SEAstar Winners Announced

The Supported Education Association (SEA) of Oak Park-River Forest is pleased to announce the 2008 SEAstar Award winners. These annual awards recognize positive contributions to the education of students with special needs in Districts 97 and 200.

The twelve recipients of the 2008 SEAstar Awards are:

District 97

• Ms. Cristin Carter, Longfellow School
• Ms. Kathy Hayes, Lincoln School
• Ms. Phyllis Jones, Lincoln School
• Mr. Matthew Kuntz, Lincoln School
• Ms. Denise Matthews, Julian Middle School
• Ms. Andrea McGuin, Lincoln School
• Ms. Cheryl Sullivan, Irving School
• Ms. Karen Tokarz, Brooks Middle School
  

D200

• John Gann, Head Coach, OPRF Special Olympics Basketball team
• Meghan Kennedy, CITE Facilitator
• Daphne LeCesne, School Psychologist
• Joe Perenti, Resource Teacher
  

We are pleased that both the District 97 and District 200 Boards of Education are again collaborating with SEA so that we can present these awards during regular board meetings.

The D97 awards will be presented at the Wednesday, May 14, 2008 board meeting, at the D97 administration building, 970 W. Madison. The meeting will begin at 7:30 and the SEAstar awards will be presented during the special reports and recognition portion near the beginning of the meeting. After the presentation, there will be a short break for a cake and coffee reception. Attendees are free to leave the meeting after this reception if they choose. If you plan to attend the D97 meeting on May 14, please let Peggy Ebersole know at 708-524-9365 or pebersole5@sbcglobal.net. Due to the reception, the district needs some idea of how many people will be attending.


The D200 awards will be presented at the Thursday, May 22, 2008 D200 board meeting. This meeting begins at 7:30 and will be held at the high school, 201 N. Scoville in 2nd floor board room. Again, the awards presentation will be held near the beginning of the meeting.

Please plan to attend one or both meetings to support our SEAstar winners!

2008 Chicago Walk Now for Autism

Sunday, May 18, 2008
Soldier Field, Chicago, IL

Walk Details:
8:00 a.m. Registration opens
10:00 a.m. Walk Opening Ceremonies
10:30 a.m. Walk Begins
8:00 a.m. – 12:00 Resource Fair open

Here’s where we are in our final THREE weeks:

Over $560,000 raised
Over 4,000 individuals registered
Over 804 teams registered!

For more information see: www.WalkNowforAutism.org/Chicago.

ADHD and Me

Members may be interested in hearing this story about Blake Taylor from the American Public Media's program The Story.

• "Blake is now studying to be a doctor, but when he was little, he was one of those kids who could never seem to settle down. This was back when Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) was just beginning to be recognized and diagnosed. Blake tells Dick Gordon that even on medication, day-to-day living was tough. But his condition also enriched his life in unexpected ways. Blake's new book is ADHD & Me: What I Learned from Lighting Fires at the Dinner Table." (from the American Public Media site)
  

To hear the entire story click here
or visit that American Public Media page at http://thestory.org/