Fall, 2021 - Issue 7

Welcome to the OSS InSight published by the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit's Office of Student Services. So many amazing things happen every day in our work with young people that we have to spread the word!

An Intro to the Office of Student Services

The Office of Student Services (OSS) has one main goal, success for students throughout their school career and beyond graduation. This goal is accomplished through collaboration with the students, other offices within the Intermediate Unit, parents, school districts and community agencies. OSS provides best practices through innovative programs and services delivered by outstanding staff and leaders to school-age children across Montgomery County. There are over 200 professional staff and more than 25 paraprofessionals supporting students and teachers for high quality programs. We are proud for the work we do on behalf of young people and strive for excellence each and every day. For more information visit https://www.mciu.org/offices/office-of-student-services/.

Sincerely,

Dr. Brittany Lourea-Waddell, OSS Director & The Administrative Team

The Annual Bobbie S. Goodman Award is given each year to recognize an MCIU professional staff member from the Office of Student Services: Nonpublic Schools. The recipient of the prestigious award this year was school counselor, Cathy Belfield. Cathy has served as a school counselor at Lansdale Catholic for 17 years. Prior to that time, Cathy serviced several schools including Kennedy Kenrick High School, Saint John of the Cross, and Saint Titus as an MCIU school counselor. Cathy received the Bobbie S. Goodman award for her passion of school counseling and for her dedication to helping students. Cathy always goes above and beyond to support the students she works with and she consistently provides professional support of her colleagues. While Cathy reports being honored to be the recipient of the Bobbie S. Goodman award this year, it is truly our honor to have Cathy with us at the MCIU and the nonpublic schools of Montgomery County.

Over the past year, MCIU School Counselors have completed trainings in a variety of research based programs to support the safety and emotional well-being of students.

MCIU school counselors have learned the most up to date techniques for assessing at risk students and they use research based protocols when assessing students for risk of suicide.

MCIU School Counselors have been educated in comprehensive threat assessment guidelines and they are able to conduct assessments to make recommendations that ensure the safety of students and school communities. MCIU School Counselors are also fully certified Olweus bullying prevention trainer/consultants and are able to work with schools to implement programs that have been found to reduce bullying and related antisocial behaviors.

Below is a representation of the many trainings that MCIU provides in the area of mental health.

Students adjust to a new schedule at the start of every school year. One area that is often overlooked by students is their new sleep schedule. As a result, MCIU school counselor John McGranaghan, devoted multiple classroom lessons for students at LaSalle College High School on the importance of sleep.

Many experts now believe sleep is the foundation upon which all heath is built. Sleep enhances learning, improves athletic performance, inspires creativity, wards off mental illness, regulates metabolism, and prevents disease. The goal of the lessons were to stress the importance of sleep, have students examine their sleep patterns and provide tips for better sleep.

Drawing on the research of Matthew Walker, Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, Founder and Director of the Center for Human Sleep, and his best-selling book Why We Sleep, John McGranaghan combined videos, lecture, peer interaction and reflection to help students examine their sleep habits. Students are encouraged to think about sleep in terms of time management. Just as students set aside time for homework and after school activities, they can aim to block out 8-9 hours a night for sleep. Many students responded by saying they would limit their screen time before bed, develop a sleep routine, and lower the temperature of their bedroom since a person’s core body temperature needs to drop in order to promote sleep.

The lessons being learned with Mr. McGranaghan are helping students in their day to day lives.

• Crisis Team - Upon request, MCIU will send out teams of mental health specialists to support at times of crisis.
• SAIP -The Student Attendance Improvement Program (SAIP) provides a comprehensive school and home-based assessment and treatment plan, as well as ongoing mental health supports and social work services, for students who present with school refusal behavior and related challenges.

  
  

Eleven interns from various Montgomery County high schools, colleges and universities (including three MontcoWorks★NOW clients) participated in summer internships through the State/Local Internship Program (SLIP), overseen by the MontcoWorks★NOW office. Interns spent a minimum of six weeks from June-August 2021 working at a variety of partner sites including Elmwood Park Zoo, Electro Soft Inc., Peaceful Living, Valley Forge Park, Norristown Public Works, East Norriton Pharmacy, the MCIU Information Technology Department and the MCIU Human Resources Department. Four of the eleven interns were offered employment after completing their internships. Great work to all who participated in this year's SLIP program!

MontcoWorks★NOW clients have been busy this fall in their paid work experiences throughout Montgomery County. Kaitlyn has been working in the Wellness Department at the North Penn YMCA. She helps keep the equipment and fitness areas clean and sanitized for their members. Matt is working at Universal Copy and Print through the Community Action Development Commission where he assists with data entry, print media, and customer service coverage. Jadon is working at the Inter-Faith Food Cupboard where he helps with sorting, stocking, inventory, and more. Angelo returned to Living Hope Farm in Harleysville after working as a crew member for the Appalachian Conservation Corps. He was able to assist them with the end of the 2021 PA growing season. MWN client Morris completed his pwe with Norristown Public Works. He excelled in his position and was able to earn permanent employment as a Norristown Municipality worker. He has recently enrolled in a CDL program and is working to advance within the public works department. We are so proud of all of his achievements!

We are lucky to have so many unique community partners that our clients can connect with.

The team has been busy this fall supporting community events throughout the county. Developer of Workforce Partnerships, Sara Hudson and Career Counselor, Danielle DeLuca-Wilburn, attended State Representative Matt Bradford's Family Fair at the Elmwood Park Zoo. They were able to connect with residents from Montco and share more information about our program. Career Counselor Hakim Jones was able to connect with county residents at the Career Resource and Food Distribution Day hosted by the Montco Public Defender's Office.

September was the month for job fairs. Dan Chominski and Sara attended a job fair hosted by Souderton Area School District. They connected with students about opportunities with MontcoWorks★NOW and for the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit. Danielle attended a job fair at the Montgomery Mall with her client Tori to connect with employers throughout the county.

The MontcoWorks★NOW program hosts weekly Goal Getters sessions for our clients on Friday afternoons. Industry professionals are invited to share their career journey with the clients which is then followed by a Q and A session. Employers and educational institutions are also invited to discuss employment opportunities and different training programs that our clients may be interested in taking advantage of. The Goal Getter program is a great networking opportunity for MontcoWorks★NOW clients and our presenters always have great advice to share. This fall our clients met Kevin Cybularz from TWYN Real Estate, LLC, Denise Collins from the North Montco Technical Career Center and Joel Trotter from GlaxoSmithKline. We are so grateful they shared their Friday afternoons with us!

Students at Anderson celebrated fall with fun and games during the Annual Fall Festival event. While we are all still dealing with the pandemic’s “new normal,” Anderson students and staff safely participated in Halloween activities and Red Ribbon Week. The first day of Fall Festival consisted of outdoor games such as apple chucking and indoor activities like painting. Students in our Media Arts class made a video showing all the activities enjoyed during this time. Red Ribbon Week followed the festival. Red Ribbon serves as a catalyst to mobilize communities to educate youth and encourage participation in drug prevention activities. Each day, staff and students participated to support the pledge to “Kindness” and staying “Drug Free.” On the last day of the week, students could participate in the yearly costume contest. In honor of Thanksgiving, student council planned an activity where students wrote notes of gratitude to each other in English classes. Students decorated a bag, and placed it outside the doors. Student council delivered the messages to everyone, making sure that everyone got one! Gratitude is an attitude at Anderson School!

In a partnership with Riverbend Environmental Education Center, Anderson science classes have the opportunity to experience Aquaponics as part of our STEM initiative. Riverbend Environmental Education Center teaches environmental principles to children in Southeastern Pennsylvania through a direct connection with nature, inspiring respect for the natural world, and action as aware, responsible and caring citizens. Staff from the Center came to install our aquaponics system in the science lab while students assisted. There are now fish in the Anderson family. The students planted seeds in the trays connected to the fish tank. Eventually, the system will be self-sustaining. We already have buds coming up for some of our plants. The students are making observations and analyzing the growth of the plants. Hands on science with Mr. Serrao and Mr. Linahan is the best!

The Lower Providence Police came to chat with all the students at Anderson and share their mission to keep everyone safe in the community. Chief Jackson and Officer Stead shared the training to be a police officer and answered students questions. The Chief even shared his struggles in school, and how he wanted to be a police officer to help others through their trials. One student was overheard telling the officers, "You really made a difference to me today, thank you!"

In Ms. Forrest's 6th grade classroom, students are learning and practicing responsible decision making daily, through the use of a school-wide behavior system. Respect, Ownership, Attitude and Responsibility (ROAR) are the tenants in which students earn high quality reinforcement when engaging in these skills. Students are reminded of the expectations through a prominent bulletin board display. Students are then rewarded with class-wide, and school wide incentives that promote and reinforce the skills taught. Keep up the great work 6th grade, and let's continue to ROAR!

Kace H is the Student of the Month for September 2021. He is in 4th grade in Ms. Pumo's class. He always comes to school with a smile and a positive attitude. This year, he has been working hard on his rounding skills in math and loves reading. Congratulations, Kace!

Students had the opportunity to participate in an organized fun-run (or walk) at least 1-mile.

Molly Jouflas is the Board Certified Behavior Analyst® (BCBA®) assigned to the MCIU Transition Program. For students who display behaviors of concern, it is important to identify the reason those behaviors are occurring and then identify an appropriate replacement behavior. Sometimes the behaviors are also accompanied by communication deficits. Molly is collaborating with Speech and Language Pathologist Kathleen Pearlberg to identify appropriate replacement behaviors for these students. For example, a student may be working on a job and feels they need a break but does not know how to ask for one or even who they are supposed to ask. In a case like this, Molly and Kathleen will collaborate in identifying the best mode (sign, pictures, using an assistive technology device, etc.) for this communication and train staff how to teach this communication effectively. Improving communication and independence with these students worked best with a multi-disciplinary approach.

Learning how to make inferences can be difficult at times, but the students at Mary, Mother of the Redeemer and Our Lady of Mercy Schools are using comic strips to do just that. Using comics to teach inferences has proven to be an effective and engaging therapy tool, and shows students that they use their inference skills more than they think.

During therapy sessions, the students learn to recognize and understand the clues they are given in the first few “frames” of the comic. They then try to explain the joke of the comic strip that is usually in the final “frame”. Since the comic strips do not depict everything in detail, the students are allowed to draw their inferences by combining textual and visual cues with their prior knowledge to make the “whole story”.

By using comic strips during speech sessions, students also have opportunities to “read” facial expressions, apply a different perspective and to even formulate their own dialogue. Helping students “read between the lines” and to understand when information is only implied improves their ability to make inferences not only during speech sessions, but in other areas such as reading, science and social studies.

Students in Mrs. Fitzsimmons and Mrs. Shectman’s remediation class at Holy Cross participated in an IXL summer challenge. Over the summer, they had to complete multiple skills on IXL. IXL helps students master essential skills at their own pace through fun and interactive questions, built in support, and motivating awards. As a reward for their hard work and dedication over the summer, students had a water ice party to celebrate their success! Thank you to all the students who participated!

One of the best parts about the beginning of the school year is getting to know students and their interests in different subjects. Jen Yakscoe, Remediation Teacher at Caskey Torah Academy completed fun activities during the first few days of the 2021-2022 school year to get to know her students' interests as well as math skills.

Fifth graders worked with partners to complete a “Math Interview”, taking turns asking each other questions which had numerical responses. Each question had a math task that the students completed with an answer. The Math tasks included in this activity are a review of 4th grade math skills.

Fourth graders completed an activity called, “Math About Me”. Students are given lots of options for what facts they want to share. They are required to write an equation instead of numbers. After students have created their equations and facts, the answers are hidden. Students go around the room, solve equations and check answers to figure out the facts about each person. This is a great way for students to get to know each other!

We’re back in action and discussing our feelings at Elkins Park School with Mrs. Rodriguez, Speech/Language Pathologist. Students frequently have difficulty expressing how they are feeling, especially if the emotion has a negative perception. Students might find it difficult to discuss feeling angry, sad, hurt, or even sick. But that’s where our book, How Do Dinosaurs Say I’m Mad? comes in to help! Stories are a great way to engage in a discussion about emotions, and our students respond very positively to communication boards to help them during discussions and group speech activities. Students can verbally discuss the emotions from the story, help find solutions to problems, and use their communication devices to locate new “feelings” vocabulary. We’re all taking some time to stop and think, “How am I feeling today?”

October is Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Awareness Month and Dyslexia Awareness Month. At Evans Elementary, the students are learning to read using Wilson Fundations. The Fundations letter sounds were programmed into three different AAC apps: Proloquo2Go, TD Snap and GoTalk Now+. Through AAC, the elementary students can access the curriculum and learn to read using the latest technology!

MCIU’s Children’s Hearing Center celebrated its one-year anniversary on October 6th. The Children’s Hearing Center dispenses hearing equipment for all children with Keystone First medical assistance insurance who have hearing technology needs. Dispensed equipment includes hearing aids and direct microphone (formerly FM) systems, earmolds, and batteries. In addition, hearing aids and direct microphone systems are repaired through the Center.

It has been a very successful first year, especially amidst the challenges of opening during a pandemic, and the quickly growing patient pool currently numbers at 258 new patients. The center prides itself on creating a great working relationship with families to get their needs met as quickly as possible. Jessica Loson, AuD, CCC-A mentions that families have been thrilled with the addition of the center and the ability to get their equipment ordered and maintained through the center as many were already familiar with MCIU through existing services their children have received. This service is unique to MCIU and is not available at other intermediate units, therefore, the center can provide services for families across the commonwealth.

“Our family loves the Children’s Hearing Center. My son has bilateral hearing loss and wears hearing aids. Dr. Zavala and her office staff are always available to help us troubleshoot an issue. Recently when the insurance company denied my son his new aids Dr. Zavala advocated for him and they were approved. The process was seamless and now I have a happy 11-year-old with new aids! We have been to many hearing centers since my son was first diagnosed and this is by far our favorite!”

~Springfield Township School District Parent

Congratulations to the center and visit www.mciu.org/chc for more information.

During students' physical therapy sessions in the autistic support classrooms, they worked on gross motor skills by navigating an obstacle course to find the feather and put it back onto the turkey. Once the feather was returned to the turkey, the student needed to complete that exercise and do it again. Some students made a turkey headband to take home and some placed theirs on the wall but either way we celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday.

Everyone has been hard at work learning new skills but made sure to make time for a sweet treat to kick off the Thanksgiving break. The students participated in a pie tasting to determine which pie they liked best, apple or pumpkin. Before tasting each type of pie, they predicted which they would like best. During the tasting, topics of discussion were trying new things, politely expressing dislike, adjectives, and traditions. Which pie is your favorite? The Elementary Hearing Support Classroom students and staff wish everyone a wonderful winter break!

The students in Mrs. Hamilton’s Communication and Learning classroom have been studying space science. Students learned about the planets and completed a sequencing activity place the planets in order. They read about astronauts and made a rocket craft using straws to “launch” them. Students made balloon rockets and measured the distance they traveled using non-standard units of measurement. They also studied the moon and completed two hands-on activities to learn about the moon’s craters and moon phases. The students enjoyed watching a video clip of Neil Armstrong on the moon. All of this was done in anticipation for our first “in-house” field trip with Science Explorers next month where we will participate in their 3,2,1...Blast Off hands on learning experience!

I cant think of a better way to top off our first week at our new location, Hallowell Elementary in Hatboro-Horsham School District. Principal Steven Glaize didn't waste any time on making sure we were included in all of the fun. Villanova Women’s Basketball Team came to Hallowell and led students in some fun activities (dribbling, passing, and shooting hoops) outside as well as talked to us about the importance of setting goals and working together as a team to achieve them.

In the K-2 ABA classroom, Mrs. Vorwaller's students spent time learning all about dinosaurs and their fossils during Dinosaur Week. We listened to "DINOSAUR STOMP" and worked on our gross motor imitation. We also dug up some fossils of our own in some sand with a partner. Did you know the oldest dinosaur fossil ever found was 140 million years old?

The students of Mrs. Brogan’s class at Myers Elementary have been having a wonderful time being back in person this school year. They have been having fun learning about their new teacher and new classmates. One of their most successful projects so far has been learning about Vincent, an artist known for his sunflowers. Students used all of their senses to learn not only about his art, but his inspirational sunflowers as well. At the end of the unit students went hands on and made handprint sunflowers as a way to remember the lesson.

Mrs. Mastrangelo's students at the Elkins Park School have been working hard on school rules, reading comprehension, addition, subtraction, shapes, and the seasons of the year. We’ve been busy learning all about Fall. We’ve read stories such as The Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman, There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves by Lucille Colandro, The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin by Joe Troiano and Ten Apples Up on Top by Dr. Seuss. We took a virtual field trip to the pumpkin patch and watch a SciShow Kids video called The Science of Fall. Later in the month we’re planning to take a nature walk to look at and discuss the different colors of the leaves on the trees. We’re off to a great start to the school year and we can’t wait to continue the fun!

Mrs. Resch's Cheltenham HS MCIU crew is busy attending art, choir, or culinary arts. Some students are going off campus to their transition work exploration programs. We have students at the YMCA, Shoprite and MCIU “headquarters." It’s not just our class size that’s expanding. We are excited to announce an additional room. Room 259A is a room set up with a mini kitchen, work area, laundry, and bathroom. It’s right down the hallway from our room, next to Culinary. We haven’t wasted anytime getting started doing work jobs and cooking. Pancakes were on the menu this week and they were great!

Our classrooms are growing and accepting referrals. If you are interested in more information about the Autistic Support classroom offerings provided by the MCIU, please reach out to Kristina Corominas at kcorominas@mciu.org. Follow Kristina on Twitter to keep up with all the fun @kristina_coro. Follow this link to learn more about our current programs: https://mciu.org/office-of-student-services/autistic-support-services/

While some students like to "ham it up," our class prefers to "gobble up" new information! Students kicked off the holiday season with several lessons about turkeys and what it means to be thankful. Some of the student responses included “trucks”, “mom and dad”, “Thomas”, or a personal favorite, “snacks." The students read several books including, The Great Thanksgiving Escape by Mark Fearing, How to Catch a Turkey by Adam Wallace, and Pete the Cat: The First Thanksgiving by James Dean and Kimberly Dean.

An "Attitude of Gratitude" was the theme of November for Mrs. Brogan’s class. Students participated in the Myers Elementary School food drive, and worked hard to show others that they are appreciated.

Email: bwaddell@mciu.org
Website: www.mciu.org
Location: 2 West Lafayette Street, Norristown, PA, USA
Phone: 610-755-9433
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Twitter: @mciu_oss