13 Quick Years

Pictured above is the Year 2000 entering Kindergarten class enrolled in Deaf & Hard of Hearing programs located in the John Powers Center (Vernon Hills, IL).  Fast-forward thirteen years to the picture below of nine of the graduates of the Class of 2013 at Grayslake North High School.  Several students are in both pictures.

For many of the teachers, interpreters and support staff within SEDOL programs for the Deaf & Heard of Hearing, the past thirteen years have passed by so very quickly.  Some of the staff actually began working with the students when they turned three years of age.  Now, these students are poised to leave SEDOL support, having come to the point of moving to higher education as independent adults.

Several of the students in the picture below will relocate to the Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY) and its internal school, the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, intending to pioneer careers in emerging technology and engineering.  Others will remain locally, enrolling in the College of Lake County with intent to craft careers in medical and health services, culinary arts and the automotive industry.  One student will enroll in Harper College in Palatine, IL, having an affinity for mathematics. Another is considering a path into college that would pair with support to deaf education programs as a paraprofessional with interpreter skills.

SEDOL staff understand that when working especially with students with challenges, time is of the essence.  The school years must always be fully planned with the intent of developing a little more success with each passing school day.  The day does come when our students expect to move beyond SEDOL programs and services.  Thanks to the dedication and perseverance of employees within SEDOL, such days are cause for celebration.

Congratulations to the many 2013 graduates of SEDOL High School and Transition Service programs.  And thank you, SEDOL teachers, paraprofessionals, support staff and administrators for preparing our graduates for the adult world ahead.

Digital SEDOL

The Special Education District of Lake County is taking a major leap into the digital world.  Things are well under way to convert the storerooms and closets of over five decades of paper accumulated by SEDOL operations into electronic records and files.  The first phase is focusing upon student records and determining what is necessary and should be converted from paper to electronic documents.  It is not an easy task, but thanks to the hard work of a committed group of central office employees, electronic student records should be a regular feature of SEDOL at the start of the 2013-2014 school year.

Printed documents are sometimes necessary when sharing information about a student in special education, especially in an IEP (individual education plan) team meeting.  But the permanent record of a student’s special education eligibility and ongoing service from year to year are actually best filed electronically.  Digital records can have multiple backups that are highly secured and stored in locations far away from a work site.  Digital records and their backups have no concern of flood, fire or major catastrophe.  Paper can be lost in such situations.

This is actually my second experience with the conversion of a school system’s records from paper to digital storage.  In my first encounter, I could not fathom how I would manage without access to paper documents.  However, once I engaged with the system, I found the convenience of access (anytime, 24/7), the ability to quickly find a document with only a couple of search words, and the elimination of time in dealing with paper (out of file; back into file) to be a wonderful new world of convenience.

There are some anxious employees, at present, in SEDOL who wonder if they can operate in a digital record environment.  From my own experience, I am certain they will find that in just a few short months they will wonder how they ever dealt with the demands of a paper world.

(Pictured Above – L to R:  Sifting through thousands of files for digital imaging – Crissy Bloom, Gloria Wenzlaff, Tom Moline, Susie Staranowicz.   Pictured Below:  Christopher Howes, with just one student’s special education file.)

I Didn’t Know I Could Do That

A walk through Cyd Lash Academy during the school’s recent spring art fair made it obvious that many of the students that attend this therapeutic high school have exceptional talent.  Art Therapist, Brian Sonders, encourages all students to participate and most do, though some need more coaching than others.  The spring experience is often a “coming to life” of hidden talent within students at Cyd Lash.  And the results can be to the amazement of the creators of the art as well as to those who come to observe.

Personal growth at Cyd Lash Academy can sometimes be ascertained when a student professes, “I didn’t know I could do that.”  Two times in two years I have stood in front of some of the most remarkable art of the spring show and have had the proud student-creator beside me utter those words.  The annual Cyd Lash Academy Spring Art Fair appears to me to be a blossoming of a student’s inner self-confidence that may help to produce fruit later on in many other ways.

Cyd Lash Academy is a setting where students come to eventually trust the high levels of understanding and acceptance that are a hallmark of this particular school.  They find the school to be a safe place to learn about themselves, their talents and their passions.  From trust and security comes a willingness to work with instructors to construct goals and work concertedly toward high school graduation and then on to higher education.

(Pictured:  Art Therapist, Brian Sonders, poses with some of the student art creations featured at the 2013 Cyd Lash Academy Spring Art Fair.)

Up North

The Special Education District of Lake County (SEDOL) stretches across the full length of Illinois’ most northern county from the upper limits of Chicago to the Wisconsin state line.  Serving thirty-five local school districts and employing a staff of 750 providers, SEDOL is the largest special education cooperative in the State of Illinois.

Recently, I took opportunity to spend most of a day “up north” at SEDOL’s Language & Social Skills Opportunities (LASSO) classrooms housed by Antioch HS District #117 (directed by teacher, Kelly McIntyre) and Antioch Elementary District #34 (directed by teacher, Shamim Choudhury).  The two programs have the distinction of being the most northern within SEDOL, being just a few miles from the Illinois/Wisconsin state line.  LASSO programs are developed for students from preschool to high school who exhibit characteristics generally associated with autism spectrum disorders and require a highly structured, specialized program to meet individual needs in the areas of communication, social skills, sensory needs, functional academics, and self help skills.  Identification of students with autism continues to increase and with it the need for high intensity service provided cost-efficiently through cooperative efforts such as that found in the operation of SEDOL.

SEDOL is often identified by its eight facilities, but coursing through the long expanse of Lake County and within SEDOL are thirty-eight sector classrooms housed in local school district buildings.  Population density is high in southern school districts and SEDOL sector programs may serve students from only two or three school districts.  But as you progress toward center and upward to the northern reaches of SEDOL, a sector classroom may provide service to four, five, six, or more local school districts.  The farther you go “up north,” the greater the need for high quality special education programming shared amongst several school districts.  SEDOL is dedicated to providing such”sector” programming, employing highly talented teachers and support personnel as cost-efficiently as is possible.

(Pictured above:  Students in the LASSO program hosted by Antioch High School District 117 at the end of a session emphasizing help within the family and proper procedure in support of young children.  (L to R – Chris Koth, SEDOL Vocational Facilitator; some of the students in LASSO programming; Kelly McIntyre, SEDOL Teacher of LASSO)

Go!

Student safety and emergency preparedness is a top priority at SEDOL.  Practice drills are a regular feature of SEDOL operations.  Should students are staff need to be actually displaced and the announcement is made to “’Go!,” SEDOL teachers and support staff are prepared.  Thanks to funding provided by the Astellas USA Foundation and support from the SEDOL Foundation, emergency backpacks now exist in all of our SEDOL classrooms.

Funding from the Astellas USA Foundation recently provided $16,800 to assist building principals and classroom teachers with emergency preparedness in the event of a crisis or power outage.  With these funds, SEDOL schools and classrooms were able to purchase a portable collection of emergency supplies and provisions for every classroom should students be displaced during an emergency situation.

The Go! Backpack is filled with various emergency/crisis supplies and provisions based on the unique student population of a SEDOL building and its classrooms. Examples of materials found in the Go! Backpacks include flashlights, batteries, tarps, first aid kits, bandages, two-way radios, a clipboard, markers, notepads, pens, disposable gloves, sanitizer, water, the school emergency plan, student emergency forms, safety vests, and student activity materials.

We hope a crisis never interrupts the operation of a SEDOL classroom.  However, if the announcement is made to “Go!,” SEDOL students and staff are prepared.  Thank you, Astellas USA and the SEDOL Foundation, for supporting our students and staff in the event of an actual emergency.

(Pictured above:  L to R – Dr. Tom Moline, Ann Subry, Executive Director of the SEDOL Foundation, Dr. Gail Lantvit, SEDOL Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment)

Sib Shop

On Saturday February 9 2013, SEDOL School Social Worker, Deb Hermalyn, invited me to a unique family support program.  Helping to raise and provide for a sibling with challenges is a true growth experience.  Brothers and sisters of children with challenges have their own unique needs that can often be met by getting involved with peers who have the same experiences.

Thanks to a grant provided by the SEDOL Foundation (http://www.sedolfoundation.org), a program called Sib Shop was introduced in October 2012 to siblings of children served at Laremont School.  Since then, the monthly meetings have expanded to include brothers and sisters of children who are autistic impaired. Whereas the first meeting involved five children, the February 9 gathering hosted fourteen.  The recent expansion is credited to collaboration between the Laremont Sib Shop facilitators, the SEDOL Autism Parent Support Group and the Illinois Autism Training & Technical Assistance Project (IATTAP).  SEDOL Social Workers, Sheila Geier, Melinda Harmon and Deb Hermalyn now orchestrate the monthly sibling gatherings in concert with IATTAP representatives Andrea Damenti and Rachel Westberg.

A Sib Shop is described by Don Meyer, Director of the Sibling Support Project, as “opportunities for brothers and sisters of children with health and developmental needs to obtain peer support and education within a recreational context.”  Siblings meet with their peers in an energetic, fun celebration of the many contributions made by brothers and sisters of kids with special needs.  Sib Shops are typically for children between 8 and 13.  However, depending on the interest, older and younger siblings may be considered as well.

From my observations, the program gives children growing up alongside a sibling who is challenged, a very supportive circle of friends.  I found it surprising that when children raised questions in the group, many of the answers came from other children in attendance.  It became apparent that the fourteen students in the group understood they were by no means alone in their helping to support their challenged brother or sister.  It was also apparent that this unique support group could assist not just the children in attendance but their families, as well.

Sib Shop leaders are working on adapting activities and materials for younger children so that more siblings can soon participate.  If you are interested in learning more about this program, please call or email Sheila Geier or Mindy Harmon at 847-986-2567 (sgeier@sedol.us) or 847-986-2568 (mharmon@sedol.us).

(Pictured above: Support workers and siblings of the February 9, 2013 Sib Shop.    Pictured below: Group discussion and sharing.)

Abbie Currie – Daily Herald “Top Teacher!”

Congratulations to Abigail “Abbie” Currie upon her selection as a Lake County Daily Herald “Top Teacher!”  Knowing Abbie’s talents, dedication to her students and her school, the honor should come as no surprise.  SEDOL is beaming with pride at having one of our many talented special educators become the leadoff teacher in the Daily Herald’s teacher recognition program.

There is considerable coverage of Abbie and the programs at John Powers Center.  To read all about it and view a video, click on each of the links below (Note:  A pop-up subscription ad may appear.  Simply click off on the “X” on the upper right hand corner):

Article

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20130114/news/701149839/

Video

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20130114/news/701149839/video/