American Dreamer20102011 Spring

This publication is dedicated to those who achieve their dreams and those who help others achieve their dreams through programs at the Center for Special Services

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The mission of Southern Westchester BOCES is to collaborate with school districts, agencies and communities to meet their educational challenges by providing regional leadership and cost-effective, high-quality services.

Visit us on the Web!The Southern Westchester BOCES web site is:

www.swboces.orgVisit for important updates, links to other education sites,

and workshop and training information.

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A Message from the Director

The Power of Community Strong in Helping Students Succeed

See Community on page 2

Mary Ellen BetzlerDirector, Center for Special Services

BOCES students Stanley Bells and Luis Cruz at work at the Uno Chicago Grill in White Plains.

Inspired. That’s how I feel when I think about

our dedicated teachers and the wonderful special needs students with whom they work.

Take Kerryn Prieto, for example. Kerryn is a Project AIIM student and a senior at Irvington High School. A multi-instrumentalist, Kerryn plays the violin in the school’s orches-tra, sings in the IHS Concert Chorus and Chorale, performs in school musicals and writes songs. He is overcoming the daily challenges of autism through his talent and desire to share mu-sic with others.

Then there’s Chris Santiago, a music teacher who visits Experi-ential Learning (ExL) classrooms, making the day a whole lot brighter for the students. Chris plays his guitar for the children, teaches them songs and gets them singing and dancing. Nor-

mally reserved and non-verbal students open up because they are able to connect with Chris and his music.

Our students in the TSP-DD program at the White Plains Mall who, with the support of their teachers, job coaches, the BOCES Office of Transition and our terrific local business partners, are gaining community-based work experience. Job preparation is a key component of the program and we are proud of the work our students are doing in the White Plains community.

Each year, SWBOCES staff nominate someone in one of our component districts or in the community who serves as an inspiration and role model because of the selfless work they do for our students. This nomination is for the “American Dreamer Award,” which is given at an annual awards luncheon, scheduled this year for May 25. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our American Dreamer recipients, past and present, for the work they continuously do for our students.

Classmates Stanley Bells and Luis Cruz are seated side by side in a booth at the Uno Chicago Grill

in White Plains. They’re busy rolling silverware in paper napkins, counting sugar packets, and refilling salt and pep-per shakers. On a friendly dare from Luis, Stanley demonstrates his skill at folding cardboard pizza boxes in six seconds flat — with his eyes closed. He deftly tucks in the corners of a box, closes the lid, opens his eyes and smiles.

The work Stanley and Luis do at the restaurant, which also includes stocking supplies, is part of an “endless list of tasks that need to be done before our doors open,” said Patricia Keenan who, with her

husband, Greg, owns and operates the downtown eatery.

The Keenans are just two employers in the White Plains com-munity who have welcomed students from the Southern Westchester BOCES Therapeutic Support and Developmental Disabilities program (TSP-DD) into their businesses and given them an opportunity to acquire much needed work experience.

The Keenans, in fact, were recipients last spring of an American Dreamer award

See Music on page 7

Barriers Disappear When BOCES Music Teacher PlaysIs it a rock concert starring Elvis and

the Beatles? You might think so!

Wednesdays and Fridays are the high-light of the week for students in the Southern Westchester BOCES Experi-ential Learning (ExL) program at Port Chester Middle School when, for 40 minutes, they get to be in the band.

But the star of the show isn’t Elvis or Paul McCartney. It’s music teacher Chris Santiago, an itinerant teacher who visits BOCES classrooms at different schools throughout the week. With his bright smile, sunny personality and acoustic guitar, Mr. Santiago engages the students through a shared love: music.

ExL students have global developmental delays and are often quiet and reluctant to speak. Some are unable to speak at all. But when Mr. Santiago visits, faces light up and even the non-verbal students in the class clap and hum along to the songs he plays for them.

Mr. Chris Day!“He’s like the sunshine of their lives,” said teacher Sue Car-foro. “Wednesdays and Fridays are ‘Mr. Chris Day’ and they check to make sure it’s on the calendar.”

It might take a week for the students to learn the words to a song (usually just the chorus is enough), but the students have taken to singing like ducks to water.

In Elvis mode, Mr. Santiago played a familiar favorite, “Blue Suede Shoes,” on his guitar, encouraging the students to join in on the chorus: “It’s one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready and four to go…don’t step on my blue suede shoes!”

Switching gears, he had the students singing “You Are My Sunshine.” One student, Stephen, who does not speak much, sang the chorus by himself, which is remarkable progress for him, Ms. Carforo said. “All of the barriers get put aside when Chris plays.”

Mr. Santiago transitioned into another favorite class song: “Love Me Do” by the Beatles. He asked for his “harmonica section” to join in, and two girls, Brianna and Nythia, sitting side by side like best friends, joyfully mimicked the sound

of a harmonica to accompany the guitar. Normally reserved students “have quite the different personality” during Mr. Santiago’s class, Ms. Carforo said.

“Wild Thing” and “I’m a Believer” were next on the hit parade, but the song that got the students up dancing was “Twist and Shout,” another Beatles classic. Grabbing a part-ner, the students twisted in the middle of the classroom and sang at the top of their voices as Mr. Santiago played and sang for them.

“I love them, I absolutely love them. They’re fantastic!” he said about the Port Chester class when the “concert” was over. “They’re a fun, original group, and when we have a snow day, I’m really bummed because I don’t get to see my kids!”

Music Unlocks the Magic Inside UsMr. Santiago joined BOCES in September 2009 and said he has seen a lot of change in the ExL students over the past year due, in large part, to the positive effect music has had on them.

“They’re so much more social and outgoing now,” he said. “I think the love of music is innate in everyone and we do a big injustice by shutting music [classes] down in schools. Children haven’t learned to shut down music. We are natu-rally musical and the act of creating music is natural. Music unlocks a lot of the magic we have inside of us.”

“He’s the sunshine of their lives,” teacher Sue Carforo says about music teacher Chris Santiago, here playing and singing for an ExL class at Port Chester Middle School.

Mr. Santiago, whose parents are from Puerto Rico, grew up listening to Puerto Rican folk music and was influenced by his father, who played the guitar.

A multi-instru-mentalist, Mr. Santiago plays the guitar, bass, mandolin and the violin. “I play anything with a string,” he said. He also plays the piano and said he “dabbles” with wind instru-ments. “I just love sound. I think it has so many mysterious and curative properties we haven’t discovered yet.”

Mr. Santiago spent the first two years of his career as an English teacher, but

Music from page 5

Students do the twist to the Beatles’ famous song , “Twist and Shout” as Mr. Santiago plays in the background.

realized it wasn’t his calling. After earning a master’s degree in ethnomusicology (the study of world music and its social and cultural aspects), he embarked on a career teaching music — his passion for the last 10 years.

“I wanted to find a way to base my day on music,” he said. “What a fantastic life.”

Two students in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing program at the Ridge Street School in Rye Brook had some proud moments this winter. Fifth grader Brianna Pierre was the winner of a school slogan contest to promote kindness. Brianna’s slogan — “To have a friend is to be one” — was posted on a school bulletin with other contest entries. She also received a certificate commemorating her achievement from her ELA teacher.

Cheyenne Talbot entered a geography bee sponsored by the National Geographic Society. The independent Cheyenne entered the contest on her own without telling her teachers and participated without any assistance. Although Cheyenne didn’t win the Bee this time around, she gave it her best shot during all seven rounds.

Shining Moments for Two Ridge Street Students

James T. Langlois, Ed.D., Interim District Superintendent

Sandra A. Simpson., Chief Operating Of-ficer/Deputy District Superintendent

Susan L. Carr, Assistant Superintendent, Educational Services

Nancy A. Jorgensen, Ed.D., Assistant Superintendent, Human Resources

Stephen J. Tibbetts, Assistant Superinten-dent, Business & Administrative Services

Mary Ellen Betzler, Director, Center for Special Services

Board of Education Georgia Riedel, President Joseph Wooley, Vice President John DeSantis Nancy Fisher Richard Glickstein Beverly A. Levine James Miller

Newsletter Editor: Suzanne Davis

The Southern Westchester Board of Cooperative Educational Services, its officers and employ-ees, shall not discriminate against any student, employee or applicant on the basis of race, color, national origin, creed, religion, marital status, gender, age, handicapping condition or sexual orientation. This policy of nondiscrimination includes access by students to educational pro-grams, counseling services for students, course offerings and student activities, recruitment, appointment and promotion of employees, and employment pay and benefits, and it is required by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended and then promulgated thereunder, not to discriminate in such a manner.

SWBOCES IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

17 Berkley Drive, Rye Brook, NY 10573, 914-937-3820

Title IX Coordinator, Michael R. Gargiulo, Director of Human Resources

Section 504 Coordinator, Thomas DiBuono, Director Of Facilities And Operations

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Community from page 1

Students Tara Sumpter (left) and David Cook ( far right) with volunteers at the Grace Church Soup Kitchen in White Plains, where they intern.

from the SWBOCES Center for Special Services. The award annually honors people who have made a difference in the lives of special education students. The couple was acknowledged for accepting three TSP-DD students to participate in a community work experience in their restaurant and for their willingness to get to know each student, to develop appropriate tasks for them, and to engage them in decision-making skills in a real vocational setting.

“It’s not like it’s a one-way street,” Ms. Keenan pointed out. “The students are very helpful to us and take a great burden off our staff. They’re an important part of our team.”

Transitioning from School to WorkTSP-DD students typically have de-velopmental and emotional issues that make it difficult to function in a main-stream classroom setting. The program, which is administered at the White Plains Mall in downtown White Plains, provides opportuni-ties for community-based instruction coupled with classroom academic lessons and activities. Project AIIM and Experien-tial Learning (ExL) students at the St. Matthew’s school in White Plains also have opportunities to participate in com-munity work site experiences.

During part of the school day, the TSP-DD students, who range in age from 15 to 21, work on academics with special education teachers Mary McGuinness and Theresa Hig-gins. The students also devote blocks of time to preparing for the workforce with Ben Liotta and Hazel Degree, both SWBOCES teaching assistants and job coaches.

The SWBOCES Office for Transition steps in to provide coor-dination of programs and services – including the securing of internships in community businesses – that are designed to pre-pare students with disabilities for transition to an adult lifestyle.

An internship at a community business “is the best way to get these students on a level playing field with other job seekers,” said Transition Specialist Raymond Diaz. “It is our mission to get these students prepared with job readiness skills and some exposure to the work world.”

For the last five years, Mr. Diaz has been responsible for developing work-based learning sites for the White Plains Mall students, calling on community employers to arrange internships for them. “Getting employers in the hub of White Plains is logistically advantageous to us,” he said, “because our students can get to and from their work sites easily.”

The students all work in downtown White Plains and are able to walk to their job sites from the White Plains Mall accompa-nied by Mr. Liotta and Ms. Degree. During bad weather, they may take mass transit to work. The students also have access to the YMCA gym so they can get their physical education requirement met at another community-based site.

Welcome to the Real WorldOn a typical day, the students arrive by bus at the White Plains Mall, eat breakfast, and take any prescribed medica-tions. By 9 a.m., some are heading out to their job sites, while others stay in the classroom with Ms. McGuinness and Ms. Higgins to work on lessons in social studies, health, English, math, and resume writing and job interview skills.

“It is the most organized chaos every morning determining who is going where — who is back in the classroom, who

At Loehmann’s department store, student David Cook does a variety of tasks, including removing plastic from new garments, sweeping and boxing merchandise.

is headed to the Y, or to therapy sessions with the related services staff, and to group and individual counseling,” said Neil Manis, su-pervisor of the White Plains Mall program.

The students also may spend time reading help wanted ads in the newspaper or participating in a group discussion about a work-re-lated topic. “We might talk about the reality of the dollar, for ex-ample, and how much you really need to earn to have an apartment and a car and to buy food,” said Ms. McGuinness.

Life After BOCESThe emphasis on helping students to gain community-based work experience and find a job is par-ticularly important because the students age out of the TSP-DD program at 21. Most will then be served by Vocational Educa-tional Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID), a state-run agency that will assess the students and connect them with an adult service agency that can provide support in employment search, day habilitation services and post-secondary instruction.

Through her relationships with adult service agencies and school districts, Barbara Kelm, a SWBOCES community worker, builds support groups for parents/guardians and the students as they transition to the adult world. The Strength Based Assessment, which she coordinates and presents, includes each student’s list of community-based work experi-ences, key components of their educational success.

“Quality school-sponsored and supervised community-based work experience learning programs are tremendous aids in helping students develop both the social skills and career specific technical skills necessary, not only for future employ-ment, but for success at the post-secondary level,” Mr. Diaz said.

Fourteen of the 19 students in the TSP-DD program cur-rently participate in community-based work experiences. The students typically work for two hours, two days a week at

local businesses and restaurants, including Walmart, Loehmann’s, Nicky’s Pizzeria, the YMCA, Old Navy and Grace Church Soup Kitchen.

The work generally involves stocking goods and supplies, removing plastic from new garments, rounding up shop-ping trolleys, returning items to shelves, and pitching in where needed at the work site. The jobs teach the students basic work skills and reinforce positive work habits such as responsibility and time management.

They earn a stipend from BOCES ($2 to $3 per hour for each hour worked), which is deposited into an account opened in their name at Capital One Bank in White Plains. Having a bank ac-count teaches the students about budgeting and saving. “Many kids fall short on their ability to plan, so we teach them that,” said Ms. McGuinness. “They need to learn goal-directed behaviors when it comes to money.”

Community BenefitsIn addition to their internship at the Uno Chicago Grill, Stan-ley and Luis work at Walmart. On one afternoon, they were busy returning grocery items from two shopping carts under the direction of Mr. Liotta and Ms. Degree.

Mary Lumpkin, a Walmart merchandise supervisor, views the partnership with SWBOCES as a benefit to the students, the store and the community. “It’s a give and take,” she said. “The students are learning something about the retail business and providing us with help we need. Restocking our shelves keeps product available to our customers, which makes them happy and promotes sales.

“You couldn’t ask for better,” she said about Stanley and Luis. “They’ve become familiar with all of the areas in the store. There’s no limit to what they can do.”

Kerryn Prieto sits down at the piano and, without the aid of sheet music, begins to play the opening

chords of “Bohemian Rhapsody” by the British rock band Queen.

As his hands expertly glide over the piano keys, he starts to sing the familiar lyrics, inflecting the ballad’s words with the emotion intended by the songwriter.

Freddie Mercury would have been proud.

Kerryn, a senior at Irvington High School (IHS) and a student in the Southern Westchester BOCES Project AIIM program, is something of a prodigy when it comes to music.

Although he reads music (Kerryn has taken an Advanced Placement music theory class, one of the toughest offered) and has had formal lessons for piano and violin, Kerryn largely plays by ear and has perfect vocal pitch.

He rapidly picked up the piano when he started playing at age 6, and took his first violin lessons starting in the fourth grade. He now plays in the IHS orchestra.

Around age 11, he added the guitar and the steel pan – a type of drum with origins in Trinidad, his father’s Caribbean island homeland – to his instrumental repertoire.

“He’s incredibly musically talented,” said IHS music teacher Ja-net Gillespie. “There’s nothing that Kerryn can’t do musically.”

A Gifted SingerIn addition to being a multi-instrumentalist at just 17, Kerryn is a gifted singer who performs in the school’s 62-member Concert Choir and smaller 14-member Chorale, both of which Ms. Gillespie directs.

As a chorus member, Kerryn has auditioned for and qualified to sing in the Area All-State Choir (Westchester County’s top choir), which performs annually at SUNY Purchase, and the All-State Choir (New York State’s top choir), which performs each year at the Eastman Kodak Theater in Rochester.

The auditions are held annually by the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA). About 6,000 students audi-tion for the All-State performing groups, and just under 900

Musical Genius:Project AIIM StudentHas Big Talent

are selected to participate annually.

In the ninth grade, Kerryn traveled to Montreal with the IHS Chorale and band to perform in the Notre Dame Basilica, the setting for singer Celine Dion’s 1994 wedding. Last year, he performed with the school orchestra at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Back home, he is the school’s chief singer of the “Star Span-gled Banner” at sports games because he always volunteers to sing it.

Fond of acting, Kerryn also has had singing roles in every IHS musical since the ninth grade, including “Hello Dolly”; “Shakespeare in Hollywood”; “Little Shop of Horrors”; “Seus-sical Junior”; “Once Upon a Mattress”; “Grease”; and “Into the Woods.”

Music is for SharingInfluenced by such singers as Stevie Wonder, Al Jarreau, James Brown, George Benson, Usher and Michael Jackson, Kerryn said that music “gets me moving. It feels good. I like to share music with other people. It’s a big part of my life.”

So is songwriting, which Kerryn uses as a therapeutic way to write about life as a teenager and to vent his frustrations with the challenges of autism. Some of his lyrics have been pub-lished in the school’s literary magazine, Voices. “Songwriting is a very positive outlet for me,” he said.

With graduation not far away, Kerryn said he’d ideally like to enroll in a college music program and to one day combine music and acting in a career. “I’d really like to be an enter-tainer.”

Piano Man: Kerryn Prieto, a Project AIIM student at Irvington High School, plays Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”