WALK WITH ME ON A REGULAR S.T.E.P. CENTRE DAY

Blog Written by Leslie Wan......

Our Proud STEP School 

Every once in awhile I try to experience the school as a visitor would. It seems important at times to visualize the school as a school with children and teachers that are just doing their "daily day". I can't exactly do that because they all know me, but I do try sometimes. So, having been away for a few weeks with responsibilities that kept me hopelessly diverted , I thought  this was the time!  (Perhaps a synopsis of a couple of times here actually for the purpose of the blog)

Welcome to S.T.E.P. 

I came to the door and was greeted by the ever cheerful Dana, who in the world of STEP Centre, is our worker bee behind the scenes. Dana doesn't get much notoriety, but by golly she keeps the place going. What does Dana do? She does everything you can imagine in reference to an office. She answers phones, she sources material for studies, she does spreadsheets and sales work ups for our card sale and our fundraisers, she follows up on orders, she knows where most everything needed is, she follows up on grants and requests, takes pictures for our needs and history, and keeps all our supplies on hand. And more and more....Despite all that she is required to do, she knows all the children and mostly what their challenges are and everything she does is with CHEER! As the school has grown, so have her responsibilities and yet she rises to the challenge. So there you go, I was greeted with efficiency and good humor and a thoughtful synopsis of what I had missed while away. The first recognition of my eyes wide open visit was Dana, the cheerful gatekeeper of all things STEP Centre.  Dana - you support the earth in which we plant our seeds of  growth and vision!! ( In my mind's eye, I can see the humble shy Dana being proud, but blushing after reading this.)

Working in the sand

I wandered off to the heart of the school, classes and work time were in session. Our school is segmented in time slots, just as most schools are, although what happens and at what time, differs by the age and abilities of the children. One child was being coaxed into touching and manipulating something that was strange to her. No not really strange, just that in her world we were pushing her boundaries of ordinary and it was a new ordinary for her.  New things for our students are often met with distaste and tears. (Not unlike many normal children actually I guess ) If you have never had your hand in wet sand or experienced the feel of wet noodles, it is a new sensory overload and feared until appreciated. Our teachers (like most mothers and fathers) are well aware of the differences in tears and crying. There are tears of fear and pain, I don't like it so don't make me do it tears, the child is pulling our leg tears (fake tears), the why can't I have that or do what I want to do tears, and finally I want all your attention tears. I watched a new(ish) student experience a sensation that is unusual to her and she was expressing herself tearfully despite the benefit of the exercise. She was being offered opportunities she needed to learn and understand, but new isn't always easy.  Ah but her times they are a changin' and her world is incrementally expanding this day, in this way. 

One day I will read

Further forward I go and counting papers are in front of students and books are being read by students who are not only reading, but working on speech learning.  "Watch my lips" says the teacher to one student.  "Look at the page, follow my finger and you can do it. No .....sound it out............You know the word but let's repeat how it sounds."  That is the work with one of our older students. I have known this particular student all the years that I have been coming to  STEP CENTRE and what a progression it has been. She is bright, she is articulate( in her own special way) and she is eager  to achieve, despite the challenges her body makes her endure.  She knows me well, so I stood behind her wheelchair. Only the teacher knew I was listening. Right on target she spoke the book without prompting and did it with few corrections. Where she has come, from my early first days with STEP CENTRE is MAGIC!  She has become a teen that loves all things teen, her clothes and the occasional lipstick that she gets to sneak. She is fully cognizant of her differences, but she works with her intelligent brain and she loves to SING!  Just like all girls her age she likes to be complimented and she laughs with good hearty laughs, makes jokes and sometimes is very lazy. (Oh the teen years) But with all her challenges, she always asks how YOU are and MEANS it! In short she is like all teens with a few more challenges, but with the heart of a lion. So there I see it, the little child I knew back then, has become a teen, and how far she has come in her speech and her work. It was a moment for me............. a true moment of reflection of what time and attention and perseverance comes  from a child and a school, when parameters of normality are put aside. 

Wait, where did that lipstick come from? 

On I walk to a young man doing his math work and at times working at the keyboard. The acquisition of some technology has allowed for all kinds of creative work to happen in our children. I know from experience that this young man won't be deterred when I approach him. In fact, I get an impression of a little glint in his eye, as if he wants me to see how well he is doing his work. Yes he really is doing well and takes pride in the way he maneuvers the keyboard, answers his problems and focuses on the tasks at hand. He too is growing up before my eyes, voice changed and mind blowing improvements in his academic pursuits. He embraces academics, is curious and determined, and takes immense pride in what he does. Yes among his pride is our garden. He has become  leader! My lesson here -What we can see when we put aside what we take for granted. A HUGE lesson in awareness without perceptions.  

Therapy /Stretch/Mat time

Off I go to peek my head into a couple of classrooms. Hillary sits with two students who have worksheets in front of them and they are being asked to count the items in sections and only color some of those items. In effect they must recognize how many are in that section but then they must count them and distinguish by only coloring the portion of the exact amount she wants from the group. They must then color neatly, that particular requested amount. So they need to be precise and they need to practice dexterity and they must follow orders. Along the way they need to sit still, focus and compete. Yes, they do compete with each other in subtle ways just as all students do. Both seem to want the pink pencil, the same pink pencil, but that is just the lesson learned from sharing and competition. One of the students is new to this school year, and came with so much to overcome in regard to being too forceful, attention seeking, loud and occasionally hitting. You see, he didn't come from a loving organized parental home but the school is giving him direction, correction, a sense of communal purpose as well as teaching him that manners and cooperation are necessary in the world. He has a ways to go surely, but once again I see with "new" eyes what the change and this environment has meant to him. Oh and just to interject here...........One of today's lessons involved, greeting Auntie by name and saying welcome and good to see you. Manners matter, no matter who you are or where you started out.  A lesson ALL school children need to learn.

Finally a quick stop in another classroom of younger students who are also working on papers and a teacher is holding one child's eye with a wet cold rag because someone stuck their finger in her eye. It wasn't intentional, it wasn't permanent, but accidents happen with eager children who don't always have full control of their movements.  My take away lesson from this, a child had a need, a teacher recognized the need for comfort and minimal first aid and she was attended to. The child wasn't crying, she recognized they were helping her, she appreciated the momentary extra attention and freedom from schoolwork, and she wasn't mad at her peers it seems. She has a heart, she understands her peers are "special" and when the stinging stops, she will go back to whatever is next on the school agenda. (Lunch is around the corner after all so why be unhappy they think)

Lunch,lunch,lunch 

What does all this tell us - take a walk in another person's shoes. Stop and

make the time to SEE - REALLY SEE what has been in front of you all along. Share in the good work our school is doing with children who only appear different on the outside, but are just the same on the inside.  It has been a pleasure to give you a view of our day. We are a school with a sincere desire to help children where they are, where they have come from-
 BUT,  are  to become who and where they need to GO! 

A moment for you
As always we end our post with something for you in your life. When you have a

moment ( MAKE A MOMENT AT A SAFE TIME TO DO SO) and close your eyes.

First- listen to the sounds around you. Phones are ringing, TV is talking, people are speaking, rain is falling. All kinds of things are happening around you. Now as you close your eyes, breathe deeply and quietly and just listen and feel.

The chair is scratchy or the smell is ........... but at that moment you are present - really present. No don't open them yet until you have really focused in on THAT moment -that moment without sight.  Now open your eyes, but with real vision for THAT moment. Not -what is next on your agenda or what is next to disturb your peace or what news is the latest and worst, but that moment have vision of exactly what you see. Am I being a little new age here -YOU BETCHA. But that is what we need to do occasionally for the fog of history and expectation to lift, and for you to have real vision of what you have missed. My visit was just an extension of that and what I took from those moments can never be erased. I brought you along with me today on my wide eyes view. Yes, life gets busy. We all have to move along and do what needs to be done, but for that moment of reflection, you saw something you needed to see ...............Really see........

Bless up

Leslie Wan.....................

International Reading Day
A special visitor joined us to read to the children..........
Thank you Jan Harmon..........The children LOVED it!!! What a way to brighten their day.