The SEED Board is excited to announce THREE new grants aimed at supporting LafSD special education students in and beyond the classroom.
Accessible Basketball Hoops at Stanley Middle School!
Stanley Middle is a Unified Champion School, and honored by the Special Olympics. In an effort to expand this honor and how it shows up at Stanley, SDC teacher, Darcy Reynolds, started a Unified Sports Lunch Club. The club meets twice a week in a designated sport court on campus, offering opportunities for students to play seasonal sports.
With the basketball season quickly approaching, Darcy recognized a need for accessible basketball hoops, and came to SEED! The hope was to purchase four hoops to be placed around the sport court at different heights to accommodate students who are in wheelchairs or who cannot reach the regulation hoops on the existing playground, with the ultimate goal of increasing opportunities for students to play ball with their general education peers.
Yes! APPROVED!! Go Wildcats and thank you Darcy for all you do!
Springhill Playground Communication Board
As Springhill’s Speech-Language Pathologist, Haley Weintraub, so eloquently put in her grant proposal: Communication is a human right. We couldn’t agree more!
In support this vital human right to communicate, and with a goal to increasing inclusion and community on campus, Haley reached out about placing a Communication Board on the Springhill Playground.
A Communication Board is a large core board, conveniently located on the playground and accessible to all students. This board, in Haley’s words, “aims to provide opportunities for play, engagement, inclusion, and awareness. Children who have difficulty with verbal communication will have opportunities to make choices; request activities; invite play partners; and share their feelings. Children who use AAC devices will know they have another method of communication should portability or the difficulty of running with a personal speech generating device serve as a barrier.” Adding, “By displaying a large core board Springhill/LafSD shows that all communication is valid; that all students can play; and that LAFSD serves all students.”
Amazing! We can’t wait to see the new Communication Board installed and in use. Thank you so much for making this happen, Haley!
Burton Valley EI Classroom Comfort and Playground Ease
Teachers always have their students’ best interest at heart, so when parent Katie Howard reached out about fulfilling an EI teacher’s classroom wishlist, The SEED Board jumped to help.
This grant will provide two Nugget Couches for the EI classrooms. Part-Funiture, part-toy, 100% FUN, The Nugget couches will replace worn, less flexible seating, and provided comfortable, creative seating for play and lounging.
In addition to the Nugget couches, this grant will also fund outdoor bins for storing sports equipment. This storage bins will not only help to keep the playground organized and clutter-free, but eliminate the need for teachers and aides to cart all the equipment back-and-forth to the playground several times a day, leaving more time for play!
We can’t wait to see what fun ways students use the couches, and their happy faces on the playground! Thank you, Katie for reaching out to make this happen!
Grants! YOU make them possible.
SEED Lafayette is always looking for ways to supplement and improve special education in our district, and we rely on the generosity of donors to fund grants like those described above. If you’re interested in supporting initiatives that make a positive impact on the education of our children, we encourage you to consider making a donation today!
Your support will help us further SEED’s mission to enrich the education of children with special and diverse learning needs, and maximize resources and supports to these children and their families in Lafayette.
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