Students entering Mt. Vernon Township High School in Mt. Vernon, Illinois are now being greeted by a plaque recognizing Mapleton resident Terry Sandusky as a Distinguished Alumnus of the school, Class of 1962.
The MVTHS Distinguished Alumni Award was established in 1990 to recognize outstanding contributions of MVTHS Graduates in the following areas: Exceptional Accomplishments in Chosen Field and Career and Exceptional Contributions of Service and Leadership to Society. Nominations come from the community at large with the final selections made by the MVTHS administration.
The MVTHS administration reviewed the impact of Sandusky’s work and found he significantly affected services for children and adults with developmental disabilities in two states – Kentucky and Maine. First in Kentucky his innovative work started and modeled new educational services for children with autism which led to the expansion of similar services across the state in the early 1970s. Therapeutic preschools were opened in Western Kentucky for children with special needs. He additionally served on a commission that brought about the opening of Kentucky public schools to special education at a time when these programs were all privately run. Sandusky was at the forefront of these major education and behavioral treatment changes in Kentucky.
In Maine Sandusky was a leader in the creation of home and community-based services for adults with developmental disabilities. Working with his team, several new service systems were designed and piloted that led to the closure of Pineland Center and the Aroostook Residential Center, which were Maine’s two institutions for individuals with developmental disabilities. Agencies and programs created by him and his team and include the Sunrise Developmental Services in Washington County, Multiple Handicap Center of Penobscot Valley in Bangor, Green Valley Association in Island Falls, Danforth Rehabilitation Center in Danforth, Northern Aroostook Alternatives in Van Buren, Multiple Handicapped Association of Central Aroostook in Caribou, Personal Service of Aroostook in Presque Isle and St. john Valley Association for the Handicapped in Madawaska. The Central Aroostook Association, Southern Aroostook Association (Became Community Living Association) and Northern Maine General are three existing agencies that were substantially expanded over the years.
Sandusky’s work impacted other support efforts that made new and expanded services available. One impact was the co-authoring of the regulations for licensing small community waiver and group homes in the late 1970s which have been updated but are fundamentally still in place and relied upon on a daily basis for the more than 2,000 individuals living in them. A second impact area was the creation of a Community Case Management System with its accompanying Internet-based case record system designed and implemented in the 1990s and was the major workhorse used by the “Office of Aging and Disability Services” and its many community providers. The system contained two additional components – the Reportable Events Program which received 15,000 plus incident reports each year and the MaineCare (Medicaid) Service Authorization System through which $450,000,000 in services were authorized annually.
Before and during his retirement, he has maintained an active volunteer life because volunteerism is critical to community enrichment. His volunteer activities include 40 years of Mapleton Lions Club membership, 15 years on the Child Development Services Board, six years with Meals on Wheels and 15 years on the Crown of Maine Balloon Fest Committee. Currently Sandusky serves on the Maine Association of Retirees Board and the Northern Light A.R. Gould Patient and Family Advisory Committee.
Additionally he has always believed that the best way to honor the education he has received is to be a committed advocate for quality education for all. To that end he serves on the Maine School Administrative District No. 1 board and the SAGE-UMPI senior college board.
Based on Sandusky’s long career of innovative public service and community volunteerism, four of his classmates nominated him for this award and was subsequently selected by the school administration for recognition as a distinguished alumnus. The citation on Sandusky’s award plaque reads as follows: “Terry went from MVTHS to an extensive college career that included receiving an Associates of Arts Degree from the Mt. Vernon Community College in 1964, a Bachelor of Science Degree from Murray State University in 1967 (Earned Recognition as “Outstanding Graduate in Psychology”), a Master of Science Degree in Psychological Services in 1968 and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Maine at Orono in 1985. Through his 50-year career, he focused on creating new service for children and adults with developmental disabilities and their families, including early childhood, special education, supported employment and community living programs.”
The Distinguished Alumni Award is presented to recipients at the Annual MVTHS Foundation Dinner in the fall of each year. All past and current Distinguished Alumni recipients are recognized with a plaque in the school building as well as other forms of public recognition. Seventy-three of the school’s 60,000-plus graduates have been awarded this recognition.
In September, he returned to his hometown for his 62nd Class Reunion of the Class of 62. This trip gave him the opportunity to view his Distinguished Alumnus plaque that is hanging next to the front entrance of the school.
