Family Support Network of Eastern North Carolina

2009 Pitt County School Education Grant Recipients

Tiffany Johnson EC Teacher Hope Middle	Five non-verbal students with various disabilities, some with limited vision and hearing. Classroom with assistive technology communication devices. Students communicate throughout the day using switches, Go Talk devices, Cheap Talk devices, as well as other communication devices. In the classroom, we have various computer programs, such as the Start-to-Finish Literacy Starters that students use independently to access the computer using a switch. Something missing is sensory input devices which are age appropriate. During transitional times, students could access sensory input devices. Students be served academically and also gain more independence in the classroom. Could also gain more freedom and choices at home. Parents could see a student using a switch to access the Starlight device, and it could be used at home to access other adapted things, such as a mixer to help a student participate during meal preparation, as well as CD players to allow students to pick something they would like to listen to. The sensory input devices requested will give students more independence.
Vicki Saunders MR Teacher Bundy Elementary	Additional reading materials for 10 students with varying disabilities, 2 non-verbal and 1 hearing and vision impaired. All of the students are struggling readers and are working on phonics skills. Use a child-friendly, multi-sensory system reading program called Letterland for teaching children to read, write and spell. This program has helped most of the students in our classroom learn their letters and sounds. It has friendly letter characters which provide strong visual memory cues so children learn and retain letter/sound correspondences. All the students love this reading program. EC purchased the teacher’s manual, three computer programs, vocabulary and picture code cards, bare essentials to help get started. Items requested will enhance the program. The reading books will help students tie their phonic skills to words in the printed text. They will, also, take the Sentence Copymasters and readers home to share with their families.
Traci Crayton EC Teacher Ayden Elementary	Communication materials for use by EC teacher and Speech Pathologist with 15 students in a Intellectually Disabled – Moderate Class. These students all have special communication needs, one of them is non-verbal and two have limited verbal skills. The hard laminator purchased will help these students communicate to their teachers, peers, and other people throughout the school environment. It will give these students a way to communicate their feelings, wants, and needs through the use of pictures symbols. The teacher has a software program that will print picture symbols for these students. The laminator will make the pictures more easily accessible throughout the school environment, as well as at home. Without the use of this laminator, the picture symbols have to be replaced frequently. The laminated picture symbols will also be used by parents at home to reinforce the use of this way of communication. The Speech Pathologist will use the communication symbols during her speech sessions to reinforce what is being taught in the classroom and vice versa and to make a picture symbols book that can be posted throughout the classroom and travel to various locations. The parents will be able to tell me of any additional items that will be useful for these students at home and I can laminate the pictures for them also. This will help with communication between the families and school as well as increase the student’s communication.
Paula Dowd EC Asst Coord Pitt County Schools	Pitt County Schools and the Department of Social Services would pair up again in 2010 to sponsor an event called THE REAL WORLD for the purpose of teaching independent living skills to high-risk students. Over half are EC students with disabilities and others are part of the DSS Foster Care Program. Previous experience in Pitt and other counties in the state has been positive. The event allows participating students to find out what it actually takes to live on a salary, based on their interests and desired educational level. They are given the challenge to take their salary and develop a budget based on every day needs (such as food, electricity, rent, etc) and evaluate occupational choices based on their chosen lifestyle. Students participate in a career assessment and learn about writing/checks, applications, insurance, and budgeting using a set salary based on their expected level of educational training. Using their salary, youths obtain housing, transportation, insurance, and purchase entertainment while staying within their budget. Funding is requested for door prizes to be given throughout the day that promote independence in daily living and self-help skills (calculators, pencils, packets, door prizes). Funding will also provide breakfast items, drinks, lunch and snacks. At the end of the day, the students complete an event survey that ‘tests’ what they learned and asks for feedback about their participation. Adults complete another type of questionnaire asking for ideas for improvement. The program is a transitional activity that teaches functional daily living skills. Program content can be correlated with instruction in the Standard Course of Study and the Occupational Course of Study (depending on the cognitive level and course of study each student has chosen). Not only will this activity assist in the classroom, but it provides practical experience of what it takes to live in the ‘real world’. The families will benefit by having children who are independent and are aware of the importance of completing their education. They will have a realistic vision of what is considered a fixed cost under the area of needs (food, clothing, medical/dental and savings), Flexible costs under the other area of needs (loans, housing, transportation, etc) and flexible costs under wants (insurance, loans, cable, pets, electronics, etc.).

2009 Grant Application for Pitt County Teachers

Each year the Family Support Network of Eastern North Carolina takes a portion of the proceeds from our annual fundraiser, the Festival of Trees, and gives it back to the community through education grants for exceptional children’s classrooms. Please click here for a Pitt County Schools application.

2008 Pitt County School Education Grant Recipients

	Julie Brickhouse – Eastern Elementary – 5 children ages 8-11 Opening Windows on Literacy” funding to teach reading, writing, math and science using high interest activities at school and at home. It is difficult to find age appropriate, high interest, low vocabulary books.Funding requested for five National Geographic Windows on Literacy Big Books and three switch interfaces for third through fifth grade students with significant disabilities. The National Geographic books will provide families with many high interest, low vocabulary reading opportunities with their children. The switch interfaces will be used for independent access of books on the computer at home.Since National Geographic books are paperback, they can be easily laminated to ensure durability in the classroom and travel from school to home.
	Deborah Cox – Wintergreen 24 children – ages 5-8 Special Ed Cog-Language Using Music CDs to Learn and Teach Special ed students age 5-8 with cognitive and communication difficulties. Funding to utilize music to teach basic skills in Math and Reading. The songs, raps, and chants will provide meaning and relevance and promote learning in an exciting and fun environment. Students will share their learning experiences through song with their non-disabled peers, teachers, and family members.
	Savannah Grigg – Wintergreen 6 children – ages 8-11 Autism Edmark Reading Program – Level 1 Seven autistic students grades 3 – 5. Students with varying ability and reading levels. Some students are just beginning to learn phonic sounds, others are working on recognizing sight words, and still others are able to read simple passages on the first or second grade level.Since language is so difficult for many, they dread reading instead of enjoying it. Request funding for the complete Edmark Reading Program – Level 1. This program provides research based methods for instructing students who exhibit extreme difficulties with reading and has been used for many years with students unable to read using any other program.
	Tiffany Johnson – Hope Middle 9 children – ages 11-14 Severe MR Adapted Books and Switches Nine students age 11-14 with significant language disabilities requiring assistive technology to interact with others and the computer. Request funding to make it easier for these students to access computer software, such as adapted books, as well as communicate with their peers and the teaching staff. It will also be possible for students to get an adapted book set that will allow them to read something more age appropriate.
	Rhys Potts – EB Aycock 7 children – ages 11-17 Severe MR Start-To-Finish Literary Sets Non-verbal students with significant physical and cognitive disabilities. All use augmentative communication devices, gestures, sign language, or picture communication. They are all non-readers and need multimedia to learn. Books can be uninteresting unless they have multimedia, voice, tangible objects, and if they are adapted with textures, pictures, etc. The Start to Finish Literacy Starters books come in sets of three about one topic. Topics include recycling, Africa, traveling, cars, etc. In addition to the set of three books there is a CD that narrates the book with pictures for the computer.
	Samira Fahkry Said – Eastern Elem 19 children – ages 7-8 EC, LD, mild MR Talking Dictionary-Spell Corrector Language Class of ninteen students age 7-8 with LD, mild cognitive delay and/or other health-impairment. who have a difficuly with independent writing activities. These students needs more hands on learning tools that provide multi-sensory input to be successful. Request funding for Children’s Talking Dictionary & Spell Correctors for each of students to use in classroom during Language Arts. This tool speaks words and reads definitions out loud. This product not only helps with reading but also helps edit their writing using the phonemic spell corrector.
	Vicki Saunders – Sam D Bundy Elementry 6 children – ages 7-8 Touch Widows for Adapting Computer Screens Six moderate MR students ages 7-8 with varying disabilities and reading difficulty. Accessing the computer in a typical way is somewhat difficult for most of the students. The Touch Window will give students direct interaction with the computer by allowing them to select choices directly on the screen. Students just touch an object or word on the screen and the computer responds.Request funding for two Touch Windows along with voice-supported software to give students the ability to gain more independence in using computers as well as a high degree of success which will in turn raise their self esteem.
	Linda Sitton – Wintergreen 5 children – ages 5-9 MR Listening Center with 3 Headphones, Player-CDs Self-contained TMD class with 5 students age 5 – 9. Request funding for listening center in the areas of listening, concentration, auditory discrimination, and phonemic awareness. The activities involved in the listening center will enhance student abilities in the areas of auditory discrimination, early literacy, and promote independence within the learning environment.
	Carla Whitehurst – Elmhurst Elem – 20 Chld Grd K-5 Austism, MR Lang Skills Augment Communication Equipment 20 EC students grade K-5 with moderate cognitive and language disabilities. Request funding for augmentative communication systems to allow students will participate in making choices for lunch, snacks, and activities; participate in games and “sharing” activities; participate in literacy-building activities through vocabulary development and sentence construction using pictures, picture symbols, and voice output; and indicate wants and needs, including emotions and physical feelings. The project will assist children with a wide variety of special needs in developing their communication skills in both the school and home settings.
	Sarah Williams – AG Cox 10 children ages 11-14 Mod MR-Autism Ten moderate TMD and 3 autistic students ages 11-14. Cognitive and physical disabilities make it difficult for them to fully participate in a regular PE class. Funding requested for more equipment that is adaptable to the physical needs of these students and encourages them to actively participate in the entire 45 minute PE class with non-disabled Peer Helpers. More specialized equipment would encourage the development of these students in the areas of communication, cognitive, motor, social- emotional and physical health needs.