Sunrise Children’s Center hosted their 4th Annual Trunk or Treat event recently. Many of the center’s families came to the Sunrise with their cars decorated for the event so that the children could trick-or-treat from car to car. Children were dressed in costume and had such fun gathering treats from all of the cars decorated with pumpkins, lights and spooky spiders! It was a fun evening for children and adults alike.
Sunrise Children’s Center recently honored Ms. Pat Cote for her many years of service as a substitute teacher. Ms. Pat resides in Amherst and a friend suggested to her many years ago that perhaps she would like to work a few hours a week at the childcare center. That was back in 1995, and she continued her service to Sunrise for the next 28 years.
Ms. Pat was always a well-loved addition to any classroom. She usually brought a purple bag of little toys to entertain the children when she came to the classroom—small wind-up toys, little seasonal toys, or small trinkets that she had collected throughout the years. The children would gather around her and wait to see what was in the bag!
At the celebration in her honor, Ms. Pat was presented with a large purple bag filled with gifts and a book written and illustrated by the children and staff of Sunrise—The Alphabet of Ms. Pat. Each letter said something special about Ms. Pat. The letter Q said it the best; As one child wrote, “Q is for Ms. Pat – she is the Queen of all of us.” And indeed she is—she will be missed for her never-ending smile and wonderful sense of humor.
The RSEC Academy’s PALD (Positive Approach to Learning Disabilities) team visited neighboring Bedford High School on Friday, October 6 to share what it feels like to learn differently than other students.
The workshop, which is offered free of charge to student and education groups, featured RSEC students Hayden, Heather, Isaiah and James, and RSEC transition coordinator Alison Batey. They presented a series of activities that replicate the experience of having learning disabilities, engaged the audience in a question-and-answer session, and shared what it feels like to be on the receiving end of uninformed and hurtful assumptions about learning disabilities.
Presented with a healthy dose of humor and an open and honest exchange, the PALD team took the audience through different scenarios that help illustrate some of the challenges students with learning disabilities face, such as:
Kudos to the PALD team for explaining some of the issues that many of our students experience and overcome on a daily basis. We’re so proud of their commitment to inform the community and share their successes with others.
While the Bedford High School presentation was adapted for its district-wide professional development session, The RSEC Academy PALD team can adapt their 60-to-90-minute presentation for content, time, and audiences of all sizes. It is offered at no charge.
Mrs. Amy Clark Canty, the reading and writing specialist for The RSEC Academy, shared her work on improving comprehension skills at the fall conference for the NHSLA at the Holiday Inn in Concord, New Hampshire. She provided a comprehensive overview and demonstration of Active Reading Comprehension Strategies, which are research-based strategies that assist all readers with comprehension of print and non-print texts.
“My goal was for everyone to walk away with practical, ready to use procedures designed to assist students in developing, and independently using, metalinguistic skills to connect personal experience and prior knowledge to written text,” Mrs. Clark Canty said. “All students learn differently, so the more approaches and strategies we have to help them, the more successful they will be.”
Using Active Reading helps improve reading comprehension skills for all levels of readers, including students with learning disabilities. Educators and academic specialists learned the basic strategies required to implement Active Reading in therapy or in the classroom, and gained an understanding for assisting students in personalizing their application of Active Reading to complete assignments, define specific strategies, and apply them.
Mrs. Clark Canty, along with all staff members at The RSEC Academy, use a personalized combination of teaching techniques, experiential learning, and meeting students where they are to help each student find his or her own path to academic and personal success.
Learn more about how RSEC staff create challenging and supportive learning environments for students at all stages by helping teachers across the state.
