Special People in Special Places

In 1987 President Ronald Reagan proclaimed March "Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month." The presidential proclamation called upon Americans to provide the "encouragement and opportunities" necessary for people with developmental disabilities to reach their potential. This was a huge first step in recognizing that people with disabilities could and should be allowed to fit in our society. Several programs began to emerge such as job coaching, career planning and supported employment. It was shortly after this in 1990 that the workplace discrimination against people with disabilities became law, it is referred to as the Americans with Disabilities Act.

It was also at this time that parents began asking for fairness and equality in the classroom. Even though it took almost fourteen years, our government recognized that there is a whole range of support that people with disabilities needed to reach their full potential. In 2004, a law was passed called the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This law guaranteed early intervention, special education and services to transition high school students into adulthood. IDEA opened a world of possibilities.

This brings me to the topic of this blog. I am very fortunate to work with some very special instructors who are certified in Special Education and/or have a special talent and ability to bring out the best in our special needs population at Vantage. Today I had the opportunity to sit in Mrs. Farr's English class during 8th period. Mrs Farr is a certified intervention specialist in several subjects and does an outstanding job with this population. Because this month is "Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month", she has had her class research and present any disability that they wanted to talk about. Charles Walker (who I did a blog on earlier this year) spoke about his Spina Bifida. He was very informative in describing the differences in the disease and which one he has. He answered a lot of good questions from his classmates and others. Charles spoke with clarity and confidence and helped us see what the disease is like and what it is like to live with Spina Bifida. The really cool thing though was when the presentation was all over, Charles wanted us to know that "when people have a disability those people shouldn't let their disability bring them down." If you read my earlier blog on Charles, this shouldn't surprise you. I want to thank Mrs. Farr for all she does. She uses such a calm and reassuring voice with the students that makes them feel relaxed and at ease. She never talks down to them but explains their errors and moves on. She finds time to joke with them but yet earns their respect. Vantage is lucky to have Mrs. Farr working with these students. Thank you Susan.

Tomorrow I will be sitting in Mrs. Knippen's pull-out English class. Mrs. Knippen is also an intervention specialist in Math and English. The class will be doing a socratic seminar. The purpose of  a socratic seminar is to achieve a deeper understanding about the ideas and values in a text. The students will use open-ended questioning and a lot of critical thinking during this seminar. I can't wait to see the student's interaction. Mrs. Knippen is another one of those special people who have such an outstanding talent and ability to work with this population. I have spoken with several of her students over the last couple years and they truly love the class even though they may not say it. They will tell you she is tough but that she cares for them. I have personally seen her interact with students where she knows exactly what motivates a student and what makes them click. She cares so much for each of her students and wants nothing more then to see them graduate and succeed in life. Thanks Shelly.

And last but not least, I want to mention our two intervention specialist coordinators who without them, I would not be able to make it through a single day. They are Mrs. Shellabarger and Mrs. Cline. Basically the special services needs in our school are divided in half between these two outstanding coordinators. If you are reading this and have either Mrs. Shellabarger or Mrs. Cline to oversee your IEP, then you know that they care about you. They both follow progress book and watch every single grade these students get, they communicate with the home schools, they keep in constant touch with the parents and they will do whatever it takes to get these students to pass and get their work done. Now I'm not saying they are real hard on their students, but you don't want to get on their bad side. LOL. They will stay on their students and make sure the work is getting done and if you have ever tried to "deceive" them, they know every trick in the book and I will bet you didn't get away with anything. They are also here at Vantage to make sure every I is dotted and every T is crossed in their IEP. They know the law (IDEA) and make sure it is enforced on our campus. I don't even have time to mention all the paperwork that is now required by law and getting worse by the day, but that is also part of their daily work. And with everything I mentioned, they constantly keep me in the loop on every single issue with every single student. You guys are the best and I hope you know how much I appreciate the both of you. Thanks a million!

I know that all of the above mentioned staff would also want me to mention the outstanding aides that we have here at Vantage. I do send a big thank you to all our aides who do such a great job assisting our students every single day. The resource room is a very busy place each hour of the day. Thanks Lori, Nancy, Karen, Annette and Cindy.

Well I hope we don't let March pass by without all of us being more aware of the developmental disabilities that several students deal with every day. I hope we can become more understanding and be more of an advocate for these very awesome young adults. I hope you would also take the time to thank these very "Special People who work in this Special Place." Once again, thank all of you for what you do to make Vantage a better place.

March Madness

I have always enjoyed March and the NCAA tournament known as "March Madness". It's a great time for avid fans and non-fans to get involved in selecting a bracket and then watching how your teams do in the competition. It's a tournament when an underdog can come in to the tournament and knock off an undefeated team just because they were hot that one night. That's what makes it so fun and thus the deserving name "March Madness" because it is crazy.

However, when it comes to school, March Madness can be a little too much for a lot of students and they become overwhelmed with everything going on in school right now. March is a time when you have to make sure your cap-n-gowns are in, graduation pictures should be turned in, third quarter comes to an end and grades are becoming more and more important and of course scholarship deadlines have passed you by or they will be coming up quickly. Well let's all take a breath and brake this down one item at a time.

I know at Vantage Career Center, we have to deal with thirteen home schools. We try to make the daily announcements about your home school graduation or prom if the information is available. I always tell the student that if you don't hear the announcements or there wasn't an announcement for your home school, then check their website. Each home school has a lot of information regarding graduation, prom, etc... and they also usually have their morning announcements on their website. If you check their webpage and don't find anything, please come and see me and I will make a quick call to the home school counselor.

Well we are already into our second week of the 4th quarter. If you must pass the fourth quarter to pass for the year and graduate, then I have contacted your parents or guardians and also talked with you about what you need to do to finish strong. No matter what else you have going on, you must focus on your school work for the last seven weeks and don't give up. If you need some extra help or would like to come in early or stay late, please contact your instructor and ask them if they could do this for you. I promise you they will accommodate you anyway they can. We have a great staff here that will go the distance if you are willing to work. If you are looking for help on test taking strategies or study skills, please stop in my office and we will discuss this.

Finally, the big topic now is scholarships. Well I have mentioned scholarship deadlines in this blog before and they have been on the scholarship page since the beginning of the year. The only thing I can tell you is that many of the scholarships are over with but there are still many out there. Please check out the scholarship page and check the dates. Don't forget the local Vantage scholarships. We have the Robert Brandt scholarship and the Robert C. Stevens scholarship. If you were a Jr. Rotarian, that scholarship is due April 10th. I also encourage  you to check out the college that you are going to and look for their scholarship dates.

Wow! That is truly a crazy month of March around school but hang in there. We are nearing the end so take some time to enjoy yourself and your friends. Well I am going to get back to March Madness. Wisconsin is beating North Carolina with 6.3 seconds left and yes, I picked Wisconsin.   UPDATE: Wisconsin wins 79 - 72 to head to the elite 8.

Stand Up

I don't know if you have caught the story on the internet a week or two ago, but a young girl named Desiree Andrews has gone viral on the web. Desiree Andrews is a cheerleader for the Lincoln Middle School in Kenosha, Wisconsin. She's a sweet, happy, friendly eighth-grader, who also happens to have Down Syndrome. During one of the basketball games, some of the players could hear her being harassed from the stands. It was then during a time out in the game that three players walked off the court and walked over to the students who were bullying her and asked them to stop. Scooter Terrien was one of the boys who went over there and he said the reason he did it was "It's not fair when other people get treated wrong because we are all the same."

I don't know about you but I get really angry when I see any student getting picked on, let alone a student who is living so courageously with a disability. Some times I just want to scream and do whatever I can to bring the bully to justice, but then I realize there is a process to follow. However I don't think I have ever responded like Desiree did. When she saw how upset her father was about the incident, she threw her arms around him and said, "Papa, it's OK. I still love them even if they don't love me." WOW! If that doesn't make you choke up.

The boys that defended Desiree and the story, didn't end there. The article went on to say that Desiree never has to walk alone to class again. Every day the boys or other classmates hold her hand and walk her to her next class. According to the Kenosha News, they have also re-named the gymnasium, "D's House" in her honor.

There are two reasons why I wrote this blog. One, I want all of you to see how easy it is to stand up for someone when they are being bullied and how admired you are by so many when you do stand up to a bully. Remember, this story went viral on the internet, showing how affected people were by the action of these three boys. Two, I am now hearing stories of a terrible, disgusting social media site called "Burn book" or something like that. I believe it all started with the "Mean Girls" show, I could be wrong. This site has hit our area and as I mentioned, it is cruel and hurtful. I understand the police are working on getting this shut down. Hopefully they can figure out whoever adds a post to this site and track them down. I beg of you to please not lower yourself to this type of activity. Think of the hurt that it causes. I also ask if you know someone who is on there, please tell them to stop. Stand up for others. Be that one person who says "I am sick and tired of it".  I often hear people say that bullying is to hard to stop, especially with the social media sites. Well, I am telling you that if we all do our part and not allow it in our school, we will make a big dent in it. Take care and have a great week.

Note: Information for this story came from two separate articles by Andrea Romano and Jim Daly.

Moments

Well I would hope some of you have missed reading my blog the last few days because I have missed writing it. I always appreciate the comments I receive after posting one of my blogs, so thank you. The reason that I did not write the blog earlier in the week was because I became a grandpa over the weekend. My oldest son and his wife had a baby girl, Sierra Sue Fisher. She was born Saturday morning at 6:45 am and weighed 8 lbs. Needless to say, my wife and I headed down to West Virginia where she was born and we spent the next four days just absolutely adoring her. This is our first grandchild, so as you can imagine we are still beaming from ear to ear. If you happen to stop me in the hall, I will be more than glad to show you some pictures. LOL.

One thing that this great event did do for me, was to make me realize how many special moments we have in our lifetime. This entire weekend and the last two days have been one of those moments. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, a moment is described as a minute portion of time or a comparatively brief period of time. Now the thing with moments is they eventually end, no matter how brief the period of time is. That is how this weekend was for my wife and I. It was a fantastic moment where we got to see my son being a father and our daughter-in-law being a mother. We witnessed the tremendous amount of love they already have for their child. However, we knew it had to end, we realized that we had to head back to Northwest Ohio while our beautiful granddaughter was going to stay in West Virginia. We both left a big part of our heart back in coal country.

I guess it was that feeling that gave me the idea to write this blog. Even though that moment lasted briefly and it had to end, we appreciated every bit of it. We realize that we will be heading down to see Sierra many, many times over the years. That is the thing about special moments; when you are in them, you should do your best to embrace them and make the most of them. For example, many of you are going to be heading off to college after high school and your life will change. You will pack up your belongings and move into a dorm with friends and strangers. You will say good-bye to your parent(s) or guardians and be starting a new life without them around all the time. It will be a sad time for many of you and many of the adults in your life. But what you have now is a moment. It is a moment of your life that you can make the most of. Try to enjoy the last days of high school and make them special. Take time out of your day to sit and chat with your parent(s) or guardians. Tell them how much you have appreciated them and all the things that they have done for you. Tell them how much you love them. Maybe take the time to stay after school and chat with your favorite teacher. Let them know how they have impacted your life.

These last few months will offer many special moments in your life. Please make the most of them. You will remember them forever and you will be thankful that you took the time to make them special. I also ask that while you are in the moment, that you would realize how special they are at that time. Smile, embrace them, love them and cherish them. Yes, I am talking about your moments but thinking of my granddaughter. Take care and don't forget, I have more pics to share.  

Don't Blink

By now I have already talked to the juniors about next years schedule. Each junior should have received in their school e-mail, the web address for the "Google" form that you will use to request your classes. The description for each course can be found here, which is on our website located under student services. Several students have already filled out their form and made their request. For those of you that have not filled out the form yet, remember that they need to be turned in by the end of next week. If you were absent the day I spoke to the juniors (Monday, March 9th), then stop by and see me soon or talk with your English teacher to get the Google form.

One thing that I would hope that all of you will do when selecting your classes for next year is to challenge yourself. Several times I have heard someone say, "which is the easier class" or "you don't have any homework if you take this class". Is that really what you want? I would hope that you realize when you challenge yourself, you can really accomplish so much more. Not only in your classes but also in life. If you are planning on going to college and furthering your education, you should take the extra math classes, the higher level science classes, the Military History or Psychology class or even the writing and literature class. These classes will not only help you when you get to school but they will help you when you are applying for scholarships or applying to a university with higher academic requirements.

I have also heard several students talking about graduating early. I realize that many seniors will only need Senior English next year to fulfill their graduation requirements. If you are one of those students, then please take time to look at all of the other options that you have. For one, you can gain one more year of lab time which means you will learn so much more information that will help you in your future. Many of our labs require you to be here both years to earn any certificates or certifications. Second, there are now so many more options with College Credit Plus (CC+). You can take college credit courses for FREE while you are still a high school student. You will earn credits for both high school and college and it doesn't cost you a cent. We will be doing the CC+ on-line courses here at Vantage and possibly be offering an advanced math class here at school with one of our instructors. Finally, remember that graduating early is not our call, but your home school will make that decision. If that is something you are really wanting to pursue then you must talk to your home school counselor and principal before this can happen.

Finally, I hope you will discuss your choices with your parents or guardians. Talk to them about your plans not only for next year but post high school. You have heard me say this so many times, but your years here at Vantage will fly by. Ask any senior, and if they are honest with you, they will tell you that this year has gone really fast. Your next year will be a fun year and an exciting time for you. I hope you challenge yourself and make the correct decisions about your future. Don't try to rush through your early years, take your time and make the most of them. As country singer Kenny Chesney wrote in his song "Don't Blink"; "Trust me friend a hundred years go faster than you think." I couldn't say it better. The high school years were a great time but they went so fast. I hope all of you will stay here and make the most of your senior year. I hope you will all work hard and accomplish more than you ever thought possible.

March 9th Matters

I was reading an editorial article this past weekend written by our State Senator Cliff Hite. In the article titled "Why March 9th Matters To Me", Senator Hite is reminding all of us that today March 9th is our state's first Meningitis Awareness Day. This day is in honor of Senator Hites' niece, Tess, who died at age 5 of meningitis. The reason Senator Hite wanted a day set aside for this is to make all Ohioans aware of this deadly disease and how easily it can be prevented.  Senator Hite mentions a few other cases; one student who lost her legs and fingers to Bacterial Meningitis and another 19 year old girl who was buried on her birthday because of meningitis. Roughly 15 percent of meningitis cases are fatal, and 20 percent of survivors have lasting effects, including the loss of limbs.

Working with the Department of Health, medical professionals, local health officials, and vaccination specialist, Senator Hite is proposing a bill that will add bacterial meningitis to the existing list of vaccinations that the Ohio Department of Health regulates for our schools. Currently there is no regulation regarding the meningitis vaccine in Ohio even though there are 25 other states that have meningitis on the list of school vaccinations. As one mother stated in the article, "no parent should have to lose a child to a disease that can potentially be prevented through vaccination.

Regardless of your view on vaccinations, if you are planning to go to college or a major university, you should check into the requirements. I know that according to their website (here), the Ohio Department of Health states that Ohio law does not require vaccination of the student but it does require disclosure of vaccination status. However, in an article from the Columbus Dispatch on March 6th, it states that new Ohio State University students will have to prove they have had their shots. Ohio State is requiring that incoming students have proof of vaccination against the following illnesses: diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis B and varicella (chickenpox). And students new to the residence halls will have to be vaccinated against meningitis. A copy of the article is here. I hope this information helps make you aware of the threats of meningitis and also informs you about the requirements for college. If you have any questions, please stop by my office.

The Final Stretch

I don't know how many of you have checked out the school calendar lately but we are officially one week away from the end of the 3rd quarter. If you are like me, that is really amazing. Wow! What happened and how did it happen so fast. Doesn't it seem like we just arrived here on campus and started the new school year? Then all of a sudden we looked up and it was Christmas break. I hope all of you were paying attention at the beginning of the year when I told you at the orientation session that this year was going to fly by for all of you. Oh I'm sure there are some of you who would think that the year dragged by and it is still going by slow. However, you will be the student's that come back to visit and say how you wish you were back in school and you didn't realize how much fun you had here. It happens all the time. Well the important thing is that you finish up strong. I have a few suggestions for the seniors and juniors.

SENIORS: This is it. You are now in your very last quarter of your high school career. What started for many of you over 12 or 13 years ago is coming to an end. If you are heading out into the work force and are currently on Early Placement, you should be letting your employer know when you will be graduating and when you will be available to start for them full time. If you haven't settled on a job yet then you should be working with your instructor, program supervisor or myself to make some connections that will get you started in your career. If you are heading on to higher education, then you should have already applied to the school of your choice and finished your FAFSA. You should also continue filling out scholarships (click here for scholarships). Remember to check back with the college often to see if there is any more information they need or deadlines that you have to meet. Please remember, if you have any questions you can always stop by my office. Finally, as I stated earlier, finish strong. Don't let "Senioritis" set in. That means working hard in all your classes right up to the end, keep up your attendance and leave a good lasting impression with all the teachers and staff here at Vantage. Remember, the colleges do contact us if they have questions for admittance and you may be using some of us as references for future employment. Good luck the rest of this year and enjoy the place, the friends and the memories.

JUNIORS: Well in almost nine weeks, you will be the Seniors here at Vantage. You have been a great class and we look forward to seeing all of you next year. Probably some time next week, I will be talking to you about next years schedule, so you can start thinking about what classes you will be taking. You can take a look at our course list here (I will have this completely updated some time today). I would also advise you to sign up for the next ACT test which is April 18th. The registration date for that test is March 13th, go to www.actstudent.org to sign up. You should also be thinking about which colleges you would like to attend after graduation and schedule a visit for some time this summer. Even if you aren't considering going to college, at least investigate it, you might just find that it is something that you can do. Above everything else, work hard in all your classes. If you have had really good grades the first three quarters, you don't want to ruin your GPA by slacking off the last quarter. If you have struggled the first three quarters, then work hard to raise your grades and boost your final GPA. When you begin filling out scholarships next year, your GPA will be very important. Also remember that you may be considering Early Placement next year and that you must have an "A" or "B" in your lab your junior year, no disciplines, 95% attendance rate and acceptable grades in your academics. Very soon we will be selecting our student ambassadors for next year and your leadership around the school will stand out to the committee. Finally, as I have mentioned to the seniors, I not only want you to work hard right up to the end, but I also want you to enjoy the rest of your junior year. You are the future leaders around Vantage and we look forward to 2015-2016.

The Best Days Of My Life

I was listening to the radio the other day while I was getting my run in and heard an oldie but a goody. How many of you remember the song "Summer of 69"? What a great song that was when it came out in the summer of 1985 by Bryan Adams. The lyrics state "Oh, when I look back now, that summer seemed to last forever. And if I had the choice, Yeah I would always want to be there. Those were the best days of my life." After hearing that song, I couldn't help but think of all the different songs that have that ability to "take us back" to another place in our life. In fact Kenny Chesney  has a song titled "I Go Back" and in the song it states "We all have a song that somehow stamps our lives. Takes us to another place and time..." That is exactly what I was thinking. I believe  most of us have those songs that bring back some good memories.

I started thinking about the songs I remember while growing up and what warm memories I have of those days. I'm sure that I will be giving my age away here but when I was in grade school, Led Zeppelin released "Stairway to Heaven". I still remember shooting pool in my parents basement and cranking that music (parents weren't home) as loud as it would go. When I graduated high school, Bob Seger came out with his "Live Bullet" album and I remember cruising down Woodward Ave. in Detroit with the power booster shaking the windows and my friends belting out "Turn the Page". Wow were those awesome times.

I hope you have taken a minute to think about some of the songs that "take you back" and the great memories you share with others. When most of you students were starting school, the Macarena by the Bayside Boys came out. Ask one of your teachers about that one and have them show you the dance that goes with that song. Maybe the songs that you guys remember a little better are "Moves like Jagger" by Maroon 5 or "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen. Whatever song it is that brings back those good memories, I hope you will hang on to them. It is always nice to hear them especially when the weather starts getting warmer (very soon) and you have the windows down and you are blasting the speakers.

I would like to go back to the "Summer of 69" song for a minute and think about that one line; "Those were the best days of my life". It is easy to think those were the good old days and everything seemed to be so much easier and laid back. I'll bet that many of you students are probably thinking that back then you didn't have the responsibilities that you have now. For example, which college should I chose or which job to work at once you graduate. However, think of all the neat things we have in our world today that is making life so much easier. The smart phones that we all use were "space age" toys when I was growing up. All of us have instant access to any kind of information that we need. The internet makes the world a lot smaller. We can chat with friends all over the world, learn new languages, instantly get any answer we want in a nanosecond. We can download music whenever we want and stream live video of anything we want right on our phone. Those are just a few of the technological things that are making our life so much simpler today. Think of the great opportunities you have here at Vantage and the abundance of job opportunities that are available to each of you as you graduate.

I realize that many of you have problems that you have to deal with on an everyday basis, I get that. I know that life can seem really tough and you wonder when will this get better. I want to tell those of you in that situation that if you have taken the first step to seek help or have started talking with someone about your troubles, then you have started on the path that can lead you to "the best days of your life." I hope all of you realize that. Those of you that are struggling with problems and haven't talked with anyone, please stop in and see me. No matter if everything is going great right now or if you are struggling with problems, I hope you will believe that today truly can be the best days of your life.