Garage sale benefiting special ed
Wood County Special Education SSA is having a garage sale to purchase much needed technology for its students. The need is high but the available funding is limited. The garage sale is on Friday, Nov. 15, from 9 a.m.-noon at the Special Education school at 109 Earlene Dr., Quitman.
Many items, including learning toys, office supplies, desks, chairs and even portable buildings will be for sale. The buildings are priced at $1,500 for the 20x12 and $1,000 for the 16x14. All the money will be going directly toward school necessities.
Wood County Special Education School in Quitman is the hub for severe needs students and students with emotional disturbances from all over the county. These students can’t function on regular campuses due to their disabilities. The school serves about 55 students in the Quitman facility and also goes into the individual county schools to provide one-on-one assistance and to assist with meetings to develop individual student plans.
In Wood County, the individual schools are small and may only have one or two students in their special education program. It’s hard for schools to pay for teachers, aides and therapists for one or two students. Federal funding is sent to the home school of the special education student. Then the school decides how much to give the special education facility based on the needs.
By pooling the funds for special education, the students are able to learn with peers they can relate to and have access to the resources they need. Special education buses transport them from home to school and between campuses.
The lower functioning students with high needs, either medically or cognitively, are provided extra services at the campus, including nurse care if needed, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, and mobility therapy. The ratio of students to teachers, aides, paraprofessionals, and counselors is about two to one.
The higher functioning students sometimes do their core subjects at the SPED center and then go to their home school campus for electives.
In addition to core classes, students can also learn life skills, social skills, and job training. They have PE class, a greenhouse and a horticulture class, and technology application classes.
Some of the biggest successes have been seen through the tech app class. By using tablets like iPads and Androids, nonverbal students are learning to communicate their needs without screaming or throwing things. An eight year old autistic student finally referred to his mother as “mom” after learning how from his tablet.
The tablet is a tool that is lowering nonverbal students’ frustration levels as they are learning to push buttons that say what they need such as “I’m thirsty” or “I need to go to the bathroom.”
Some students are learning to sing, read, write and solve math on their tablets. However, the tablets at the special education center are at least ten years old and outdated. Some can not even be updated anymore.
With the money generated from the garage sale and other donations, Wood County Special Education Center hopes to purchase 60 tablets and charging stations for each classroom. All the students know what they’re having the garage sale for, and many have been active in preparing for it. They have cleaned, moved and priced items for sale. On the day of the sale, students will also be working on their job skills as they help customers.
Rebecca Roos, assistant director of Special Education, is asking for community support. If anyone would like to donate unwanted items to the garage sale, they can be dropped off before the 15th at the school or contact Roos at 903-763-2253.
Monetary donations are also being accepted at Mineola ISD administration, earmarked for Wood County Special Education, and at the Special Education School. All donations are tax deductible.
Learn more about Wood County Special Education at www.WCSESSA.org.
