Monday 30 September 2019

HAVING FUN FINDING PEACE - SUMMER SCHOOL 2019


Blog by Hilary Sherlock with message and formatting by Leslie Wan

Hilary Sherlock writes...............
“Can we do it again, I hope when school starts we can do it, I know I come late
so I only catch one time, but I really like it.”
Morning Meditation 


Coming from our most skeptical and critical member of staff, this comment took all of us by surprise, especially as the” it” she was referring to was a group meditation exercise. During the second week of our summer program, Sister Tram had led us, children and adults together, through basic guided meditation. Now at the end of our summer school we were reflecting on our experiences, on the weeks activities, on what new knowledge we had gained, and on what dormant skills had been refreshed. A small group of us had been planning this two week camp for what seemed a very long time. Through the intervention of Farnoosh Droodgar of LEAD Outreach Initiatives ,(Leadership, Empowerment, Action, and Development) a Canadian based N.G.O that spends so much time and effort helping good things happen in needy places, and Sr. Gene Poore from the Dominican Sisters of  Peace, we hosted a two week summer program for our younger students. As part of our outreach partnership with The Hope Valley Experimental School in Kingston, a few of their students were invited to participate. Occupational and physio therapists, Sr. Mary and Sr. Tram agreed to come.
Learning new physical therapy skills from the sisters! 
Funding was secured through the Shalom Fund operated by the Sisters. Our goals were simple, to strengthen specific weak areas in our ongoing program (e.g. use of physical therapy motor switches and routine oral motor exercises), suggestions for ongoing activity plans based on individual assessments of each child, and an introduction to guided meditation. These two weeks were carefully planned with all daily activities chosen and prepared.  The term "switches" refers to Adaptive switches that allow the physically challenged and special needs user to activate assistive technology devises in their environment. This can be, for example, a large button that is electrically connected to a toy or another piece of equipment that a child can push to celebrate or reflect his correct answer. An adaptive communication tool for non-verbal, but includes mobility work.


This was to be a learning time not only for the children, but also for us adults. It also proved a good bonding experience to be learning together. The inclusion of meditation as part of the program is not as unusual as it may first appear. I had observed its effective use by Zahra (our creative arts therapist) in her work with our children, and by how her students gained control of their breathing and restless bodies. I had also been reading of its effects in helping children control their behavior. So perhaps this was the time for all of us to try it, adults and children together – and YES, we are definitely now building it in to our regular schedule. So, for two weeks in July we did have fun, we did refresh old dormant skills, we did enjoy the more relaxed pace AND getting to know our visitors. Our visiting students and their parents brought new energy and it was lovely to see the affinity our volunteer Olivia (a Wolmers High School student) developed with the children, especially her favorite little man.

What do we take with us into the new school year, a re-commitment to change and growth, a new look at how we are using our space functionally, and perhaps, most significant, the importance of planning and preparation in all we do. We further explored how we can continue to build our staff as a team. As we cleaned and prepared for the new school year we were making sure to include daily group meditation periods. Now, some weeks into our new school year we begin each day with a ten minute all school meditation. We sit in a circle and go through simple breathing exercises and calmly centre ourselves for the day ahead. Very quickly it has become an important part of our school routine, as the peaceful silence is powerful.


Leslie Wan writes....... 
You would probably find the new found practice of meditation in children with special needs to be  surprising, considering the issues some of our children face. But, in point of fact sometimes they crave a moment of quiet peace in a day that can be loud and hectic and always full of people and other children. In an unusual way, it becomes their own personal time which happens so rarely in any given day. The goal is not to make sure they stay closed eyed and still, because that may be a task too tough for them, but to make them aware that personal space and single contemplation as best they can, is something to be celebrated and a goal worth doing. Truth is, don't we all need some time of quiet moments, which we seldom take the time to do? It was also well received by the staff because they learned it from our visitors who practice it often, and whom had won them over with their quiet energy and lovely attention. We have always known the power of engagement, but rarely had the direction to focus on disengagement.. Starting the meditation early in the morning, means the children and staff come out of the morning hustle and bustle and find their focus by just being as still as they can, and understanding that being individuals even in a crowd, is quite rewarding. I can not stress enough how the power of disengagement can be such an important element for all of us and something I am trying to practice more of in my life just as we are encouraging the children. Being peaceful and being still I realize now, are far different goals. 





 
Special thanks to 

1. LEAD Outreach Initiatives (Leadership Empowerment Action Development) and Farnoosh Droodgar 
2. Dominican Sisters of Peace
3. Shalom Fund
4. Sister Mary and Sister Tram (of Dominican Sisters of Peace)  








Monday 3 June 2019

MAINTAINING HARMONY THROUGH THE CHANGES


Blog by Hilary Sherlock and Leslie Wan
(formatted by Leslie Wan)

Hilary Sherlock says ...............

Schools are ever changing landscapes of ins and outs, beginnings and exits. Children come and children go, and many times it is not an organized or regular semester entrance or leaving. Our school, because of the children we serve, is often working through those changes at all kinds of time in a semester. To say that our students are a very mixed group seems like stating the obvious. I often struggle to describe how we group the children within the many levels of individual differences. Though we strive to put into practice our favorite saying “it's ok to be different”, we do have to recognize each child’s unique place within our equally unique whole. This is always accentuated when we add a new child or adult teacher. The dynamic of the whole group changes and often reactions, challenge our assumptions about our “gentle, accepting school culture”. I work with the underlying premise that if the culture of the school is one of acceptance and affirmation, then bullying, name calling, or any other manifestation of hurtful speech, will not occur. Over the years I now believe that given the often harsh language used in the world and community that surrounds us, it does influence our children and staff, and we must constantly guard against this by being aware.

We recently added two new students and their impact was immediate and evident in very different ways. One little fella walks very well and has no clearly defined boundaries or sense of danger. So making sure that the grill doors are locked at all times becomes a priority, as does the need to keep an eye on his movements while still allowing him the freedom to explore his new surroundings . A new walker in a group of children almost all of whom use wheelchairs, brings its own demands. Another of our newest students, for health reasons, must only be fed the food he brings, and in small amounts, so all of us must resist from giving this cute little fella extra treats. His dietary restrictions and changes are something that he is finding expansive and exploratory, but not particularly within his bodily control. Ah but he does not always understand that.    

A more subtle change happens when we add a mobile child with well developed independent skills which we recently did. He can move around, go to the bathroom and feed himself, so he requires less intervention on a physical care level. However, he has his own set of needs including delayed language skills, and no prior experience of social skills in a school setting . How best do we help him adjust to being in a new group, while helping his peers accept him and his sometimes strange language. Recently, I was sitting with a group of the older students at lunch time. This group always sits together – a group formed partly because they all can feed themselves. Their wheelchairs fit that particular table’s height. They watched the newcomer closely and with his limited speech choices kept repeating “duck, duck, quack, quack” to initiate a conversation. I think I know where duck, duck, quack, quack came from because we had been looking at a book before lunch. I had cheered him on when he identified the ducks and the noise they make, but the others found it understandably strange not having been a part of that reading session. But, I was disappointed when they ridiculed him with the favorite name for one who behaves differently: “he crazy!, he cuckoo!”. A “teaching moment” followed to the other students who ridiculed him. One can only hope that by continually reinforcing that we do not hurt each other by things we say or do, and relating it back to how they feel when assumptions are made about them, we can guard against some of the harsher realities of our culture. Someone recently asked me if the kindness and compassion shown by our students to each other was an innate consequence of their own recognition of their challenges and I think that put that all into perspective - not innate - learned and reinforced. Reinforcing kindness and compassion is an ongoing need! 

On a sweeter note though, I should mention that we also have children that are kind of "watchers" and will alert us when they think that a child has strayed too far out of what they perceive are that other students personal boundaries, or when a child may have a wheel chair issue and he is leaning too far, or at a particularly uncomfortable angle. Some who are mobile, will of their own volition, push another students wheelchair to make sure the student gets in the group or will get a chair when they see someone has no place to sit. In the end our school is just a microcosm of the world at large. Sometimes kind, sometimes not so much.  
    

Leslie's thoughts.........Little of this and a little of that 

1. A new tradition has been started at STEP with a day devoted to water fun! I can not tell you how

much the children have enjoyed playing in small wading pools together, splashing around and splashing each other!! The sound of laughter is everywhere and the children and teachers are completely removed from the usual school routine to a day of total joy. Hands up for our teachers whom enjoy the day, though it does create an extra amount of work with all the clothing changes and diaper changes required. A system in and a system out of the bathroom and yet it is orderly and accomplished. No one is immune to the sound of laughter and joy and the smiles that this day brings. Hanging out in a pool on a warm day beats a workbook - ANY DAY. 


2. Some changes have been happening to the schools exterior recently. This has been something we have needed for a very long time but as in all things, we can not just "do it", but somehow eventually,  the heavens and the people and companies align to help us get it done. On one side of the building, we have been quite concerned about erosion and lack of drainage. We have had nothing to stop the gradual erosion of the embankment that holds up our privacy zinc and we so hoped that before hurricane season we could remedy this without it becoming an emergency. For now, we have abated an emergency threat. 
So Phase 1 with a BIG shout out to 
A. Maryanne Twyman - landscape architect, who designed the plan for us to make it a reality. Thank you, for your expertise and wonder. She is the best folks.  
B. Digicel Foundation - for providing the funds to do this very necessary endeavor. We are always grateful that Digicel believes in us and the magic of our children. 
C. Elie and David Rickham Family for donating all the plants whose roots will help shore up the dirt and beautify the spot. Auntie Elie is a constant friend of STEP and of the children. Thank you for sharing the beauty, and being our secret angels Rickham family - yes it is a family affair for them.   
D. Mark Swaby- Big thanks to a parent of ours who put his team in action to build it for us. Mark always seems to jump in and supply expertise and people when needed. Thank you Mark! 
..............................

We will eventually do a PHASE 2 that will see us making a trellis for climbing plants, wooden fencing will replace our zinc " privacy wall" and further wooden fencing that will block off the view of our laundry area that, while necessary, is just abit untidy looking. This too will come to pass one day when we are able, but, for now that remains a future goal. There are just not enough ways to express our gratitude for what we receive. Ever grateful, ever aware.

3. Thank you to the Brownies from Hopefield Prep. They spent a morning with us entertaining the children, playing games, reading books, feeding lunches and just being their sweet selves in the middle of a school day. Our children loved the attention. I think the Brownies learned a lot about the challenges of children like ours, and seemed to soak it all in, with such compassion and fun spirit. Lovely, lovely girls with great hearts. We spent some time explaining some of the challenges of the individual students so they could understand some of the ways the children face their differences, and also the ways they compensate and overcome. I was worried in some way that they would feel overwhelmed amongst our children, so I spoke with a group as they prepared to leave. They said they were not overwhelmed at all and they loved every minute of it and especially the children and how the children made them laugh too. Reminded me to never underestimate the compassion and ability of other children to see the spark we see amongst our school crew.
                    

Leslie's Final words for today..................


 Cherishing the spirit of others, makes our own spirit lighter as it rises to the embrace. Keep cherishing and keep embracing others.  



Saturday 9 February 2019

SHOWING LOVE AT CHRISTMAS AND BEYOND




WRITTEN BY HILARY SHERLOCK  - NOTE FROM LESLIE WAN


HILARY SHERLOCK SAYS................

In December, I asked two of our older students as we prepared for Christmas, "What can we do to show love at Christmas?” Their responses, “You can help clean the house" and "When your Auntie is going out to shop you can go with her to carry the load”  Very profound! So, to all those who have shown their love to us over the past year and who have helped to carry the load – many, many thanks to all of you.

Christmas at STEP is always a special time, a time to celebrate and reflect, to catch up with old friends as we sell Christmas cards, and to enjoy all the special visits and treats.  One special visit was from one of our past student who is now 33 years old. How lovely it was to spend a little time with her.  Her visit made me realise that with our staff changes, only a few of us remember the early days of STEP when we resided in the Church Hall.  How far we have moved from then, both physically and functionally.

While in our past blogs we have spoken about our community, our space and all those who support us, we have not introduced members of our team who make it all possible.  Two of the longest serving members are – Auntie Marcia and Auntie Junetta.  Both members of our staff have been with STEP from the early days and are part of the fabric of our school.  Together we have grown and changed and sometimes, we talk about memories of past children and happenings as members of a family often do. 
Auntie Junetta
Auntie Junetta began her career with STEP as a teaching assistant. Later, she went on to do a degree at U-Tech and came back to be the teacher in charge of the junior students.  She intuits the needs of the children, notices and takes delight in the smallest accomplishment of our children. She is also an instinctive nurse who can take an accurate temperature without a thermometer. 
Auntie Marcia
Auntie Marcia of “always late” fame, has a special gift for finding the hidden treasure in children who require our maximum assistance.  These two valuable members of our team, help to ensure the continuity of our approach, and remind us that our strength, is only made possible by the contributions of each member. 


As in any family, there are adjustments to be made when new members are added.  New energy and insights help us to bring new growth and re-motivate all of us.  However,  we also have to realize that our new staff has not benefited from all the in service training we have done in the past, and sometimes we need to go back to the basics. As such, while we continue with our training on new procedures, and embrace new concepts in teaching and care, we also are going back to the basics to make sure that everyone has the same concepts and understanding. It serves as a reminder to us all that we need to have a refresher moment. Training is an ongoing process at STEP and we have recommitted ourselves to more training, but it also serves as a means for us all to re-acquaint ourselves with best practices, and bonds staff over why we do what we do, and how to do it in the best possible ways.   


Ambassador Ariel Fernandez

A fond farewell is in order for Ambassador Ariel Fernandez from Argentina who became a friend of our school during last year's World Cup football celebrations. He visited us many times, introduced us to empanadas, and was always very supportive. He has now returned to Argentina and while we wish him well in his new posting, we will miss him. As we say here - Walk good Ambassador Fernandez, as the children wave goodbye to you.  

    



Thank you to Mr Matuschka 
As we enter the New Year with all our plans and hopes, we want to acknowledge the passing of Alexander Matuschka, the CEO of the Digicel International Group.  Mr Matuschka visited our school on his very first visit to Jamaica, and became personally involved in our work.  As a result of that visit he personally decided to sponsor a child himself, and did not solely limit his involvement to a financial one.  Mr. Matuschka kept in touch with us, and periodically inquired about “his little one’s" progress.  We will surely miss him and we join the Digicel community in offering our condolences to his friends, family and the 
Digicel group. 
Mr. Matuschka was a kind man with a golden heart who in one visit to our school, grasped how important our work was, and decided to personally commit to seeing that another child had the opportunity. That pretty much says it all about Mr. Matuschka.
 


 



Leslie Wan says..............

We are ever grateful for being given the honor and joy of working with our children and the staff, who lovingly care for our children and want the best for them. So many times we are reminded by visitors to STEP how much they share our dedication to special needs children and specifically OUR work and school efforts. For that, we are blessed. It is not a surprise that once someone has stepped  into our school, they return each year (or more), because it does their heart good. I recently sat with a group of folks (Boston College alumni) who have visited us from abroad every year for the last 5 years or so. One of them said that this school is contagious with kindness, and the joy they get every time they visit makes their whole trip! One admitted that their family hears all about the children of STEP  (perhaps too many times for the family's patience). They said what comes across is smiles, smiles of children and smiles of caregivers. These smiles will brighten their year till the next visit. In some ways, that is what this blog is about, keeping all the people in our circle (here and abroad) in the loop, as we also let others know, about the wonder of our children, and the blessings of the general special needs community. To our people - high 5 to all of you from all of us, and from one of our students who loves to blow kisses, one of those too. Our children's world gets bigger and brighter thanks to all those who believe in them and our school.  



      
We always are grateful for those who believe and share with us. Thank you to:

1. CAC Foundation and Pacers Running club for their continued support to our curriculum enhancement and means to engage our children in ways they love!!

2. AAA Financial: Thank you as always for the Christmas treat provided to our children each year of lunch, and their treat bags. Each child went to their respective places with a special reminder of your care for them. In addition we received 2 terrific and powerful fans to move that air in our hot Jamaica school days. God bless them, they stayed and chatted with the children and even helped to feed a couple children their lunch. That is HEART!

3. Thank you to Cannonball Cafe and Loshusan Supermarket for allowing space to sell our Christmas cards. They always come thru to help us in our selling push. 

4. National Continental Bakery - for including us with a booth in their Jamaica Made Christmas to sell our cards. We always appreciate being included in this inspired Jamaican event. 

5. Thank you to all those who bought our Christmas cards and helped us to sell our Christmas cards. Our major fundraiser each year brings out the best in all our people and we soooo appreciate you all.