The Lions Roar - Washington State School for the - WSSB 2 The Lions Roar THE LIONS ROAR Page 2 Jennifer was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. She earned a BS degree in Health

The Lions Roar March 2018

THE LIONS ROAR

February was heart month at the WSSB. Students had the opportunity to learn the anatomy of the heart, explore the science that keeps their hearts pumping, test positive lifestyle habits to maintain a healthy heart, learn fun and amazing heart facts, understand heart healthy nutrition, apply movement and exercise routines for healthy bodies and become certified in lifesaving CPR. Not only did students learn how to keep their own hearts pumping, they joined the effort in the fight against heart disease and stroke with the American Heart Associa-tion (AHA).

On February 15, WSSB hosted its annual “Exercise for Heart Day.” This event is WSSB’s most valuable activity that aims to open student minds to better understand the importance of heart health. Exercise for Heart Day was created as an adaptation event for blind and visually impaired students at WSSB to participate fully in the AHA’s “Jump Rope for Heart/Hoops for Heart” fund-raising and heart health awareness program. Instead of just jumping rope or shooting hoops, the WSSB campus had a goal to see how many minutes they could exercise in one day. Individuals and classes participate in walking, run-ning, biking, rowing, swimming, dancing, jump roping, hula hooping, goal-ball, basketball, soccer, floor hockey, climbing, balancing, ballet, posing and much more. Students either spent their exercise day in the gym or the class-room. In classrooms, teachers led their students in exercise before academic tests and lessons to promote movement for increased brain function, memory and performance.

Heart Mission Accomplished

By Jennifer Butcher, Certified Adapted Physical Educator, TVI

Inside this issue:

Exercise for Heart 1

New Board Members 2

Superintendent’s Up-

date

3-4

PFBC 4

Outreach and Recrea-

tion

5

Ogden Resource Ctr./

Education Update

6

Middle School Visit/

Recreation

7

Downhill Ski Program 8

Upcoming Events/

Board of Trustees

9

No matter the exercise, HEARTS were pumping, foreheads were sweating and faces smiled as WSSB clocked 7,512 hours (over 313 days) of exercise to raise healthy heart awareness and fundraise for the AHA. The amazing thing was that they did it all with positive attitudes and enormous effort. Some indi-vidual highlights included walking a total of 4 hours and 20 minutes on a treadmill; jump roping 161 times consecutively; swimming 49 laps of the pool; treading water for 66 minutes; swishing 29 basketball hoops; holding a straight arm plank for over 4 minutes; climbing the rock wall 15 times in 10 minutes and much more.

Only one word sums up the 2018 Exercise for Heart Day and Heart Month at WSSB, Wow! Students were given the opportunity to learn kinesthetically and then apply their engaged movement to make lifestyle improvements. WSSB set out on a mission to accomplish two things 1) to raise heart awareness and teach the importance of exercise in our lives and 2) to raise money for the AHA. Mission successfully accomplished. February Heart Month is so im-portant at WSSB, Why? Life is why (AHA 2018)!

People can now connect with us on Facebook and Twitter. WSSB posts updates to these sites which include daily happenings, activities, in-clement weather updates, kudos, and other fun and important information.

To stay updated, you can find us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sc h4blind and Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/sch4 blind.

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THE LIONS ROAR Page 2

Jim Eccles—Ex-Officio representing the Washington Federation of State Employees—Local #1225: Jim is a father of three and a grandfather of three. At the age of four in the late 1950’s, Jim was enrolled in preschool at the WSSB. In his third-grade year in the early 1960’s, his family moved to California; and he went to a public school with a resource room program 50 miles from his new home. In March of that school year, they moved back to Vancouver; and he rematriculated into WSSB. In high school, he began to take an increasing portion of his classes at the nearby public high school. Jim played trumpet in Hudson’s Bay’s band his first year and was on the wrestling team his second. After high school in the early 1970’s, he spent a dozen years alternatively going to school and working at Washington State University (WSU), along with some intervening quarters at Clark College. In 1983 after switching his major from music to political science with a pre-law option, he graduated from WSU with a BS in political science. Beginning in the 1983-1984 school year, he was hired as WSSB’s first computer skills instructor with a Rehab. Teacher credential. He then did post-baccalaureate work at Portland State University and received his social studies endorsement and teacher of the blind certification. After ten years of teaching, he moved to the residential life department, then transferred up to the fifth-year, independent living program, LIFTT (Learning Independence for Today and Tomorrow).

Reginald “Reg” George—Board Member representing Congressional District 4 Reg was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and grew up in the Midwest while attending the Kansas State School for the Blind. He is employed as an assistive technology specialist with Washington Services for the Blind training consumers to make the most of their assistive technology to retain or obtain employment. Reg holds a BA degree in Communication Studies from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. Reg's interests in-clude amateur radio, reading, travel, and singing barbershop and playing keyboards in local rock, pop, funk, blues, and Reggae bands. Reg enjoys learning about and applying the many ways technology can improve our lives and sharing that knowledge with others. He currently serves as vice president of the Yakima Valley Counsel of the Blind, and as past president on the board of the Valley of the Sun Barbershop Chorus.

Greg Szabo—Board Member representing Congressional District 5 Greg was born in Aurora, Illinois. When he was three years old, he was diagnosed with a retinal degenera-tive disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa. This inherited degenerative condition affects the rods and cones in a person’s eye. It causes a person to lose their peripheral vision, and affects night vision.

Greg now lives in Spokane Washington with his Guide Dog Finn. He works for The Lighthouse for the Blind in Spokane as their Director of Public Relations and Development. Greg started at the Lighthouse in production building and packaging wallboards, running punch presses and saws, and producing several thou-sand Entrenchment Tools for the Military. He always put in great effort to make sure the products he made for the U.S. Military were of high quality. Greg became the Director of Public Relations and Development in September of 2016. In his new role at the Lighthouse Greg works on fundraisers, speaks with government officials, and lets the public know about the great work the Lighthouse is providing for people that are blind in the Spokane community. Greg is also attending school at Eastern Washington University to receive his Bachelor’s Degree in communications with the help of the Lighthouse. Greg believes that vision loss does not need to hold him back from working hard and accomplishing his goals.

In his spare time Greg enjoys playing guitar, hiking, and watching hockey and baseball. Greg has worked with his Guide Dog Finn for more than eight years, and they have an amazing friendship. Greg is not afraid to try new things, and take chances with obstacles that may present themselves.

WSSB Welcomes Three New Board of Trustees/Ex-Officio Members

By Janet Kurz, Executive Assistant



Superintendent Update By Scott McCallum, Superintendent

I am well into my second year of serving as the Su-perintendent of the Washington State School for the Blind (WSSB) and it is hard to believe that we are nearing the home stretch of another productive school year. It has been a busy school year at WSSB highlighted by an expansion of our Short Course program options, passage of a Capital budget, many changes to our Board of Trustees, and the renaming of our beautiful fitness center, now known as the Stenehjem Fitness Center.

One of my main goals as the Superintendent is to make sure that Washingtonians, between the ages of birth to 21, who are blind or visually impaired (BVI) have access to an appropriate education with the support of appropriately trained personnel, regard-less of where they live in the state. WSSB addresses this goal in a multitude of ways. First, WSSB pro-vides Washington students with access to a full con-tinuum of service options. When one thinks of WSSB, they typically think of our residential school option, after all that was the primary intent for our creation back in the late 1800s. During Dr. Stenehjem’s career, he worked tirelessly to diversify our service options to meet the needs of the wide variety of students in the state. Nowadays we have a variety of service options that include a residential school program, day school program, online course-work, short courses, summer programs, as well as itinerant teachers and specialists (teacher of the visu-ally impaired, orientation and mobility, technology, braille transcription) available to provide support for students attending their neighborhood school.

One option that is really gaining in popularity is the short course option. Short courses allow students who attend their neighborhood school to attend WSSB for one week at a time to learn a specific skill or set of skills. The short course option is a very common option at schools for the blind around the country; however, there are many iterations of this type of program. Each short course targets a specific set of skills, usually centered around one of the nine areas of the expanded curriculum for the BVI (compensatory skills, O&M, sensory efficiency skills, career education skills, social skills, assistive

technology skills, recreation and leisure skills, self-determination skills, and daily living skills). Each weeklong session also provides time for our visiting students to complete the homework they have accu-mulated as a result of missing school for the week. Additionally, students who participate in short courses have access to the variety of after school op-tions available to students who attend WSSB. In ad-dition to building the skills targeted during the week, most students also appreciate the opportunity to practice social skills and make new friends, try out new activities (e.g. downhill skiing, goalball, etc.), and be surrounded by excellent role models who al-so happen to be BVI. I often hear about students de-veloping a more positive sense of self and greater self-confidence after attending just one short course. It is a truly wonderful opportunity and credit is due to the amazing campus staff that make this program a success. To learn more about our short course pro-gram options, please visit our website here: https://www.wssb.wa.gov/wp/welcome-to-wssb/school-home/short-courses/

WSSB is going to be very busy this summer. While an operating budget was passed by the legislature last June, they failed to pass a capital budget. This lack of capital budget impacted our ability to com-plete necessary campus maintenance, updates, and preservation. Luckily, the capital budget was a very high priority for the 2018 short legislative session and was passed early in the session. Many of our larger projects must be completed when students are not on campus, leaving the summer months and a few short breaks during the school year as potential project options. So, this summer, in addition to our full range of student and staff summer program op-tions, WSSB will be under construction. Each of our four cottages will be re-roofed, we will undergo a needed sewer line repair, and our parking lots will be seal-coated. A variety of other minor projects will also be underway during the summer of 2018. If you visit us on campus this summer, please be prepared for a little controlled chaos. We will be doing what we can to make sure that everything is ready for stu-dents at the start of the 2018-19 school year.



WSSB is pleased to welcome several new members to our Board of Trustees and Ex-Officio board. The WSSB Board of Trustees is comprised of individuals who represent the ten different congressional dis-tricts of Washington. Each member may serve two, five-year terms for a total of ten years. The Ex-Officio Board represents identified stakeholders of the agency such as the two unions who represent teachers and classified staff of WSSB, the National Federation of the Blind, the Washington Council of the Blind, and a parent representative. WSSB would like to welcome new Board of Trustee members Greg Szabo and Reginald George. Greg will be re-placing long-time board member Lorna Walsh to

represent Congressional District 5. Reginald George will be replacing Mr. Jim Kemp to represent Con-gressional District 4. Jennifer Butcher will serve on the Ex-Officio Board to represent the Washington Public Education Association (WPEA) of WSSB. Jim Eccles has agreed to serve on the Ex-Officio Board to represent the members of the Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE). Board of Trustees and Ex-Officio Board members play a criti-cal role in advising the superintendent and the legis-lature on the development of programs and opera-tions of the WSSB. We appreciate their time and commitment to WSSB and the students we serve.

Superintendent Update (continued) By Scott McCallum, Superintendent

The Pacific Foundation for Blind Children had a great 2017! We were honored with many opportuni-ties to provide assistance to kids and babies with blindness or visual impairment. We were fortunate to be able to provide adaptive equipment and devic-es, and support programs that enabled kids to try sports, music, recreation, and art expression. We couldn’t be more grateful to our donors, corporate sponsors and volunteers that allow us to accomplish these wonderful things. In fact, the PFBC granted an amazing $51,000 to kids and programs in 2017!

We are always looking for ways to keep the Founda-tion relevant given the evolution of technology and the needs of kids who are blind or visually impaired. In light of this guiding principle, we are very excited to kick off a new program in 2018. This program will allow us to help MORE kids around the state through a mobile low vision unit. We are partnering with Dr. Christi Closson, Chief of Low Vision Ser-vices at Pacific University College of Optometry and the Clinic Director at the Lions Low Vision clinic at WSSB, who is an accomplished optometrist with expertise in the low vision field.

Working in tandem with school districts and teach-ers of the visually impaired around the state, kids are

being identified for the opportunity to have profes-sional evaluations in respect to their low vision needs. Dr. Closson will visit different parts of the state and administer diagnostic evaluations on stu-dents with visual impairment. These students may not have access to professional evaluations other-wise. Dr. Closson will also supply the prescribed low vision devices needed by the students at no charge. This is a great program and will reach many, many kids in far-reaching parts of the state.

This is a huge undertaking for the PFBC but we are up for the challenge. The Foundation will fund the entire project including Dr. Closson’s travel and time expenses, the necessary diagnostic equipment and materials, and the actual low vision devices that the kids need. This includes items such as monocu-lars, hand-held magnifiers, and small telescopes. It’s very important to the Foundation that the kids them-selves own these devices and can use them for school but also any time they need them like eve-nings and weekends.

Thanks for all your past support and for any future support as we launch our new project! Here’s to a fantastic 2018!

Pacific Foundation for Blind Children (PFBC)

By JaReda Webb, PFBC Executive Director



Best Way to Spend Cold Winter Days in Outreach

Winding our way around Washington State amidst snow, ice, rain, and sub-zero temperatures is nothing new to WSSB Outreach. While staying safe on the roads, we continue to see kids in multiple districts who are blind or visually impaired. We’re happy to bundle up and help our kids succeed, which is the best way to spend cold winter days.

Recently, we called in our team from the field for our quarterly department meeting. We were excited to have a presentation from Dr. Closson with the WSSB Low Vision Clinic. She demonstrated screen-ing techniques, answered questions, and engaged our staff in thoughtful discussion and strategies for our students with low vision. We also had updates from Sean McCormick, Director of On-Campus Programs regarding on-campus programs, and chatted with Scott McCallum, Superintendent.

We welcomed Dr. Christine Roman-Lantzy via the world-wide-web as she presented on the Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) Range Endorsement from the Perkins School for the Blind. Many professionals in our field are considering the endorsement, and we were grateful for her time given to answer questions, clarify qualifications, and update us on her current work in our field. Time very well spent!

Although we really enjoyed our time together in per-son, we were excited to get back out into the state to serve kids. Our next “together time” will be at the Pacific Northwest AER/Oregon AER Conference in March. The 2nd best way to spend cold winter days is learning alongside our peers…to be better educators for our students.

Stay Warm!

Outreach Update

By Emily Coleman, Director of Outreach/State Vision Consultant

Sensory Safari: WSSB students enjoy visiting the Sen-sory Safari located in the basement of the Old Main building. Students have the opportunity to get up close and personal with a variety of African and North Amer-ican animals provided by Safari International and pri-vate donors. Along with enjoying the opportunity to feel the animals, knowledge of the animals is gained by reading large print and braille, or listening to audible description.

Blazer Game: WSSB Students enjoy Blazer Games thanks to Oregon Sports Authority generosity

WSSB Students Recreation Opportunities

By Adrienne Fernandez, Recreation/Volunteer Coordinator


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Ogden Resource Center (ORC) Update By Jennifer Fenton, Director

Prison Program: Recently, some of our tr anscr ib-ers at the women’s prison (WCCW) have left the braille program to re-enter society and begin their own braille businesses. We are hiring new transcribers and apprentices. We are working closely with the prison to make sure that ongoing training is supported for all transcribers.

Farewells and Hellos: One of our proofreaders, Mike Sivill, and our Warehouse Operator, Tyler Peter-son, have left WSSB to pursue new career opportuni-ties.

We will soon welcome Ian Goodrich to our team as the Warehouse Operator. We are not hiring a new proofreader at this time as our exceptional proofread-er, Adrienne Lattin, is currently keeping up with de-mand.

Instructional Resource Center: The ORC is work-ing on the annual APH Census. This is the first year that parent permission slips are required to release in-formation so staff have been busy working with teach-ers around the state to gather up permission slips for all ORC registered students.

Remote Braille Transcription for YOUR District or Agency: If your distr ict or agency is in need of a quality, quick turn-around transcription, we can work with you! E-mail [email protected] or call us at 360-947-3344 for details.

The process is easy as 1-2-3! 1. E-mail a file or a scanned document. 2. We transcribe and proofread the document. 3. We e-mail you the braille ready file to emboss at

your site or we mail hard copy braille.

The Heart of the ECC Sean McCormick, Director of On-Campus Programs

I frequently find myself referring to the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) as the whole-child educational pro-gram for students that are blind or visually impaired. The delivery of instruction in nine areas of the ECC drive everything teachers of the visually impaired do and provide students access to skills for greater academic and personal success. It is the way of our work in educating blind or visually impaired students. Of all the nine areas, self-determination is at the heart of the ECC. I believe that it was with the whole-child in mind that the founding authors of the ECC wanted to ensure students have the opportunity to learn and grow to their fullest potential.

The ECC’s framework and focus on independence is what unlocks the power of possibility for the students we serve. The views students have on their lives should be limitless, and educators play a role of fostering this perspective. The ECC’s essential skills for living with greater independence are as non-negotiable as reading, writing, and math; however, instruction in the ECC alone is not enough. Our students’ success relies on a shared belief in them, and that they can achieve whatever they want. Of course, instruction in pragmatism is required at times, but that is where educators come in to support students achieving their dreams while learn-ing about themselves in the world.

Self-determination is the unbounded perspective that allows individuals to achieve greatness based on their own sense of agency. The skills and abilities of an individual play a factor in the development of an attitude of self-determination. Research indicates experiences that support development of self-determination contributes to greater hope. Students must truly believe that they are limitless, full of dreams, and that when they spread their wings, someone will be there with their words and their hearts telling them to go higher. To create and foster hope for a student, a community needs to be involved. This includes teachers, administrators, parents, peers, and everyone involved in a student’s life. It is with the whole-community that the whole-child can de-velop in all nine areas of the ECC and beyond.

mailto:[email protected]



WSSB had the opportunity to host 6th, 7th and 8th graders from the Rachel Carson Middle School in Beaver-ton, Oregon. Each Tuesday in February, these middle schoolers arrived at the beautiful WSSB campus to receive education on low vision and blindness. Students and staff heard from some outstanding guest speak-ers including and also learned about the Residential program from Corey Grandstaff, the Instructional Re-source and Braille Access Center from Jennifer Fenton, Angela Vargas, Kandi Lukowski and Adrienne Latin and Orientation and Mobility training from Doug Trimble.

Kudos to WSSB Volunteers, Mollie Hands, Tarshene Daugherty, Carl Talley and John Bannan for leading the campus tours. Students had the opportunity to spend time in the Sensory Safari and the Low Vision Clinic with Dr. Closson. All of the students had a wonderful experi-ence! Rachel Carson teacher Tammy Schraeder said, “this was the most impactful site visit my students have experi-enced.” WSSB is definitely the premier partner in low vi-sion and blindness education.

Rachel Carson students have opportunity to learn about low vision and blindness

By Dr. Christi Closson

Students will demonstrate a Vintage Swing dance at the March 15, 2018 National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and WSSB Student Talent Show. Dance Instructors, Alli-son and Greg Krolicki and Gene Applegarth have been coaching and practicing with the students for months and the students are getting energized. During a recent rehears-al Katrina, Elora, Chloe, Husai and John practiced, collab-orated and made decisions on several topics. Dance attire was finalized. Entry on to and off the stage, by each of the partnerships was refined, as well as the stage craft for the group dance. All were satisfied with the outcomes. On the list for the next rehearsal is more practice and finalizing the music selection.

Footloose Friends Partner Dancing Update

By Greg Krolicki, WSSB Volunteer



Every year when February rolls around, the students and volunteers from the WSSB gather at Mt. Hood Meadows to enjoy downhill ski and snowboard-ing. Students love taking on new challenges, and have a need for speed, so the idea of downhill skiing and snowboarding is a win win situation.

The annual program could not happen without WSSB’s dedicated volunteers and Mt. Hood Mead-ow’s ski instructors, and staff. All gladly take the time, with much patience, to teach each student about their passion and the ins and outs of this fun activity.

Students start out riding the Magic Carpet. The Mag-ic Carpet is a conveyor belt that moves each person up a good little slope. This allows the volunteers to work with each student on the basic skills of going downhill. By the last day, each student has made a huge improvement. Almost all students ride the But-tercup chair lift. It is a chair that lifts you up a much bigger hill. Many students utilize the skills they’ve been taught by moving on to bigger hills or runs.

It is such a great time for everyone. The volunteers and students share in the success of each student’s improvement. The students are also excited to learn that there is more to do out in the world.

Visually Impaired Students Skiing

By Oryann Fitim, WSSB Student

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2017-2018

Upcoming Events

March Birth to 3 PIP Day March 9 (10am-12pm) Career Fair March 12-13 Board of Trustees Meeting March 16 (11am) Birth to 3 PIP Day March 23 (10am-12pm) End of 3rd Quarter March 30

April Spring Break April 2-6 Birth to 3 PIP Day April 13 (10am-12pm) MSP State Testing – 8th graders April 23-27 Birth to 3 PIP Day April 27 (10am-12pm)

May Board of Trustees Conference Call May 3 SBA/EOC State Testing May 7-11 Birth to 3 PIP Day May 11 (10am-12pm) Lions Track Meet May 17 Spring Music Performance/Volunteer Recognition May 24 Memorial Day May 28 Annual Picnic/Awards May 31

June Board of Trustees Meeting June 1 Commencement June 1

WSSB Board

of Trustees

Congressional District 1: Ed Snook, 8301 NE Juanita Drive, Kirkland, WA 98034 (425) 814-1716 Congressional District 2: Keri Clark, 3119 Meridian Street, Bellingham, WA 98225 (360) 441-2010 Congressional District 3: Dennis Mathews (Chair), 2000 NE Village Green Dr, Vanc., WA 98684 (360) 256-6569 Congressional District 4: Reg George, 110 Plum Lane #1, Yakima, WA 98908 (816) 721-3145 Congressional District 5: Greg Szabo, 4408 North Washington Street, Spokane, WA 99205, 503-688-0686 Congressional District 6: Nancy McDaniel (Vice Chair), PO Box 550, Chimacum, WA 98325 (360) 732-0271 Congressional District 7: Cindy Bennett, 400 Wall Street, Apt. 512, Seattle, WA 98121, (828) 989-5383 Congressional District 8: Yang-su Cho, 322 243rd Avenue SE, Sammamish, WA (425) 557-0966 Congressional District 9: Michelle Farrell, 921 168th Avenue SE, WA 98008, (425) 894-2576 Congressional District 10: Berl Colley, 1401 Northwest Lane SE, Lacey, WA 98503 (360) 438-5783

WSSB Ex-Officio Members

Teachers: Jennifer Butcher, 3823 Edgewood Drive, Vancouver, WA 98661, (503) 319-2712 WA Council of the Blind: Joleen Ferguson, 129 W. Chestnut St, Walla Walla, WA 99362, (509) 529-3415 WFSE Local #1225: Jim Eccles, 2506 E McLoughlin Blvd, Vancouver, WA 98661 (360) 600-5018 Natl. Fed. of the Blind of WA: Marci Carpenter, 3200 California Ave SW #35, Seattle, WA 98116, (206) 604-5507 Parent Representative: Krista Bulger, 4009 SE 158th Court, Vancouver, WA 98683, (410) 258-5130

The Lions Roar Newsletter is produced three times per year at the WSSB, 2214 East 13th Street, Vancouver, WA 98661-4120. Phone 360-696-6321 Fax 360-737-2120; E-mail: [email protected]/Website: www.wssb.wa.gov

Scott McCallum, Superintendent, [email protected] Emily Coleman, Director of Outreach/State Vision Consultant, [email protected] Sean McCormick, Director of On Campus Programs, [email protected] Jennifer Langley, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, [email protected] Corey Grandstaff, Residential Program Manager, [email protected] Lori Pulliam, Director of Transition Services, [email protected] Jennifer Fenton, Director, Ogden Resource Center, [email protected] Bruce McClanahan, Assistive Technology Specialist, [email protected] DeEtte Snyder, B-3 BVI Coordinator, [email protected] Danya Borowski, Information Services Manager, [email protected] Janet Kurz, Publication Editor, [email protected]

Documents

The Lions Roar - Washington State School for the - WSSB 2 The Lions Roar THE LIONS ROAR Page 2 Jennifer was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. She earned a BS degree in Health