Pipeline Spring-Summer 2009

THE NEWSLETTER THAT KEEPS PARENTS INFORMED

Carbon Lehigh Intermediate

Unit #21

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Parent Pipeline S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 0 9

Local Task Force Meetings Local Task Force Meetings are held at the Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit’s Central Office in Schnecksville. All parents and interested persons are welcome to bring questions and concerns to the meetings. Call 610-769-4111 or 800-223-4821, Extension 1218 for more information. Next Meeting Date: May 21, 2009 at 10:00 a.m.

Notice to Parents of Students in the SITES School Based Partial Hospitalization Programs in Carbon and Lehigh County The Summer SITES Program is a therapeutic and recreational program which operates three days a week, Tuesday through Thursday, from July 7th to August 6th in Lehigh County and Carbon County. This program is free to the parents of students who are enrolled in CLIU SITES Programs during the school year. The Intermediate Unit will provide transportation if needed. It is extremely important that you attend upcoming treatment team meetings if your child will be attending Summer SITES. At these meetings, you will be presented with forms that need to be completed for participation in the program. Once completed, your child will be assigned to a summer program and transportation will be scheduled. If you have any questions regarding our program, please feel free to contact your child’s therapist at the school site. Thank you for your ongoing cooperation.

Extended School Year (ESY) Dates July 6th through August 7th, 2009

Summer Early Intervention Classes July 13-17, 2009 August 3-7, 2009 July 20-24, 2009 August 10-14, 2009

Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit #21 4210 Independence Dr.

Schnecksville, PA 18078-2580

Directions are available on our web site, www.cliu.org.

P A G E 2

The 16th Annual

Carbon Lehigh

Special Needs

Children’s

Foundation Golf

Tournament is

occurring on

Tuesday,

June 16th, 2009,

at the

Olde Homestead

Golf Club.

Calling All Volunteers

Miracle League

Sixteenth Annual CLSNCF Golf Tournament

The Intermediate Unit is in need for volunteers to act as Surrogate Parents for students who do not have a guardian available to act on their behalf. Volunteers typically will attend IEP or CER meetings, and act in place of a parent or guardian in making school-related decisions. This is a service that the IU provides for students who attend any of the 14 districts within the Carbon and Lehigh Counties. If you have time during the day, and want to help meet the needs of a child in your area, please call or email Kellie Price or Rick Nicolazzi. We would be glad to answer any questions you have. Thank you in advance.

Rick Nicolazzi, Kellie Price 610-794-1300, ext. 1667 610-769-4111, ext. 1954 Lehigh County Surrogate Parent Lehigh County Surrogate Parent Coordinator Coordinator [email protected] [email protected]

The 16th CLSNCF Golf Tournament, presented by Carbon Lehigh Special Needs Children’s Foundation and the four-teen public school districts of Carbon and Lehigh Counties in cooperation with the Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit

#21, is scheduled for Tuesday, June 16th, 2009, at the Olde Homestead Gold Club, 6598 Route 309, New Tripoli. Proceeds from the tournament support special needs children in recreational and educational activities.

If you are interested in more information, please see our website at www.cliu.org, call Tom Mullen or Barbara Montanari at 800-223-4821 or 610-769-4111, or email us at [email protected] or [email protected]. We are particularly interested in potential sponsors and have different levels of sponsorship available to suit any business.

May 9th, 2009, is the opening day for the fourth season of the Miracle League of the Lehigh Valley. The Miracle League provides the opportu-nity for children ages 4-21 with special needs to play baseball regardless of their diagnosis or abilities. All special needs children are encouraged to participate regardless of their limitations. Each player will be assigned to a team with 12-14 players. Each team will play one game a week. There are no practices, and we do not expect players to make every game. Games are three innings long and each player bats in each inning. Each player has a buddy who will assist them throughout the game. All games last about 45 minutes to an hour and take place at Fowler Field at the Jaindl Family Park which is located at 5858 Sell Road in Schnecksville, PA. For more information on the Miracle League, see www.miracleleaguelv.org or contact Melissa Kocsis at 484-221-9814 or 484-707-5746. Registration forms will be distributed throughout various CLIU programs.

P A R E N T P I P E L I N E S P R I N G – S U M M E R 2 0 0 9

News from the Lehigh Learning and Adjustment School (LLAS)

Students, Joseph Seminara of Parkland School District and Jacob Young from Salisbury School District were recently recognized at the CLIU March 16, 2009 Board meeting for their artwork, which was used to create the 2008 CLIU Holiday card. Students from Mrs. Fink’s seventh and eighth grade class are working on a group goal for a pizza party. Every student must earn an A grade on their behavior for the same day to earn the party. In English, the class is learning poetry and writing couplets. In Science, students are learning about am-phibians and performing virtual dissections of an amphibian on the computer. In Social Studies, the class is studying about World Wonders including the Great Wall of China. The class is going to be building a Great Wall of LLAS out of sugar blocks and researching/preparing a traditional Chinese meal. Mrs. Young's seventh and eighth grade class has been utilizing all of their new technology in the classroom. They are doing interactive lessons on the Smart Board, and using the computer lab to research and create their own catalogs. The class recently took a trip to Cabela's, where students studied animal life and habitats. Students are currently working on a transitions unit for identifying positive characteristics that will make them successful citizens and employees. Overall, behavior has been phenomenal, with most students on Levels 4 or 5! Ms. Montesino reports her ninth and tenth grade students have been studying various countries, and have been researching food to cook from each country, along with making informational posters using the internet. In Litera-ture, they have been studying plays, and working on their own play that the students will eventually perform for other classes. The students are also really enjoying working with the interactive Smart Board. The classroom team continues to utilize various individualized contracts to improve behavior.

LLAS staff wanted to show off their computer skills using the Smart Boards installed in all classrooms at the start of the New Year. Technology Day was held on March 23, 2009. The students were motivated and engaged in interactive lessons using the new technology, various educational software, and interactive websites.

P A G E 3 S P R I N G — S U M M E R 2 0 0 9

News from the Classrooms/Programs

“Who I am

Makes a

Difference

Ribbons”

were sent by

students and

they asked

that the

ribbons be

passed on to

other people.

News from the Classrooms/Programs contd.

News from the Lehigh Learning and Adjustment School (LLAS) Mrs. Strohl’s eleventh and twelfth grade classroom is preparing for graduation. Students have been working on skills that will be needed in post secondary education, employment, and independent living. Academically, the students are preparing a research paper on a topic of their choice. The students will then be using the smart board to edit each others’ papers. For employment, the students are creating a resume to keep and update as needed. As for independent living, the students have been working and will continue to work on the following assignments; meal planning, transportation awareness, cooking, and awareness of community resources. The classroom will be helping to initiate and carry out fundraising activities for graduation. They will also be touring the Kutztown University campus and attending the Transition Academy at Muhlenberg College. News from the Carbon Learning and Adjustment School (CLAS)

Ms. Durange has several students in her senior high class taking online courses. There are several students who work at a faster pace and on higher levels than the other students so this allows them to learn in their own style and at their own pace. There is also one student taking a class two days a week at LCCC this semester.

Mr. Grammes students as well as the staff have been collecting pennies and donating them to the “Cents of Hope” campaign. These pennies will be used to benefit malnourished and poverty stricken children in the Honduras. Pennies have not been counted yet so it will be interesting to see the end result.

Ms. Longenbach and her seventh and eighth graders recently celebrated the fact that one of the students reached Level 6. This is the highest level of the point system used in the program. This is very difficult to achieve and takes a long time. By doing this the student is showing that he has mastered his behavioral and academic expectations and will soon be ready to return to his home school. Students took a walk to Bert’s in Palmerton to enjoy lunch with the proud student. Emotional Support Programs News in the Palmerton Area School District

Students at Palmerton Jr. High wrote letters to President Obama. They were asked to brainstorm the issues pertaining to the presidential campaign, along with personal issues that may be affecting their lives and the lives of those around them. Students were very excited about this project and had many interesting discussions. In the process they also learned sentence structure, grammar, and how to write a friendly letter. Students posed for a picture that was sent with the letters and are anxiously awaiting a response.

Students are now working on a project after reading the book, My Red Rubber Ball by Kevin Carroll. Kevin was born and raised in center city Philadelphia and was told by his teachers to stop dreaming about something that he would never achieve and put down his basketball. He is now a top executive for NIKE! As their final project students are decorating cardboard boxes and will then place items in the boxes that are symbols of what things are important to them from the past and for the future as well. The goal is to help students realize that they should never give up on their dreams and to believe in themselves. Parents will then be invited to share a breakfast with the students so that they can see the results of their hard work.


P A G E 4


Princess in the Pea Cake


SS Palmer’s fourth through sixth graders wrote to one of the soldiers in Iraq. They also created cards to send as well. The students were very involved with this project and enjoyed hearing from their pen pal.

Towamensing Elementary kindergarten through fourth grade students continue to be pen pals with residents of a nursing home. This is the fifth year and is a very positive experience for the students as well as the residents. Each month students either write letters to their pen pal or create cards if there is a holiday. At the end of each school year students go to visit the residents and meet their pen pals while having a picnic.

The classroom also participated in Adopt a Soldier – an organization based in California. Students were given the name and address of a soldier serving in Iraq. In September, each student sent a Who I am Makes a Difference Ribbon and asked that they be passed on to other people. Students explained the meaning of the ribbons that had been handed out to staff on inservice day and that the theme of the year was to have everyone be aware of the good things that each person does. In October, students created flags and wrote something they were thankful for in honor of Columbus Day. In November, the theme was Veteran’s day and students made pictures and wrote about the meaning of Veteran’s Day and thanked Veterans for serving our country. In December, the students received a letter stating that their soldier’s tour of duty was over and they were returning home. The Whitehall-Coplay Middle School Life Skills class recently participated in the canned food drive for Second Harvest, a program to help those less fortunate. They had over 20 donations of canned goods from their classroom. The class was informed the school will be providing a pizza party for them for their contributions.

Special Olympics Skiing - Under the direction of Brian Segel, students at Whitehall High School participated in Special Olympics Skiing. David Dean, Josh Witter, Dustin Carver, and Felecia DeSanto journeyed to Blue Mountain Ski resort each Wednesday to perfect their techniques on the slopes. It was pretty amazing that they saw the slopes at all considering that most of our winter storms occurred on Wednesdays!! They did find a few enjoyable Wednesdays of skiing and a good time was had by all.

Dustin Carver qualified for state competition which was held at Penn State University in State College on February 23-25. Dustin skied his way to gold in Super GS, giant slalom, and slalom events. Congratulations, Dustin and thank you to Brian for all your help and support! Thomas Buss, a student in Katie Weidner's Life Skills Room at Whitehall High School, was given an award from the police and security guards at the high school for finding a potential safety hazard in the school and pointing it out to security.

Jane Seng, CLIU MDS Functional Teacher, has taken her students to the Allentown Public Library for several years, where they participate in fun and interactive story times with the librarian. With the help of parents, Mosser students, Benjamin, Dianitza, Angelina, Aisha, Stephanie, Aleah, Debra, and Tania, completed information so that they could receive their own library card. On this year’s C.B.I. trip to Allentown Library, they handed in their completed forms. Students attending this trip received their very own library card that day. Absent students received theirs later. They can now check out books, tapes, and movies. Way to go Mosser students!

P A G E 6



The Multiple Disabilities Class at Union Terrace celebrated two students’ birthdays in a very special way. Teacher, Deb Werley, found an amazing birthday cake suggestion in the Family Fun Magazine. Assistants, Barb and Sonia, helped Reynaldo, Logan, and Debra bake and decorate the pastry. Angelynn, 14, and Joshuana, 13, were thrilled with their Princess and the Pea cake. The entire group enjoyed the story and celebration with their real ACE of a CAKE! Supervisor, Morag Christie-Churm, had suggested a pound cake but was overruled. The result was amazing!

Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living (LVCIL) has received a multiyear grant from the Pennsylvania Develop-mental Disabilities Council to provide an intensive transition program to students ages 14-21 with any type of disability. S2L, or School to Life is meant to supplement what schools are doing in the area of transition by providing supports toward the participant with an ultimate goal of independent or supportive living, and the path they will take to get to their independence. The program is a comprehensive look

into every area of life that may need support as a student with a disability transitions from a very supportive environment of school into the real world. The program includes an Independent Life Coach, mentors who have been through the transition process, a stakeholder team to help sup-port the participant, same age peer support, family or guardian support, and a person–centered plan of support. There will also be a regular seminar series that includes topics of learning, sur-rounding independent living and a more intensive summer skill building workshop, The Real World Lehigh Valley, that will last for six weeks and provide a learning experience surrounding independent living. For more information on the S2L program, please check out www.LVCIL.org and click on the Services tab. You can also contact Seth Hoderewski, Independent Life Coach, at 610-770-9781 ext.19 or by email at [email protected].

The Princess and the Pea by Hans Christian Andersen There was once a prince, and he wanted a princess, but then she must be a real Princess. He travelled right around the world to find one, but there was always something wrong. There were plenty of princesses, but whether they were real princesses he had great difficulty in dis-covering; there was always something which was not quite right about them. So at last he had come home again, and he was very sad because he wanted a real princess so badly. One evening there was a terrible storm; it thundered and lightning and the rain poured down in torrents; indeed it was a fearful night. In the middle of the storm somebody knocked at the town gate, and the old King himself sent to open it. It was a princess who stood outside, but she was in a terrible state from the rain and the storm. The water streamed out of her hair and her clothes; it ran in at the top of her shoes and out at the heel, but she said that she was a real princess. 'Well we shall soon see if that is true,' thought the old Queen, but she said nothing. She went into the bedroom, took all the bed clothes off and laid a pea on the bedstead: then she took twenty mattresses and piled them on top of the pea, and then twenty feather beds on top of the mattresses. This was where the princess was to sleep that night. In the morning they asked her how she slept. 'Oh terribly bad!' said the princess. 'I have hardly closed my eyes the whole night! Heaven knows what was in the bed. I seemed to be lying upon some hard thing, and my whole body is black and blue this morning. It is terrible!' They saw at once that she must be a real princess when she had felt the pea through twenty mattresses and twenty feather beds. Nobody but a real princess could have such a delicate skin. So the prince took her to be his wife, for now he was sure that he had found a real princess, and the pea was put into the Museum, where it may still be seen if no one has stolen it.


CARBON LEHIGH INTERMEDIATE UNIT

ANNIE SULLIVAN AWARD The CLIU again is participating in the Annie Sullivan Award program, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Association of Intermediate Units. The award, named for Helen Keller’s teacher and friend, honors an educator who exemplifies caring involvement with students with disabilities, and helps others in school and the community understand and accept students with disabili-ties. The award is open to any CLIU teacher, therapist, administrator, psychologist, social worker, or other support staff employed by the CLIU. Please keep in mind the award is not intended to recognize someone for excellent perform-ance of required job duties, career-long achievement, or length of service. To nominate someone, complete the form below and return to Jack Houser, Director of Special Programs and Ser-vices at the CLIU office by June 1, 2009. Please state specific examples of the nominee’s efforts to include students with disabilities in school and/or the com-munity. A committee of CLIU staff will determine the recipient. TO BE COMPLETED BY PERSON MAKING NOMINATION Please describe why the nominee is worthy of receiving the Annie Sullivan Award. Please write legibly, print or type. If more space is needed, attach additional pieces of paper.

Nominee _________________________________ Nominee’s position ____________________ Nominee’s employer ______________________________ School _________________________ Nominee’s home address_________________________________________________________ Person making nomination Your position Relationship to nominee ____________________________ Office Telephone Nominee Nominee’s position Nominee’s employer ________________________________ School Nominee’s home address

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P A G E 8


Spec

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tion

Prog

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s for

Spec

ial N

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Child

ren


Celebrity Chef in Jim Thorpe The students in Kerrie Hoffman’s Life Skills class were treated to a delicious dish on April 24th. One of the students, Ashley Henry, had told her classmates all year about her sister Amanda’s boyfriend, T.J.. He is a chef at the Borgata in Atlantic City. When the class heard that T.J., Amanda and their son Rocco were coming to visit Ashley’s family, we asked if he would make us some fancy food. He agreed to do a cooking lesson for the class. The students made a list of questions to ask the chef including if he ever had any famous customers, what he eats at home, and what someone needs to do to become a chef. Chef T.J. then made FRATELLI which he explained was a recipe that Italians often make with leftover pasta, meat,and cheeses. He made the food in front of the students and allowed everyone to taste the finished product. It was delicious!! One student commented, This is like watching Emeril Live.

Visit our website at http://www.cliu.org

Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit 21

4210 Independence Drive

Schnecksville, PA 18078-2580

Phone: 800-223-4821 or 610-769-4111

Documents

Pipeline Spring-Summer 2009