Monday Miscellany

Writing Opportunity for New Jersey 5th and 6th Graders

Teachers 4 Student Success, a non-profit organization, will be hold a writing camp for 5th and 6th grade students in New Jersey this summer. The camp is designed for students who have either been diagnosed with a learning disability or who simply find writing difficult. Instruction will take place over 10 sessions from July to August, and will be based on research-tested methods for teaching expository writing. Because the program will be subsidized by a grant, the cost for the entire summer is only $20.00, though students must be willing to attend all sessions in Fort Lee, NJ or Ridgefield, NJ. Eligibility restrictions may apply. For further information, please contact Pooja Patel at pooja979@gmail.com or (201) 310-1348. Space is limited.

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A New Post-Secondary Program

Last week we had the chance to visit Giant Step Services, a two year vocational and independent living program for young adults with significant learning challenges. What brought us out to Hauppauge, in Suffolk County, New York, was the fact that this program is run by the same folks who created the Vocational Independence Program (VIP) at the New York Institute of Technology. VIP is a highly regarded post-secondary option for students whose learning difficulties would make college very difficult, but who can benefit from vocational education and life skills and social experiences. VIP students can also take courses at NYIT.

The team at Giant Step follows a similar model to VIP, but is not affiliated with a college, although students may take classes at Suffolk County Community College or elsewhere. The program is located in an apartment complex where the participants live together in two- or three-bedroom apartments. They receive significant levels of services and support to work in the community. The Giant Step program is still new, but given the background of the folks who are running it, we are hopeful that it will be an important resource for young people with significant learning challenges. For more information, contact Giant Step at (631) 631-5550.

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ARISE Coalition

New York City parents, teachers, and others who are concerned about the state of special education in the city should be aware of the ARISE Coalition (Action for Reform in Special Education), whose membership is a "Who's Who" of nonprofit organizations, educators, unions, and political leaders "seeking to connect and bring meaningful and positive reform to New York's schools. Their email alerts are a good way to keep abreast of NYC Special Education news.

BOCES Programs

Your blogger recently had the opportunity to speak with a mother whose family had limited financial circumstances, and who was concerned about the costs of college for a less than stellar student. "Does it really pay for him to go to college?", she asked. "Why does everyone seem to feel that all students need to go on to college?" She has a point. But although not all students would be best served by college, almost all of them need some post secondary training to gain the expertise to pursue a trade or to gain skills to live independently. One place that New York parents can look for programs that begin this kind of training during high school are operated by the BOCES programs -- the Boards of Cooperative Education Services.

BOCES programs are designed to allow public school districts to offer an array of courses that are too specialized or too expensive to be offered by individual schools, and which students can begin in high school, ofen while attending their home school part of the time. For example, Barry Tech in Nassau County on Long Island offers over 40 courses for high school students, including culinary arts, automotive technology, and horse science and management. New York City offers career and technical education programs in areas ranging from fashion to construction trades in a variety of different settings.

While BOCES programs also offer training and services for adults, and some offer special education services that individual districts cannot afford to maintain, it is the programs for high school students that can be the most helpful to young people seeking to develop career interests and workplace skills while completing their high school diploma. Some of these students will go on to college. Others will enter the workplace right from their BOCES programs. But it's good to have a choice.