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Winter 2007/08 Therapy dog makes reading doggone good The students in BOCES special education teacher Bonnie Zanker’s CDS classroom are learning that reading can be a lot more fun when it happens with a friend—particularly one of the four-legged variety. Since last school year, Teddy, a flat-coated retriever and registered therapy dog, and his human companion, clinical social worker Naomi Bloch, have been weekly visitors during group reading time in Zanker’s class in Latham Ridge Elementary School. “It’s not surprising that dogs have found their way into classrooms and libraries across the country,” says Donna Lamkin, the BOCES reading specialist who helped introduce Teddy and Bloch to Zanker’s students as a means of encouraging literacy learning. “We need dogs for their unconditional love and natural ability to bring kids of all ages together,” Lamkin continues, “I strongly believe therapy dogs provide students with authentic reasons to speak, listen, read and write and are a powerful prescription for literacy motivation.” Bloch says that she was eager to accept Lamkin and Zanker’s offer to spend time at school. Although Teddy is a constant helpmate in Bloch’s private practice sessions with adults, children and families, Bloch had been looking for ways for the two of them to volunteer their time in a more public setting. Not only do the weekly visits help fulfill the Therapy Dogs International, Inc. (TDI) requirement for community service/volunteerism, they have helped Teddy become more comfortable with a larger, and often spirited, group of children. Although a bit uncertain at first about the hugs and enthusiasm of Zanker’s students, Bloch reports that, a year into the routine, Teddy has become a model classmate. “Often when we visit, Teddy will just lie down in the middle of the group during reading time and take a snooze,” Block says. As for the children, Lamkin, Zanker and other teachers in the classroom say they love having Naomi and Teddy visit and read with them. Teddy is helping the children, some who have had limited exposure to dogs, become more gentle and compassionate. He also helps calm and center the students during group reading—evident as the children sat quietly stroking Teddy’s back one day recently while listening to teaching assistant Laurel Whiting read aloud from the canine-themed picture book The Dog Who Cried Wolf by Keiko Kasza. “Dog day afternoons,” Lamkin jokingly notes, “have never been this literacy rich!” Rotterdam I students get ready to read Elementary students at the Rotterdam I Academy now have many more reasons to curl up with a good book—1,400 reasons to be precise. Thanks to a bright idea and the generosity of the school’s teachers, staff and community, the school now has a brand new library space with over one thousand picture and chapter books in the school’s main office. “I think that reading is a wonderful, wonderful thing and something that has given me so much pleasure in my own life,” said BettyAnn Frampton, secretary at Rotterdam I and the woman behind the idea for the new library space. “Many of the children at the school don’t have regular access to a library outside of school. My hope is that this will encourage a few more of them to love reading.” Once the idea to create a more formal library from which children could choose the books they read was hatched, donations (almost the entire collection was gifted to the school) of beautiful, and only gently worn, books began pouring in from teachers, their friends and families. “What’s been so very heartwarming about this is how everyone in our community pitched in to make it happen,” said Principal Leo DiPierro. In addition to books, shelving was donated from the BOCES Maywood School and staff pitched in after hours to categorize and ready the space for use. Frampton says that the
goal now is to have each of the school’s K-5 classes use the library
once a week beginning this January. Each student will be given his or
her own library card and have the opportunity to choose books to borrow
and learn to be responsible for. The Rotterdam school is now hoping to grow its library space. Purchases will be made, but the school is also accepting donations from the community of contemporary, new or gently worn picture books or early readers. For more information
about donating books to the Rotterdam I school, please contact the
school’s secretary BettyAnn Frampton at
bframpto@gw.neric.org or (518) 464-6394. Fall 2007 Maritime students give thanks by giving back While the school workload was light for many students the week before Thanksgiving, students in the BOCES Maritime program were doing some heavy lifting—literally— on behalf of those in need. For the past 27 years, the Schenectady-based volunteer organization Concerned for the Hungry has organized an annual Thanksgiving food drive. This year, Maritime middle schoolers were part of the effort that helped provide holiday food and other necessities to almost 3,000 Schenectady County residents. Matthew Hogan, one of Maritime’s special education teachers, said that he and his colleagues were looking for ways to get students involved in the community during the holidays. “This is a great opportunity to help students begin to think beyond themselves—to think outside of the box,” explained Hogan, as he helped Maritime students sort and pack the donated items. “It gives the students a ‘real-world’ sense of purpose. They are eager to help out in such a hands-on and important way.” While focusing on paper-and-pen-type classroom studies can be a frustration, teachers know that Maritime students become really engaged when participating in hands-on, active learning. In fact, most of the academic learning that takes place in the BOCES Maritime program—located at the Capital Region Maritime Center in Alplaus, New York—happens while students are doing, building or exploring the land on the banks of the Mohawk River. Volunteering with the Concerned for the Hungry event is just one in a year-long series of community outreach events for Maritime students. In addition to the sense of pride they are likely to gain by helping others, such experiences also provide students with real-life opportunities to work on their social learning—being responsible, following directions, working as a team—as much a part of the middle school curriculum as reading, writing and math. “The kids want to be
helpful and are definitely good with their hands,” said Hogan, “so
experiences such as the Concern for Hungry event seem tailor-made for
these middle schoolers.” BOCES Transition students dig into learning In the spirit of “thinking globally, acting locally,” BOCES special education students in the BOCES College-based Transition Experience are making the world a better place—one courtyard at a time. This fall, BOCES special education students, along with their peers from the College’s biology department, have adopted a neglected courtyard at the base of the campus science center’s handicapped ramp. While most would find little of interest in this patch of tangled greens, BOCES special education teacher George Lorang and Saint Rose associate biology professor Kari Murad saw a lesson in the making. “For so many years, nothing but the weeds prospered here,” says Lorang, the lead teacher in the Transition program. “Kari and I decided that maybe we should be the ones to do something to change that.” To this end, special education students along with St. Rose senior and junior biology majors Troy Conklin and Seth Edwards have been working since mid-September to transform the space. They have dug in the dirt, hauled rocks and planted colorful mums (flowers for fall and spring plantings have been donated by Coleman’s Shaker Flower Farm in Colonie.) Throughout the fall, the group plans to construct a rock wall and place feeders to attract songbirds to the site. In addition, the students have begun an indoor composting project using Red Wiggler worms. The worms will eat their way through organic waste such as coffee grounds from the campus Starbucks and apple cores left from lunch to produce rich humus for the garden spot. Through this hands-on project, students will learn by doing about the science of composting, gardening, season and growth cycles and about native animals, birds and insects. They will work together to achieve a common goal, learn about recycling and environmentalism, and about the satisfaction of physical work. “The connection to the natural world is something that is so missing from our educational system,” says Murad. “The enthusiasm, problem solving and creativity the students have already applied to make sure that this project is a success has been fabulous to witness,” she adds. Although the compost and gardening project is new this fall, the collaboration between the BOCES and College of Saint Rose (CSR) students is characteristic of the Transition Experience. Throughout their years at CSR, BOCES students take part in modified college-level courses of their choosing. In general, these classes support their academic and future life goals. Many of the classes offered, from painting to biology, are hands-on. Saint Rose special education teaching students act as study partners and help tailor class assignments, allowing the special needs students to be successful in their own ways. Although the special education students are not given college credit for their work, they receive a performance evaluation from their instructors and a certificate of completion when they finish their college experience. The College of St. Rose Transition Experience was the subject of a BOCES Bright Futures feature story during the 2006-07 school year. For additional
information about the Transition Experience, please contact Terry Tice,
principal, at (518) 464-6355 or
ttice@gw.neric.org or George Lorang, special education teacher, at
(518) 469-1246 or
glorang@gw.neric.org. Peer Networking Program: Teens lend support for peers with Asperger and High-functioning autism Hoping to inspire the start of groups in other schools, teens involved with the Mohonasen High School-based Peer Networking Support group presented at the Campbell House Psychological Conference last spring on their activities in support of students with Asperger Syndrome and High-functioning autism. The students shared their experiences, tips, strategies and their compassion with local educators and administrators. One goal of the conference was to offer a framework and provide encouragement for other schools to start similar networks. The Peer Networking Support group at Mohonasen High School is made up of students who are nominated and recommended by their teachers. Their charge is to support students with disabilities—specifically Asperger Syndrome—in negotiating social situations in school settings such as classes, the hallways and the cafeteria. The program was started during the 2005-06 school year by BOCES special education teacher Anne O’Brien Teta and social worker Ken Jacobs, along with Mohonasen High School special educator Martha Mallon. Dr. Gina Cosgrove, an area specialist in Asperger Syndrome and High-functioning autism, is a consultant to the program. This school year, it is anticipated that about 30 Mohonasen High and 5 special education students will be involved in the network. As a result of the conference presentation, coordinators for the Mohonasen Peer Networking group say they have been contacted by a number of other school districts interested in starting similar programs. The Peer Networking Program was the focus of a BOCES Bright Futures article last fall. This story can be found at http://www.capregboces.org/AboutBOCES/Publications/BF06-07Issue1.pdf.
Special Ed reorganization to enhance student placement and instruction Beginning with the
2007-08 school year, BOCES special education classes will be organized
by curriculum, level (elementary, middle and high school) and type of
assessment (regular or alternative.) "Teachers of similar programs at similar grade levels will have more ability to collaborate and to teach effectively," continues Jacobs, "and our principals will be able to focus more completely on a single level of curriculum, assessment and instructional strategies." A complete listing of the Special Education principals and the programs they supervise can be found at http://www.capregboces.org/speced/Info/contactus.htm.
Summer 2007 Pedro Roman to steer middle school Special Ed programs This July, the Capital Region Board of Education appointed Pedro Roman as principal of the Rotterdam II Academy with its Special Education Division. Roman will oversee the middle school programs, which address the New York State regular assessment requirements at Rotterdam II, as well as middle level programs at other special education programs sites. “I am enthused to be working with a great organization," said Roman. "My focus this year is to collaborate with content area and assessment specialist to continue to align curriculum, standards and assessment." " In addition," added Roman, "I look to continue to foster a professional learning community by allowing educators to share their best practices with each other and continue to improve our delivery of services. Our ultimate goal is to meet the needs of our students and to provide them with the best quality education possible." Roman joins the BOCES Special Education division with seven years of education experience. He previously served as a special education teacher in a variety of capacities with the Schenectady City School District for six years and most recently served as its Dean of Students for one year. Roman holds a Bachelors Degree in Special Education and Psychology from Marist College, a Masters Degree in Teacher Education and a Certificate of Advanced Study in Educational Administration and Leadership from the College of Saint Rose.
Spotlight on summer school: Year-round learning helps sustain development The school year may have ended for many students in June, but Capital Region BOCES special education classrooms are still busy with student activity. A recent visit to Rotterdam Academy I saw elementary summer school students engaged in a wide range of learning activities, from language skill practice with "summer" themed words to fun, physical education stretching and games in the great outdoors. The Capital Region BOCES
Summer Special Education program currently serves 500 plus students in
classrooms at Special Education program sites (Maywood School, Capital
District Psychiatric Center, Maritime Academy, Rotterdam Academies I and
II and Ellis Hospital) and in component school district buildings
(Cohoes and Guilderland Central School Districts.) Students are
recommended to the 12-month BOCES program by the Committee on Special
Education (CSE) chairs in their home districts. “Having 12 months of programming allows us to sustain the developments achieved during the school year,” Tice said.
Spring 2007 Capital Region Maritime Academy: Students set sail for summer “We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now.”— Martin Luther King, Jr. Much like other middle schoolers, the students at the Capital Region Maritime Academy in Alplaus, New York end their school year by completing a large project that reflects what they’ve been learning. One significant difference is that, for these students, the true test of their skill and smarts is not the letter grade they receive on the project, but whether it stays afloat in rough waters. Each year, Maritime students work together with their teachers to build boats similar to those that long-ago sailed on New York state rivers. Much of their study in areas such as English, math, science and history is centered on this theme. This school year, their creation is a Dutch-style boat called a perriauger. During the 18th century, the perriauger was an important water craft, used for ferrying goods up and down the Hudson River valley. The twenty-three feet long cedar and white oak vessel, craft by the BOCES maritime students and teachers, was commissioned by the First Ulster County Militia and the City of Kingston New York who plan to use the vessel as part of their Biennial Revolutionary War reenactment this fall. More information about the Kipper Perriauger Project can be found at Web site for the Catskill Mountain Foundation.
Very Special Prom 2007: Prom gives Special Ed students a chance to shine More than 170 Capital Region BOCES special education students, alumni and their guests spruced up and stepped out for a night of food, fun and dance at this year's Very Special Prom, held on June 1 at the Best Western Sovereign Hotel in Albany. The prom is a much anticipated annual event that was begun 26 years ago at the request of a number of special education students hoping for a celebration they could call their own. The prom, which has grown from a homespun school-based dance to something more akin to other high school proms, is a true example of BOCES division-wide collaboration. A cache of donated formalwear — gowns, suits and shoes — help outfit students. Corsages and boutonnières are crafted by students in the Capital Region BOCES Career and Technical Education (CTE) school floral design program. Dozens and dozens of cookies are baked by culinary students. And up-dos and manicures are courtesy of CTE cosmetology students. In addition, cash and in-kind donations from BOCES staff, students, and local businesses make the event one that is accessible and affordable to all. The Very Special Prom is also an event that allows students to shine. Michelle Rosenberger, a BOCES special education alum and one of the students whose suggestion helped start the prom tradition, spoke happily of the prom as a way to reconnect with friends and teachers. "There's really nothing
else like it for the special ed kids," says Rosenberger.
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