It amazes me that so many parents, all with special needs children and many in crisis, find the time and energy to attend a monthly 7:45 am meeting as well as subcommittee meetings. And these are not parents complaining about individual children's cases; this is advocating for ALL EC children in the district. I joined SNAC in its earlier stages, when it was angry parents on one side of the room and defensive staff on the other. Meetings were often hostile. Gradually it became less of an "us and them" group as we all realized we wanted the same things for our kids. I went off SNAC for two years and returned this year. It is a joy to see how it has evolved into a group of knowledgeable parents and professionals working together to truly influence district policy. As a parent who has had EC children in this district for ten years and as a tutor who has worked with many more, I can truly say that this group has improved education for all exceptional children.
And kudos to Shell Brownstein, one of our own, who was just overwhelmingly elected to the CHCCS school board. Shell saw that twice exceptional children (kids who are both gifted and dyslexic) were often underserved because of identification formulas and lack of understanding that a child could fall into both categories. She used SNAC to shepherd through some major changes that help 2E children before they get discouraged.
These folks are all heroes. Sometimes quiet, sometimes loud, often exhausted, they are changing a piece of the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment