Five Fantastic Beachwood Women: Sheri Gross

March is about to end and with it, the close of Women’s History Month. First celebrated publicly as “Women’s History Week” in Sonoma, Calif., during the first week in March, it became a national celebration in 1981 by an act of Congress before it was expanded to the entire month six years later.

For a look at what women have to offer, one need look no farther than Beachwood. Below is the first of a sampling of those women, but is by no means a complete representation. We’ve included the founder of a magazine for parents of teenagers, two executives of nonprofits, the director of a theater program who created an environment where children with special needs feel safe and a woman who has devoted her life to making sure senior citizens can remain in their homes.

All of these women are part of what makes Beachwood great, and what makes women worth celebrating.

Sheri Gross

Sheri Gross remembers how it started. An instructor of children with special needs at  approached her one day. The teacher had a student who would be perfect for Gross’ performance arts camp who loved music and theater. It was a “win-win for everybody,” the instructor said.

It didn’t matter that the student had cerebral palsy, said Gross, director of the Playmakers Youth Theater at JCC. She found the student a perfect fit.

“I thought it would be great for the kids to be introduced to a child with special needs to see that there may be some differences, but maybe the differences aren’t so huge,” said Gross.

Eventually other students with special needs started signing up. The summer camp soon became so popular that the program extended to include plays throughout the year and Gross said she loved the idea of an all-inclusive program.

“Every summer we had kids with special needs and it had been so successful, when it came time to create a year-round program I didn’t think twice about including everyone,” said Gross. “I thought if it was going to be successful at camp, why wouldn’t it be successful in Oklahoma?”

The plays that are chosen typically have multiple roles so everyone can participate, even the kids who require the help of aides. She said parents love the program because they feel their child has a safe environment to express themselves.

“They could see that their child with special needs doesn’t stick out here. Every kid has a niche,” Gross said. “It’s a really safe environment for everybody. These kids mentor each other and I think a testament to that are the camp counselors are kids who have grown up through the program and don’t want to leave.”

The theater program now has 180 young actors and actresses participating – a far cry from the 30 that were involved when Gross took over in 1996. Gross said the program also includes diversity across other areas, especially among religious affiliation and denomination.

The program is currently in the process of preparing for its next performance, the musical Life is a Song, on April 10. For more information visit the JCC website. 

Look for the remaining four parts of this series today, Wednesday and Thursday on Beachwood Patch.