Goddard School Owners Receive Milton Brown Award

Lake County Chapter #336 of the Illinois Council for Exceptional Children is proud to sponsor the Milton Brown Award, to recognize individuals who perform exceptional service on behalf of children with disabilities. Milt Brown was a long-time special education administrator for the Special Education District of Lake County who specialized in business and operations and who exemplified the many dedicated persons who give unselfishly of their talents and skills on behalf of individuals with disabilities.

This award was presented at the Exceptional Children's Week Awards Ceremony on Sunday, May 6, 2012, at the Ramada Inn on Green Bay Road in Waukegan. This year's recipients are David and Donna Raye of Lake Forest for their efforts with Special Education District of Lake County (SEDOL).

David and Donna Raye were nominated by Dr. Carol DuClos SEDOL Program Review and Development Specialist and Ann Subry, Executive Director of the SEDOL Foundation for their ongoing support and commitment to the students in Lake County that have special needs.

David joined the SEDOL Foundation 7 years ago and is the current chairman of the board. Under David's leadership the Foundation has reached a milestone of raising over $500,000 that allowed the Foundation to grant more money than ever to the SEDOL center and various programs.

Donna has volunteered on many SEDOL events and has leant her creative talents to the Annual Dinner Dance held in March.

In 2009, David and Donna started the "Help Them to Hear" program. More than 400 children in SEDOL's care have been identified with partial or complete hearing loss. The cost of hearing aids – typically $1,500 to $6,000 – is prohibitive for most families. The "Help Them to Hear" fund provides assistance to the many families that don't qualify for state funds. The grant started by the Raye's served as the seed money used to start the "Help Them to Hear" technology development and implementation program at SEDOL's Audiological Services Department in Gages Lake.

This program aims at creating a system for identifying children who may otherwise not get the help they need, and making sure they are fitted with hearing aids or other technology. This will enable them to develop speaking, reading and other skills, not to mention the enjoyment of a happy, healthy childhood that each young person deserves.

David and his wife, Donna, have been married 29 years. After a career in hospital administration, Donna has spent the last 15 years creating a loving, caring, and nurturing environment at home for their children to learn and grow while they attend school.

David and Donna have 2 children, Emily, 15, a sophomore at Woodlands Academy , and Evan, 13, who attends Deerpath Middle School, both in Lake Forest.

David Raye is owner of The Goddard School Third Lake, IL. After two decades as an executive in the corporate world, David's young children inspired him to dedicate his life to delivering high-quality education for infants, toddlers, pre-school and kindergarten children. David's extensive research led him to The Goddard School, whose reputation is unsurpassed for quality for both the school facility and curriculum. The Goddard School has been rated #1 in Early Childhood education for the last 9 consecutive years and enjoys an excellent national reputation.

Within 7 years, David's school has quickly become one of the top 10 schools out of over 400 Goddard Schools within the United States in all business, program, and health & safety categories.

David earned a Bachelor's Degree from Rutger's University and an MBA in Executive Management from St. John's University, New York. Most recently he was part of an executive management team, as General Manager and Sr. Vice President of worldwide operations that grew a computer software startup and took it public.

David serves on the Deacon Board of Christ Church Lake Forest which consists of leaders who conducts all business on behalf of the church. He is also serves as Chairman of the Board for the Special Education District of Lake County (SEDOL) which assists severely disabled children from 3 – 22 years of age. David also is Past-President of the Grayslake Exchange Club whose mission is eliminating Child Abuse. Most recently, David joined the Board of the Hindustan Bible Institute located in Chennai, India, where he has participated in short term missionary work with the poor and under-privileged.