Greer Gazette
McKinney Special Education ~ March Issue
WORLD DOWN SYNDROME DAY (WDSD) MARCH 21st
The date for WDSD being the 21st day of the 3rd month, was selected to signify the uniqueness of the triplication (trisomy) of the 21st chromosome which causes Down syndrome. WDSD was first observed in 2006 in many countries around the world. This day has seen a huge increase in events and participation. Our greatest achievement to date was the recognition of the day by the United Nations. This day is celebrated globally with much success and is growing as each year goes by.
On 19 December 2011, the United Nations General Assembly declared March 21st as World Down Syndrome Day. The General Assembly also decided to "designate March 21st as World Down Syndrome Day, to be observed every year beginning in 2012;" and "invites all Member States, relevant organizations of the United Nations system and other international organizations, as well as civil society, including non-governmental organizations and the private sector, to observe World Down Syndrome Day in an appropriate manner, in order to raise public awareness of Down syndrome".
Professional Development
PLAAFP Template - Estar Docs
Core Curriculum - Portal under Core Curriculum
Assessment Binder Table of Contents - Portal under Assessment Binder PLAAFPS (see Revised 2016)
Special Olympics
Basketball Competition
Opening ceremonies began around 9:45 a.m. and the event ended after 2:00.
During Basketball Individual Skills Competition, the McKinney Mavericks competed in three areas: passing, shooting and dribbling:
Passing consisted of making a pass to a square on the wall. The students received points if they hit the wall, hit the lines on the square, or hit inside the square. More points were awarded if they caught the ball after it hit the wall.
During shooting, the students shot 12 shots at six marked areas on the court on a 10-foot or 8-foot goal or 4 shots through hula-hoops hung on a goal, depending on ability. Points are awarded for hitting any part of the goal or hula hoop, including the net and more points for made shots in the basket or if the ball went through the hula hoops.
The final event was dribbling and it had two levels depending on ability. The first level was a speed dribble in which the student is timed on how fast they can travel from starting point to finish line. A second was added each time the student completed an illegal dribble. The second level was a stationary dribble in which the student dribbled for 30 seconds and was scored by how many legal dribbles were made in 30 seconds, divided by two.
The Mavericks did a fantastic job! Congratulations to all the ATHLETES who participated.
A special thanks to Janice Morriss and Trecia Chandler for their leadership, commitment, and love for the sport!
Special Olympics Track and Field hosted by McKinney ISD is on April 1st, 2016!
Evans Middle School
Minshew
Wolford
North
Classroom News
McKinney High School - FAC and STC Joint Venture
Evans Celebrates Presidents Day
Students in Ms. Brooks class did a research project on Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. The students started in a large group where they learned about each past President and created a venn diagram. Each student worked through the writing process and created a research paper on the on the President of their choice.
IMPACT PROJECT
STudent spotlight
Jesus Garcia
Adrian Isaula - MAKE A WISH
Adrian Isaula was selected by the Make A Wish Foundation last year. His wish was to travel to Disney World. Over spring break, the foundation granted his wish!!
His teacher Tiffany Scott and the entire Burks community and staff could not be more happy for him and his sweet family! : )
Teacher Spotlight
Elizabeth Atkinson
"It was a pleasant surprise this morning! I love working with the staff and administration at DAEP!" -Ms. Atkinson.
Evans Teachers Receive PTO Grants
Valerie Long (FAC Teacher)
Christy Mack (Co-Teacher/Math)
All received Grants from the Evans PTO. Ms. Beckner plans to use the money to purchase light covers for the florescent lights in her classroom. Ms. Long is purchasing new pots and pans for the classroom kitchen.
Birthday Celebrations for Dr. Seuss
NEA's Read Across America - March 2nd
Walker and Wolford Celebrate Awareness
Awareness Day 2016
Walker and Wolford Elementary schools celebrated Awareness on Friday, February 26th!
These amazing schools opened their doors to parents and MISD staff to experience what it’s like to have diverse abilities.
Both schools featured stations with interactive experiences for disabilities such as:
Autism - Visual Impairment - Hearing Impairment - ADHD - Dyslexia
This special day taught that friends with differences....
Have the same needs as everyone else
have a different way to see and do things
Learn in a different way
Students walked away....
Honoring the differences in others & focused on strengths, not limitations
Celebrating that we all have differences & something special to share
Helping us know how to talk to people we might consider “different”
Recognizing the value in ALL people
The goal of Awareness Day:
To develop social skills for children with and without disabilities through interaction, collaboration and peer learning.
To promote acceptance, understanding, kindness, inclusiveness & friendship.
Out in the Tech World
One Last Chance to Support Special Olympics
Attached is the link to order. All shirts will be delivered to Eddins and distributed to MISD staff. If you have any specific questions, please contact Amanda Denning - adenning@mckinneyisd.net
http://www.bluecotton.com/campaigns/mckinneymavericks
Thank you for your support of McKinney Mavericks!
Staff Appreciations
Way to Go!
Thank you Nancy Sheets for volunteering to collect the money for the Autism T-shirt orders and delivery to Lynda Batson at SJMS!
Thanks to my awesome team at Cockrill for all of us coming together to deal with a challenging situation. It took all of us working together to make it work. Thanks TEAM. Y’all are the best!! - Lori Bell. (I want to second that for the ‘Flagship’--Dr. Simmons)
Thanks to Virginia Rosario for stepping in when a colleague was out and scheduling ARDs at 4 campuses!
Thank you to everyone involved with organizing Special Olympics!!!
Thank you to Paige Bartee for helping me out at the last two Special Olympics events when I’ve had to be multiple places at once. I appreciate you tons!!! - Melanie Sullivan
Thanks to everyone that came to our Walker Elementary Awareness Day! -Angela Williams and Michelle Wells
Shout out to Kathleen Feller at Lawson. She is using Language for Learning in her classroom and has some awesome data to show readiness and mastery of skills. She has also seen how the curriculum aligns with the student’s goals! Way to go Kathleen!!
Thank you to Janice Morriss and Trecia Chandler for all your hard work with Special Olympics!! - Michelle Wells
Shout out to Walker and Wolford for putting on a day of DISABILITY AWARENESS! The awareness of differences you are providing to staff, students, and community will last a lifetime!
BOYD AP’s Gonzalo and Campo for going above and beyond the call of duty!
Special Olympics was awesome as usual, great job Janice and Trecia!! Valarie Long
Sonny Fee and Carol Harned at Evans MS- you two are awesome! Thank you for all your hard work with our kids, they are making amazing progress!! Valarie Long
Candice Williams and Kari Hudson- you two, make our school ROCK at EVANS Middle School!! Valarie Long
Thanks to Onajiete Omene and Chris Carr for providing the awesome Read 180/System 44 Workshop. As a result of implementing the Read 180/System 44 as the primary program, students are raising their Lexile scores over 100 points in 30 days. -Elizabeth Atkinson
Thanks to Chris Carr for his support as Lead Teacher and in being part of the leadership group honoring me as March Teacher of the Month (second year in a row).-Elizabeth Atkinson
BIG thanks to Trecia and Janice for coordinating Special Olympics!! -Tiffany Scott
Thank you OJ for taking time to explain all of the cool things I can do with Moby Max! What a great resource! -Tiffany Scott
Brandi Ramirez, you are my rock. Thanks for always being there! -Jess Wilson
Thanks to Katie Moyle and her team for creating the core curriculum documents. Awesome resource!!
Walker Awareness Day -This was such a neat event. I had a chance to stop by and check out a few of the stations. Walker did a great job planning this for the kids. Each station gave the students an opportunity to learn what it is like to live with different disabilities. The students were engaged and excited to learn. AWESOME JOB WALKER!