A Special Holiday Exchange

As crowds in the high school gym cheered, a group of students bravely waited to perform. Then the music picked up.

While some were in wheelchairs, mental and physical disabilities were near-forgotten as they danced, sang and soaked up the spotlight.

Palos Verdes Peninsula High School welcomed students from the Ernest P. Willenberg Special Education Center earlier this month as part of an exchange program that's been around some 41 years.

In turn, Palos Verdes Peninsula students traveled to Willenberg, 308 Weymouth Ave., in San Pedro, just last week. The two groups visited each other's schools, spent the day together and gave holiday performances.

About 450 Peninsula students signed up to perform at Willenberg for the immensely popular program, Palos Verdes Peninsula Principal Mitzi Cress said.

"We have this incredible culture in terms of our acceptance of (kids) with special needs," she said. "Bullying is not even a word around here."

Natalia DeSalles, Palos Verdes Peninsula High School sophomore, was paired with a boy named Chris, from Willenberg, the day the students visited her school. Shy at first, he eventually let loose, she said.

"He's been dancing around the whole time," she said. "It feels good to do something so simple that means so much to them."

Willenberg students, some in Santa hats, kept up with the beat of popular holiday tunes during performances at Peninsula choreographed by Willenberg staff.

"They like to perform, they like to dance," said Jan Casey, Willenberg special education teacher.

The Willenberg students perform with something special in mind for Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, she said.

"It's our present to them," Casey said.

After the performance at her school, Cress remarked on commonalities between the two groups of students.

"We're all one community," she said. "We all have strengths and weaknesses. I think we just saw their strength."

Season Pollock, director of student activities for Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, organized the exchange. She rented costumes, purchased gifts and held auditions for kids who wanted to perform at Willenberg.

Pollock said her students look forward to the performances all year, and the exchange reminds the teens what really matters.

"What's most important is our special relationships with other students," Pollock said.

Standing in the gym after the Willenberg performance, Allison Lee, Palos Verdes Peninsula High School student, said she's looked forward to the program for a long time.

And despite any differences between them, Lee wasn't standoffish when it came to befriending a student in a wheelchair or cheering on any others who visited her school.

"We really just wanted to get to know them," she said.