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Hello and Welcome Back!
As you may know the Nassau BOCES Perkins Consortium grant
initiatives are well under way for this year and we have
begun to schedule FREE consult days to assist your district
in the ever changing world of Transition.
The focus of this initiative is to assess the effectiveness
of the delivery of transition services to increase College,
Career and Life Readiness for students with disabilities.
District based activities will include:
·
Initial assessment of your district's current transition
level using the 'Best Practices Model Transition Guide'
·
Determine the district's levels of readiness in order to
increase student outcomes
·
IEP Development - To provide staff development in IEP
preparation which proactively addresses the inclusion of
Indicator 13 into the document, recognizing the goal of
increasing college, career and life readiness
·
Target transition areas will be identified and
recommendations offered
If you have not visited the site, please do so at
www.nassaubocesperkins.org.
There you will find a brief power point illustrating key
areas of the transition process, 'Best Practices Model
Transition Program Guide' and NYSED direction for transition
planning and student outcomes. Barry Tech has posted their
updated TRANSITION PLANNING CHECKLIST that is currently
being used by fifteen districts in our consortium.
Transition with Joe is a great way to
keep up on current topics and events. The Perkins
Implementation Meeting will be held 8:30 AM- 10:00 AM at
Barry Tech on October 27th. Contact Mary Etzel at
metzel@mail.nasboces.org
to RSVP.
Passing this along....LONG ISLAND Siblings Day is being held
at "Monster mini Golf' on Sunday, November 6, 2011. It is
hosted by the Community Mental Health Promotion Teams of
Nassau and Suffolk County. This event is exclusively for
siblings (ages 8-13) who have a brother or sister with an
emotional, social or behavioral diagnosis. Contact
Shari@North Shore Child and Family Guidance Center :
516-626-1971 x 348 for details.
See you on the 27th at the Perkins Meeting
Regards as always,
Joe De Riso, Transition
Consultant, Nassau BOCES Perkins Consortium
Transition Stories from the 2011 Barry Tech Certificate
Program
Last Wednesday evening I had the honor to
attend the 'Barry Tech' 2011 Certificate Ceremony Program
held at the Tilles Center, Long Island University/C.W. Post
Campus. I had attended many graduation ceremonies in the
past as the Transition Coordinator for the Great Neck School
District. It was always exciting to see our students
who attended CTE programs complete the 'baby steps' needed
to achieve their career goals. For those students who had
developmental disabilities it was a continuance of the
community based activities that successful transition
outcomes require.
As I listened to Dr. Thomas Rogers, District Superintendent
of Nassau BOCES, discuss how important it is to work
together I began to reflect on how can transition planning
be better explained? "Alone we can do so little,
together we can do so much", Dr. Rogers quoted from Helen
Keller. A community should NOT define borders but
rather create the "broadest possible definition of community
in order to help each other". Additionally he stated
that "community based activities all dependent on each
other" are dictated by our ever changing economy.
His vision, in my opinion, supports 'Best Practice
Transition Models' that ensure successful outcomes.
Both student speakers spoke of their disabilities and how
their experiences at the Barry Tech community helped them to
achieve their goals. As they spoke I started to write
down all the Transition activities they were engaged in.
Guest speaker Akeem Dexter, a 2008 graduate from Uniondale
High School and Nassau BOCES Culinary Arts Skills program
shared many of his community service events. In addition he
advised those in attendance to use 'skills learned here at
Barry Tech to move on'. His self-advocacy skills led
him to receive his Associate degree from SUNY Delhi and also
take his Teaching Assistant Certificate exam. His long
range goal is to become a Culinary Art's Teacher inspired by
his mentor Chef Shattuck.
Student speaker Lisa Marie Hendriks, 2011 graduate from Glen
Cove High School and Nassau BOCES Police Science and
Criminal Justice program spoke eloquently about her
disability and how it impacts family school decisions. She
shared her concern for her dad, a former police officer,
after he had been sent to Afghanistan and how much she wants
to be like him. As the SkillsUSA President she has
assumed leadership roles and a team approach to problem
solving. She has been a leader in fighting education
cuts in Albany. Lisa reminded us all that
"disabilities are NOT a barrier". She plans on
continuing her studies at Queensborough College.
This evening was the first time that I can remember that
both student and guest speaker were classified students.
Both Lisa and Akeem understand their disability and how they
were able to overcome the barriers and obstacles that often
get in the way for successful transition planning.
In order to ensure that all students become college, career
and life ready it is important to have 'the broadest
possible definition of community to help each other'. Local
high schools, CTE programs, work based learning, community
based experiences and adult services must be dependent upon
each other so we can have more speakers like Lisa and Akeem.
It was a terrific evening of Transition stories.
Have a good summer!
Joe
8
June 2011
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