Special Program Helps Kids Understand About Disabilities

To read a Braille watch, one must have “smart fingers.”

Mastering sign language takes lots of practice.

Like most kids, primary students at Adams Elementary have a natural curiosity about disabilities. On Monday, they were given an opportunity to direct their questions to the Kids on the Block: puppets in wheelchairs, puppets with Down’s Syndrome and puppets that are blind and deaf.

The program is part of the required service learning component for special education majors at Gonzaga University. Students enrolled in Mainstreaming - an undergraduate course that looks at special education regulations - put on the play two or three times a quarter, depending on the number of community requests it gets.

“This uses a medium that’s not as frightening for the kids,” said assistant professor Mark Derby, who teaches the course.

Behind the puppets Monday were Gonzaga students Jennifer Stone, Barbara Simpson and Abbie Gouveia. It was their second performance and they say they think the kids are getting a good message. Students asked questions such as how blind people run and how a person becomes deaf.

“We just want to broaden their horizons,” said Stone.

“So they understand kids with disabilities can do a lot of things and be just like other kids,” said Gouveia.

New name for Libby program

The Libby Center’s gifted program has been upgraded to an odyssey.

The new program, a full-time classroom for gifted fifth and sixth-graders in District 81, was without a name for its first month of existence. “Initially, we just called it the magnet program, but that was an awful sounding word,” said Libby Center Director Deborah Johnson.

“I said to both magnet teachers, ‘Why don’t you have kids, in a democratic process, come up with a proposed name?”’

Throughout the month of September, students brainstormed name possibilities, researching the words that would best capture the philosophy and atmosphere of the program.

Each class held debates to weigh the merits of their options, then voted. When it came down to the top three vote-getters, the two classes held a combined election.

“Odyssey” came out on top, submitted by student Eric Johnson.

According to their official proposal, the students chose this name “because the dictionary states that the word odyssey means an intellectual or spiritual journey or quest.”

The proposal was submitted to Cynthia Lambarth, district associate superintendent for educational services.

“Odyssey” has been approved for the duration of the pilot program, which means the name will be reviewed when the program is at the end of the year.

Other finalists for the name included GATE (gifted and talented education) and GEMS (Gifted Education Magnet School) ABC was another contender. It, of course, stood for Active, Brainy Children.

Spokane teachers honored

There are 2,022 teachers in District 81. This week, two of them were honored with the quarterly Distinguished Teacher Award.

Physical Education teacher and coach Jim Guest is a 16-year veteran at Hamblen Elementary, where he’s worked his entire education career. Principal Donna Burt nominated him for his ability to encourage and connect with each of his 400 students.

Laural Hepton, a Lewis and Clark Spanish teacher for 28 years, was nominated by LC principal Mike Howson, who said Hepton makes entering her classroom a truly cultural experience.

Cheney board cancels meeting

The Cheney School Board will not be holding its regularly scheduled meeting on Nov. 26. The meeting would fall on the night before Thanksgiving.

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MEMO: Education Notebook is a regular feature of the South Side Voice. If you have news about an interesting program or activity at a South Side school or about the achievements of South Side students, teachers or school staff, please let us know. Deadline is Monday. Write: Amy Scribner, Education Notebook, South Side Voice, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. E-mail: amys@spokesman.com. Call: 459-5439. Fax: 459-5482.