Special Projects & Activities
American Sign Language (ASL) Clubs
School District 23 support staff offer hearing, hard of hearing, and deaf students an opportunity to learn ASL in an informal club setting at the middle school level.
Club activities are organized on a rotation basis for eight weeks at four different middle schools in the district. The activities are lead by a fully qualified and certified ASL instructor who is deaf.
The ASL Club is designed to promote sign communication amongst hearing and hard of hearing/deaf peers. The Club provides these students with exposure to ASL and deaf culture before they select this course at the secondary level.
Contact: Susan Sanger, 768-5121 - Ext. 288
American Sign Language (ASL) Curriculum Implementation
School District 23 provides opportunity for hearing, hard of hearing, and deaf students to take ASL as a second language at the secondary school level in order to fulfill graduation requirements and meet the admission requirements at all BC, as well as some Alberta colleges and universities.
This course is taught by a fully qualified and certified ASL instructor who is deaf and a member of the deaf community. The course is presently offered to grade 10 – 12 students at Mount Boucherie Secondary School and Kelowna Secondary School.
Contact: Susan Sanger, 768-5121 - Ext. 288
Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) Clinic
The ADHD clinic is for parents and teachers. The 7 to 8 sessions help parents deal with problems they may encounter when helping their children complete homework. Based on a behavioural management model, participants are screened, coached, and evaluated as they proceed through specific phases. Teachers are provided with information to assist them in helping their students become more successful at homework completion.
Contact: Wendy Groiss, 767-2686
Children's Low Vision Project of British Columbia (CLVP-BC)
CLVP-BC provides low vision clinics for visually impaired students. The clinics are held throughout the province of British Columbia. Any child with visual impairment who is enrolled in preschool through twelfth grade may be referred by a teacher of the visually impaired, school staff, preschool vision consultant, an ophthalmologist or optometrist.
Contact: Lynn Schwartz, 768-5121 - Ext. 284
Continuum of Care Committee
The Continuum of Care Committee is an interagency group whose mandate is to develop and ensure the provision of a comprehensive array of services for children with disabilities. Examples of work accomplished by this council include a Community Resource Directory (Service Clubs) and various workshops and in-service for families.
Contact: Susan Thomson, 765-8855
Deaf Literacy Program
Deaf elementary students receive Language Arts instruction in a group with a teacher of the deaf. Instruction is delivered in American Sign Language. The students benefit from the opportunity to receive explicit instruction in their second language English and from the opportunity to communicate with peers in their first language ASL. Students attend the program at Watson Road Elementary School four mornings per week. They attend their neighbourhood schools the remainder of the school week.
Contact: Janene Seabrook 860-9729 - Ext. 4147
Downhill Ski Program
Student Support Services staff, including a multi-disciplinary team of physical therapists, occupational therapists, resource teachers, and CEAs facilitate a ten week downhill ski program in conjunction with Powder Hound Adaptive Ski Club at Big White. The program serves 15 – 20 students with severe and multiple disabilities, intellectual disabilities, physical disabilities, and autism.
Contact: Susan Thomson, 765-8855
Early Literacy Screening Project
Student Support Services staff, including a multidisciplinary team of literacy teachers and a speech-language pathologist, in conjunction with learning assistance teachers, classroom teachers, and district office staff initiated a four year research project that resulted in a kindergarten/grade 1 screening assessment tool that identifies those children who may be at risk for acquiring the basic literacy skills. The assessment tool is now a mandatory component of all School District 23 kindergarten and grade 1 programs. The project included a teacher development component that supported classroom implementation of the screening tool and teaching strategies for addressing those students found to be at risk.
Contact: Donna Kozak, 769-7343 and Pat Smith 768-5121 - Ext. 287
Kelowna Special Olympics Youth Program
Special Olympics Kelowna offers a youth program for all school aged children. Special Olympics is dedicated to enriching the lives of Canadians with an intellectual disability through sport. The Youth Program focuses on activities that promote agility, balance, and co-ordination, along with sport specific skill development. The benefits for children are fun, friendship and physical fitness.
Contact: Susan Boyd, 979-0029, ext 106
Kids in Action
Kids in Action is a community based program in partnership with Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children. Student Support Services provides input to Kids in Action regarding students with disabilities. Kids in Action’s purpose is to provide opportunities for children with disabilities to participate in sport and recreation along side their peers in their home communities. Kids in Action is based on achieving objectives in three main areas of education: training, resource development, research.
Contact: Susan Quirk 979-0029 - Ext. 4150
Kindergarten Transition Liaison Committee
The Kindergarten Transition Committee facilitates a transition process for children moving from the Central Okanagan Child Development Association (COCDA) to School District 23. The process provides families with the opportunity to exchange information with School District 23 Student Support Services staff prior to their child’s entry to kindergarten.
Contact: Michelle Kaupp, 763-2603
Medical Benefits - At Home Program
Physical therapists and occupational therapists are responsible for the selection of and funding requests for specialized medical equipment for students with physical disabilities. Therapists work together with families, medical equipment dealers, and the Sunny Hill Health Centre Positioning and Assessment Outreach team to identify equipment to meet the student’s current and future needs. This equipment may include wheelchairs and other positioning devices.
The Medical Benefits – At Home Program is a provincial program through the Ministry of Children and Family Development. Its mandate is to assist parents with some of the extraordinary costs of caring for a child with severe disabilities at home. This program provides a range of health services for children who are assessed as dependent in most areas of self-care.
Contacts:
Susan Quirk, 860-9729 - Ext. 4150
Ginny Brown, 860-9729 - Ext. 4141
Karol Elliott, 979-0029 - Ext. 105
Lynn Newman,768-5121 - Ext. 283
Okanagan Valley Children’s Loan Cupboard (OVCLC)
OVCLC is a non-profit society whose purpose is to provide services to physically challenged children. The technician working with the therapist adapts equipment for children to enhance their level of functioning.
Contact:
Lynn Newman,768-5121 - Ext. 283
Ginny Brown, 860-9729 - Ext. 4141
Susan Quirk, 860-9729 - Ext. 4150
Karol Elliott, 979-0029 - Ext. 105
Parent Liaison Committee
The Parent Liaison Committee is a vehicle for dialogue between parents of students with special needs and School District 23. The committee was established to keep lines of communication open and is a forum for broader/global issues rather than child specific issues.
Contact: Susan Thomson, 765-8855
Passport to the Community
A transition plan for students with special needs moving from one level of schooling to the next. This program expands the typical transition process so that it meets the exceptional needs of students with disabilities and it helps ensure that such students enter secondary school with the skills, information, and relationships in place that allow them to have successful middle and secondary school experience.
Contacts:
Rob Gibbon, 765-1407
Wendy Twible, 860-4526
People in Motion
Physical therapists and occupational therapists work with People in Motion, a local non-profit group working on behalf of individuals with disabilities.
People in Motion provides adapted recreational equipment and wheelchairs through their equipment loan cupboard. This specialty equipment is available for students with challenges to participate in fieldtrips. The sports wheelchairs have been used in schools to allow students to experience the challenges of using a wheelchair for basketball and other activities.
Contact:
Susan Quirk, 860-9729 - Ext. 4150
Ginny Brown, 860-9729 - Ext. 4141
Karol Elliott, 979-0029 - Ext. 105
Lynn Newman, 768-5121 - Ext. 283
Space Camp
SCI-VIS Space Camp is for visually impaired students. The camp is held the last week of September in Huntsville, Alabama at the US Space & Rocket Centre. Students from grades 4 – 12 may attend. Students can choose from two programs:
Space Camp – Astronaut Training
Shuttle Missions or Aviation Challenge – Fighter Pilot Training
Fundraising takes place throughout the year to enable students to attend the camp.
Contact: Lynn Schwartz - 768-5121 - Ext. 284
Special Olympics British Columbia
SO Inclusive Program
The goal of the SO Inclusive Program is to assist schools in creating inclusive learning environments for students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities, help raise awareness about intellectual disability and Special Olympics, and involve student and teachers in the Special Olympics movement through volunteering and fundraising.
The SO Inclusive manual is full of ideas for administrators, teachers and students to get involved in activities that support and involve all students while fulfilling curricular requirements. The program is sponsored by Special Olympics BC and has been developed with and for teachers. It is meant to help them raise awareness about intellectual disabilities and continue to be active in supporting individuals with different abilities. For information and to link to the SO Inclusive Resource Package go to:
Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children
Positioning and Assessment Unit Outreach Clinic
Two therapists and two technicians from Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children provide 3 one week long clinics per year. This team works with local therapists to assess, recommend, and fabricate customized seating components and other positioning equipment for children with physical disabilities.
Contacts:
Susan Quirk, 860-9729 - Ext. 4150
Ginny Brown, 860-9729 - Ext. 4141
Karol Elliott, 979-0029 - Ext. 105
Lynn Newman, 768-5121 - Ext. 283
Sunny Hill Sexual Health Resource Network (SSHRN)
SSHRN offers parents and teachers inservice, workshops, and access to resources in order to facilitate healthy social and sexual development for children with disabilities.
Sunny Hill Health Centre is a provincial facility offering specialized services to children with disabilities, their families, and communities throughout British Columbia.
Contact: Susan Thomson, 765-8855
Sunshine Dreams for Kids
Physical therapists and occupational therapists circulate information from the office of Sunshine Dreams for Kids. This group makes dreams come true for children who face severe physical disabilities or life-threatening illnesses. Individual dreams are fulfilled year round for children who have not received a dream or wish from a similar organization. The therapists help identify students who would be candidates for an Individual Dream or participation in a one day Dreamlift to Disneyland.
Contact: Karol Elliott, 979-0029 - Ext. 105
The Cutters Edge
The Cutters Edge is a service learning project at Rutland Senior Secondary School. Students with and without disabilities manufacture and market Christmas and all season greeting cards. Students learn important life and vocational skills, interact with the public, and use a portion of the funds generated through the project to give to worthy causes in the community.
Contact:
Rob Gibbon, 765-1407
Susan Schmalz, 765-1407
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