SI Advance: Andrea Lella at Citywide Council on HS

 
 

 

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Andrea Lella SI Advance Article 5/2012

 

Citywide Council on High Schools hears about Tottenville program

Published: Wednesday, May 09, 2012, 10:33 PM     Updated: Wednesday, May 09, 2012, 11:03 PM
lella.jpgStaten Island Advance/Hilton FloresA dance program helps special needs students improve their gait, said Andrea Lella, a Staten Island member of the citywide council. It also allows students to interact with general education peers, including some cheerleaders who joined the dance program, as does a mentoring program at the school.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — On a rare visit to Staten Island, the Citywide Council on High Schools got a glimpse at one of the borough’s hidden gems for students with disabilities.

Staff and students from Tottenville High School gave a presentation on how they help special needs students develop the social life and other skills they need to transition on to college, careers and life beyond high school at the meeting this evening, held at Curtis High School.

Among its programs, Tottenville has a breakfast club that helps students socialize, an alternative lunchroom for those who struggle in the larger crowd, special trips and a class on transitioning out of school.

Asked to sum up his experience in the breakfast club, junior Ryan Purcell only needed a single word. “Friendship,” he said.

The club helps students socialize, and work on active listening skills, grow their character, and learn responsibility and respect for others.

“They start owning their stories — I feel, I need, I want,” school counselor Teresa deBoer said. “They start getting in touch with how they feel and how they can communicate better.”

“I do a lot of personal things like exchange phone numbers, make plans, just socialize,” Ryan said of his time in the club.

Speech, occupational and physical therapists are also part of the club. Assistant Principal Kathy Driscoll said with a little flexibility, it doesn’t cost extra money — she allows some employees to come in and leave 45 minutes early so they can be part of the breakfast club.

A dance program helps special needs students improve their gait, said Andrea Lella, a Staten Island member of the citywide council. It also allows students to interact with general education peers, including some cheerleaders who joined the dance program, as does a mentoring program at the school.

The club has also taken trips on public transit to restaurants – but Ryan’s favorite trip was to Miami. The trip began several years ago, when a student in a wheelchair wasn’t able to attend the senior horseback riding trip. After some research, an occupational therapist discovered swimming with dolphins can be therapeutic. From there, the school discovered another program allowing disabled student to enjoy water sports.

“They take our kids with disabilities into the water and, they teach them to kayak, and to fish, and to sail their own individual sailboats that don’t tip over,” Ms. Driscoll said.

Meagan Imhof, a senior who has been in the club for four years and met her best friend there, told the council swimming with dolphins was her favorite part of the trip. Meagan is going to the College of Staten Island next year, school counselor and transition coordinator Danielle Pugliese said.

Ms. Pugliese said the school had one fair for students, then another that included their parents. On trips and at fairs, representatives from various college Offices of Accessibility help explain what’s available to special needs students.

“To have all of our sophomores and our juniors and seniors to find out what is offered to them at the college, it helps them feel a little more comfortable,” she said.

The school also offers an elective transition class, open to all students, that helps them learn everything from consumer awareness to health and nutrition.

Ms. Lella, who has for years served on various parent councils, will no longer be eligible after June, because her oldest child will graduate from the city school system. She was honored at the meeting by the faculty from Tottenville, and was presented with citations from virtually every Island politician as well.

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