Millersville has been a part of the Aaron’s Acres story since the beginning, and that is certainly worth celebrating during Aaron’s Acres 25th anniversary this year!

Aaron’s Acres has had a partnership with Millersville University for 25 years. In the beginning, a small group of parents led by Janiece Seldomridge (whose son is Aaron) met with Dr. Barb Beakley to explore the possibility of having a camp program for their children who had varying disabilities. Dr. Barb Beakley was a professor in the special education department at MU. The committee after this meeting was instrumental in getting the Aaron’s Acres program off the ground. Dr. Beakley saw the program’s value and allowed her students to work at the camp and earn course credits.

The camp program has since evolved into a school year program where once a month, on Friday nights, students ages 13-21 with disabilities go out into the community. MU students can apply for an internship opportunity with the Saturday night program held at the University – first as a 300-level student and then as a 400-level student. This program is for children ages 5-12 with disabilities and is held once a month during the school year.

Each MU intern begins by working 1:1 with a child during the 300-level experience, then during the 400-level experience, the intern plans, creates and implements programs with other 400-level interns, stepping back from working directly with one child. Over the years, a good number of students have remained with us beyond the internship and gone on to continue as staff members. Currently, an MU graduate has served as a site supervisor for 18 years.

MU students who have had this opportunity have shared that they gained considerable knowledge in working with children with varying challenges; they felt extremely prepared for student teaching because of being a part of Aaron’s Acres as interns.

One former MU student stated,

“Aaron’s Acres provided me with a unique opportunity to embrace the whole child and discover areas of interest and passion that don’t always surface during the off-and-running, time-crunched, deadline-approaching, high-stakes environments that schools provide”.

Another student shared,

“To sum it up briefly, I would not be where I am today, professionally, without the partnership that Millersville shares with Aaron’s Acres.”

Lastly, another student said,

“I have heard from administrators around the county that if they see Aaron’s Acres and Millersville University on a resume, they are inclined to think that those candidates are near the top.  This pays so much respect to both Millersville and Aaron’s Acres as individuals, and as a pair.  To share a personal story, I received my first job offer while dressed in my Aaron’s Acres attire!”

Partnering with MU has been a win-win for all! MU students gain hands-on experience with supervision from our professional staff on a deeper level with children who have disabilities. Aaron’s Acres benefits from having undergraduate students join our programs, bringing their enthusiasm, creativity, and positivity to all that we do for this population.

At Aaron’s Acres, we want MU interns to embrace the culture we’ve created: thinking outside the box, providing a variety of recreational activities for children with disabilities and demonstrating that our participants can do everything – we, the staff, just need to make it happen! We are grateful to the interns that take this opportunity to learn more, embrace our culture, and share in meaningful experiences with our participants. .

It is our hope and dream that this partnership continues and even expands as we move forward!