was Kim’s first time fishing, and the fish was pretty big, which made her even more stunned. Kim remembers sending her grandpa a picture of her catch later that day, showing off her accomplishment.
“It was pretty scary, [but] I was super proud of myself,” Kim said.
This event took place in September 2025 at Sunrise Lake Outdoor Education Center in Bartlett, for a field trip — one that Prospect’s URise program takes about once a month.
Kim is a part of the URise program, a special education (special ed) program focused on developing essential life skills for students across all four years of high school. The program is led by special ed teachers Jack Casey and Kathleen Rafferty, who collaborate with a team of specialists and instructional aides.
According to Casey, the students enjoy all of Sunrise Lake’s activities, from playing broom ball in the ice to paddle boating in the lake.
Other field trips the URise program has gone on include visiting Chick-fil-A, Woodfield Mall and even the Chicago Lake Front.
While the Chicago visit was more difficult to manage than others, Casey, accompanied by numerous teachers and supervisors, taught his students how to navigate around a larger area.
“[Being a special ed teacher] has definitely taught me how to be more flexible,” Casey said. “I’ve gotten more laid-back and have learned how to be more willing to change my plans.”
The field trips are considered “curriculum-based instruction,” offering the students real-life experiences and situations, like counting money and buying groceries. According to Casey, one of the main goals of the program as a whole is to help the URise students live independently beyond the walls of high school.
Casey described the classes from freshman to senior year as “different steps towards more functional classes.” For example, the freshmen might learn about skills like cleaning, which they practice in the conference rooms, while the seniors learn more about acquiring jobs and working.
The URise program and its students are responsible for a lot of the behind-the-scenes work done at Prospect — they sort the school newspapers, partner with Multimedia Communications students to deliver the newspapers to classes and deliver school mail to teachers. On Jan. 27, the URise program held a makeshift thrift store in the community room to sell old Prospect t-shirts.
Once they reach sophomore year, students can work for Prospect Perks, the school’s special ed-run coffee and tea cart. Students learn how to make drinks and use a cash register while building social skills.
Kim works for Prospect Perks, which strengthened her ability to exchange money with other people. However, that wasn’t her favorite part.
“My favorite part is making the iced tea,” Kim said.
As the students get older, they are placed into the program’s Work class and Independent Living class. There, they gain more skills to obtain a job. Once seniors, students will participate in a community-based job experience for two blocks out of the school day.
Not only does being in the URise program help the special ed students prepare for their futures, but it also allows them to be involved in activities like the Special Olympics. This organization provides intellectually-disabled students with movement and competition; students can participate in year-round training and practices as well as games and competitions, depending on what sport they are involved in.
Kim contributes to both track and field and basketball for the Special Olympics. Last year, she made state for the 100-meter dash for track and field. The event was hosted at Illinois State University, where Kim stayed in a dorm room. However, the race got canceled because of the July heat.
“I was proud of myself [when I found out I was going to state],” Kim said. “I was mad when it got canceled.”
While Kim likes running and appreciated the opportunity to go to state, she enjoys basketball even more. Kim and her basketball team made state this year. The competition is on March 14 and 15.
“Basketball is my favorite sport of all seasons,” Kim said.
She cherishes the friendships she has made within her basketball team, including some students from Hersey. Kim’s love for basketball is expansive, as she also loves watching the Duke men’s basketball team with her family to cheer on her older sister’s school.
On top of the Special Olympics, Kim appreciates Best Buddies, a club at Prospect that promotes one-on-one friendships for those with intellectual disabilities. One of Kim’s closest friends from Best Buddies, junior Tori Jones, is also the chapter president of the club.
Jones joined Best Buddies freshman year when, according to her, the group was small, with only three other peer buddies (students outside of the URise program) attending.
Since then, Jones has counted 34 new members. She hopes to see the club expand beyond this.
“Best Buddies helps to bridge two different social lives into one,” Jones said. “And, personally, this club has changed my life. I hope that everyone else that comes feels that way, too.”
Jones explained that when she first started organizing events for Best Buddies, she learned how a community can come together and create “such an inspiring place.”
Watching the URise students grow as individuals while creating life-long friendships puts a smile on her face during every gathering. The club meets about once a month in the HUB (the tech room), sometimes branching out and traveling to places like Woodfield Mall.
Jones’ favorite event so far was the Friendsgiving that was hosted this past fall. She helped plan it, and the turnout was far greater than what she had expected; one of the board members from Chicago’s Best Buddies program even attended.
“I took a step back and looked around the room to see so many new faces [and] so many old faces all collaborating with our URise buddies,” Jones said. “Watching [the URise students be] so happy and so excited about all the new friends that they’re making is just the reason I do this.”
Jones understands that not every busy high school student has the time in their schedule to join new clubs, but she highly recommends students going to a Best Buddies meeting as it puts a smile on the faces of everyone involved.
“I love Best Buddies and my friends there!”
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