Bi-County Times
September 2022
From Our Executive Director: Jeanne Sullivan
Happy Fall!!! What an amazing start to the school year!! It has been so wonderful to spend time in our classrooms seeing smiling faces, learning from our students & staff.
We have started the school year with a "return to normal". "Return to normal" means that we are not requiring masks to be worn, people who feel more comfortable with a mask are welcome to wear one. We are no longer testing for COVID-19, contact tracing, notifying everyone in the program of a positive case or moving programs to remote learning. We are continuing to maintain high standards for cleanliness in our classrooms and buildings, following the guidance provided by The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, The Department of Public Health, our host schools and our member school districts. Most importantly, we are encouraging all who are ill or are not feeling well to stay at home.
You may have noticed that BICO has a logo that says Making It Possible. Since I became the Executive Director I have used #MakingItPossible to tag my posts on Twitter and other social media. This summer I had someone tell me that Making It Possible wasn't going to work anymore so I began to ask; What Does Making It Possible Mean? When I reflect on Making It Possible, I believe it means using our passion to do anything possible to help our students succeed both in the moment and in the future. We don't give up, we hold high expectations for ourselves and our students, and find the pathways to achieve our goals.
Below you will see some examples of how BICO Staff and BICO Board Members responded when I asked them what Making It Possible means to them.
Happenings Around The Collaborative
PDLP & EDLP : Mansfield
Our students were able to make a nature focused, 5-senses bird feeder for the trees by our classroom! They were able to use their sight, smell, touch, hearing, and some even tasted our ingredients to make them! It was so much fun & it was a great opportunity to get outdoors in this beautiful September weather!
TEAP : Plainville
SEAP : Plainville
TEAP : Plainville
TEAP : Blackstone
Every Monday students have made a recipe. During the month of September, they’ve enjoyed no-bake oatmeal chocolate chip breakfast bars, Jell-O, tapioca, and apple pie in a cup.
TEAP : Wrentham
TEAP : Wrentham
SEAP : Bellingham
Science Fun in Class!
SLBP : Bellingham
We have had an awesome start to the school year in the SLBP classroom! One of the highlights has been starting up our specials! Students in the SLBP classroom attend specials including art, music, library and STEAM. Our 4th and 5th graders have been attending music class with our LREP class. We do lots of activities targeting listening skills, following directions and rhythm. Through these activities, students are working on focusing, self-regulation, organization, motor and reading skills. This is a class we all look forward to every week!!
Summit Elementary and Middle School
AMS : Franklin
LREP : Norton
LREP : Bellingham
We are sharing the highlight that all of the students (Adrianna, Logan and Kaitlyn) had a successful transition up to their new classroom at the middle school. They have been loving making new friends and exploring our new space!
The students in Mrs. Trumbull's room have been learning about and exploring Picasso's artwork during their weekly art lessons. Students have listened to stories and worked hard on their masterpieces!
APE
Learning Center : Blackstone-Millville Regional High School
The students are so excited to be in the community and back to their job sights.
Summit High School : 9th Grade
In 9th Grade science for the month of September students goals for learning were the following:
- To explain what matter and energy are
- To tell and show why measurement is important
- To use units of length, volume and mass
- To explain the meaning of prefixes used with the metric units of measurement
- To calculate area and volume
- To calculate metrics units
The students participated in two LABS to deepen their understanding of the metric system.
STAP : WALPOLE
LRTC : Walpole
My buddy, Aiden & I enjoying the last bit of beautiful September warmth.
LRTC 18+ : Walpole
Garden Group
During the summer and fall months students at the LRTC 18+ program worked in their garden. Each week students learned about one vegetable from their garden. Students would learn all about that vegetable and then use that vegetable in a new recipe. When the garden was finished, students had made a whole recipe book on all our different vegetables from our garden. Here are the vegetable we planted in our garden: basil, summer squash, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and lettuce. We are looking forward to planting another garden next summer!
LRTC 18+ has been very busy this school year! We have been going out into the community for various job sites and trips around the area to practice vocational, social, and safety skills. Job sites have included the BICO office, Mail Delivery and Unity Farms. We have ventured out to Bass Pro Shops, Big Y, and Walmart! We are excited to start our Halloween Candy Delivery job in October and to experience more community places in the upcoming months!
ATP
ATP (Adult Transition Program) was excited to begin the 2022-2023 school year. This fall has provided the program with the opportunity to return to our work-based job sites such as St.Vincent’s de Paul Society, Mansfield Shredding, and Briggs Nursery. We have been able to add new locations with new experiences to our resources with students receiving an orientation at Old Navy and a new job site at Fairfield Inn & Suites Marriott. In October, the ATP program is going to be participating in the Attleboro Enterprises, Inc. (AEI) Transitions Program held at Bridgewater State University Attleboro campus. The AEI program is an opportunity for transition aged students from local districts and programs to come together to learn and socialize together in a community setting. The program offers transition-based classes that are specifically designed around students interests and needs. Classes in the past have included social skills, wellness, exercise, meditation, robotics, games, employment skills, job interviewing, and self-advocacy. In addition, we have enjoyed community outings to Big Y supermarket, Walpole Public Library, Ward’s Berry Farm, Bird Park, and Bass Pro. Shop. We are all looking forward to what this year will bring!