pathways newslettter

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone,

Hope your holidays were great! Attached is our January 2009 newsletter with

our porgrams and some things other towns are doing as well.

Best,

Melinda Jennis, President

Pathways for Exceptional Children

STANDARD CORE curriculums in

education have become the driving

force of what our children are

required to learn and proficiencies

determined through standardized

tests. Over time the curriculums

passed down the pipeline to our

children have expanded to about

the size of an elephant. However,

according to some experts, " more "

is not always better and certainly

does not translate to an increase in

relevancy or student outcomes as

they graduate from high school.

On April 25, 2008, the New Jersey

Department of Education issued a

report called " Re-Designing Education

in New Jersey for the 21st

Century. " The report states that,

according to a 2005 Achieve, Inc.

survey of college instructors, 42%

of high school graduates are not

prepared for college-level classes.

It also states that only 25% of

today's New Jersey high school graduates

will obtain a college diploma.

Compound this scenario with disability

and continue to force the

same curriculum through

an even smaller bandwidth

or capacity in the same

amount of time, and those

with disabilities earning a

college diploma sink to half

those without disabilities. For children

with disabilities who are more

severely involved, the problem can

sometimes sadly appear almost

comical. A parent recently shared

with me how her child with severe

cognitive disabilities was given

homework about Egypt when in

reality she didn't even know she

lived in New Jersey.That is where the

elephant or amount of curriculum

drives meaningless outcomes instead

of targeting increases in function or

independence.

We must " escape from old ideas "

and more carefully define what the

purpose of education is for the disabled.

As with all education, outcomes

and employment should

guide the curriculum process. When

appropriate, children with disabilities

need to have the irrelevant trimmed

off the elephant and be given more

well thought out and planned assistance

from the educational system.

They also need more from their

communities than what schools can

provide alone. More has to be done

and the onus cannot fall on just

education.

Over the past six years, Pathways

has progressively moved to develop

after-school programs that focus on

complementing and reinforcing what

schools provide.We have successfully

divided standard core curriculums

into smaller pieces where functional

relevancy and final outcomes are the

driving force, not the quantity of

curriculum or test scores. When

children can learn naturally and

progressively, the quantity and

personal expectation of what

they feel can be accomplished

begins to grow exponentially.

After-school programs can creatively

dovetail off standard core curriculum

and can be made much more motivating

through what the child deems

as important and relevant in their

world. For example, a child who loves

music but has difficulty reading or

speaking can improve these abilities

through DJ equipment and Karaoke

where the computer cursors through

the words on the screen while the

child speaks or sings into a microphone.

Reading and speech become

something they need in order to

accomplish their love for music and

to perform. Couple that with the

more specialized help they receive

in school, a trained mentor, and an

applauding audience and almost

anything becomes possible. All of

this is based upon a simple recreational

approach that allows these

children to achieve their goals and

dreams in the context of life while

giving them every opportunity to

share it with and experience it out in

the real world or their communities.

Talents are accentuated and disabilities

are worked on as stepping

stones toward achieving what the

child deems as meaningful success.

The child, their abilities and the

community are given the opportunity

to help drive outcomes, not just the

elephant or their disabilities.

Pathways is very excited about our

new programs coming in 2009,

including some that will be designed

and implemented by our Lead

Mentors.They are planning a play

that will be modified off " Pan "

and pillow polo, which is a sport

where social skills will be accentuated.

We look forward to the new year

and continuing to become an organization

where ideas and innovation

continue to drive our purpose, which

is to increase outcomes for our children

and the involvement of our

communities!

-Melinda Jennis,

President, Pathways

Next Steps

The Monthly Publication from Pathways for Exceptional Children January 2009

Curriculum versus Relevant Outcomes

Curriculum

Bandwidth

Typical

Child

Child with

Special Needs

What is a child's

capacity?

" The difficulty lies not so much

in developing new ideas as in

escaping from the old ones. "

- Maynard Keynes, Economist ©

2009 Pathways for Exceptional Children

What a child needs to be exceptional.

For the latest news and information about Pathways for Exceptional Children,

visit www.montvillepec.org

Project Win-Win's " Pet Care and Grooming "

class brought about great success as the

kids learned about businesses and careers

in pet care. On the business side, the kids used computers and several

software programs to develop company logos, flyers, databases, budgets,

invoices and contracts. On the medical side, they researched animal diseases

and created veterinary health intake forms. Mock pet stores and

grooming salons were an ideal setting for learning tools of the trade,

customer

assistance, and handling money transactions.

Various professionals from NJ were

invited to present to the class, including K9

Kennels of Fanwood,TLC Services Mobile Pet

Grooming of Newton, Audubon Society of

Ringwood, and Bearle and her daughters,

and Abbey, from Canine

Companions for Independence, a nonprofit organization that enhances the

lives of people with disabilities by providing highly trained assistance

dogs

and ongoing support.The Bearles brought two dogs and demonstrated how

they are trained to help those with

disabilities and provide companionship.

The class took a field trip to PETCO

in East Hanover to meet the staff and

mingle with birds, lizards, fish, and

furry friends. The kids also got handson

experience as volunteers at the Montville Animal Shelter cleaning cages,

feeding, and playing with the animals. Finally, the kids gave powerpoint

presentations to their parents and the

class about the careers they had chosen.

Parents received an hour of training

about the program and future plans we

have to ally with Centenary College.

A special thanks to all who donated their

time to teach about their professions and

provide demonstrations. Our next class

will focus on mosaic tiling, woodworking

and housepainting trades.

© 2009 Pathways for Exceptional Children

Laxer is a special mom of a

child with disabilities, and known

for her tenacity.Two years ago,

she called Pathways for help in

training mentors and initiating

programs for children with disabilities

in her community. Since

that time, she has successfully

advocated for and received both

financial and administrative support and approval from her district to

implement the mentor training for the entire 5th grade in both elementary

schools this year, and over the past two years, sponsored the training of

over 200 mentors. , with the help of her mentors and other parents,

has developed swimming, yoga, snow tubing, talking book programs using

computers, and much more. These photos show a holiday gingerbread

decorating class that took place in December 2008.Thank you to the school

district and community of Park Ridge for becoming such a great example of

opportunity and inclusion for all children in Bergen County. Of course we

thank for her leadership, tenacity, and love for our kids!

Park Ridge, NJ Celebrates

its Programs

Exploring Animal-Related Careers:

A Winning Combination

Recreation Programs: Upcoming programs are posted

on our website at the beginning of each month.You can visit

www.montvillepec.org and click on " Children's Programs, " or the

Recreation Department's website: www.montvillenj.org, Click on

Municipal Services, then Parks & Recreation, then Forms & Flyers.

Lead Mentors Speak About

Inspiring Change

The Lead Mentors of Pathways were asked by the parent leaders in

Plains, New Jersey to come and speak to their mentors on

December 14, 2008.The Lead Mentors spoke about some of the

projects they are working on, which include legislation, advocacy, and

building new programs.They did a terrific job talking to the mentors

and inspiring them toward becoming leaders in their communities.

About 35 mentors attended from Plains and afterwards got a

chance to

socialize while

having pizza

and fun at

Powerhouse

Studios.Thank

you to

Plains for inviting

us!!