Special School District of St. Louis County

🎉 Meet Joey Tena, a vibrant 10th-grader in the Affton School District and the Employee of the Month of Affton High School's CBVI Program! According to his CBVI teacher, Sharon Palmer, "Joey has a huge personality and heart, always wearing a smile." His dedication at Schnucks, where he bags groceries and stocks inventory, has been truly impressive. Despite the program typically being for juniors and seniors, Joey's quick progress in the CBVI 1 program allowed him to step up early – proving that hard work and enthusiasm pay off! Joey’s natural ability to connect with others shines through in everything he does. Whether greeting peers or learning new skills on the job, he sets a great example for his classmates. With plans to gain more experience at St. Luke’s Hospital next year, Joey is excited about his future career. In his downtime, he loves drawing, especially transformers and pirate ships. We can’t wait to see how far his kindness, curiosity, and talent will take him! Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gVTMmD3c

#NDEAM - Andy Quirin is an operations lead at Bayer, managing all of the agricultural operations in the south, east, and west coasts of the country. While his main focus is crop production, he is also part of ENABLE, which is Bayer’s business resource group dedicated to the wellness and development of employees with disabilities and employees with children, family, or friends with disabilities. In celebration of NDEAM, he has set up a table in Bayer’s cafeteria to help bring attention to disability employment. Quirin has been working with one of SSD’s interns, Michael, for the past year. They have weekly one-on-ones where they discuss his goals, challenges, and strategies to overcome challenges. One of Michael’s current goals is to ask for help and make sure that if he does get stuck, he comes and one of his teachers to get direction. At Bayer, some students work in housekeeping, keeping the meeting rooms and cubicles clean. Other students work in food service, preparing food, keeping items such as container boxes stocked, and sanitizing surfaces. In addition to learning these hard skills, students focus on more complicated employability skills. Communication and teamwork are the most prevalent employability skills students practice day to day. The program at Bayer is well received by employees. Employees interact with students and work together on tasks. Bayer employees are such big fans of SSD students that when the mentorship program Quirin is involved in launched, 70 people were interested in working with SSD students.

🚍✨ This National School Bus Safety Week, let’s give a huge shoutout to SSD's incredible Transportation Department! Their dedication and hard work ensure our students get to school safely every day. Thank you for keeping our students safe and for all that you do! 💛 #SchoolBusSafety #ThankYouTransportationTeam

🌈 Exciting news! The Synapsory, a non-profit committed to aiding families of children with specific needs, has generously donated 50 Calming Kits to our Vocational Skills Program (VSP)! These kits, designed to combat sensory overload, are equipped with calming cards, sensory toys like fidget spinners, a weighted lap blanket with color-changing lights, and more. A heartfelt thank you to Tatianna Ware, our social worker, who facilitated this wonderful partnership. 🌟 Tatianna highlighted, “The calming kits are a boon, offering students the means to self-regulate independently, crucial for their journey towards independence.” Ready to be distributed across St. Louis County, these kits promise to make a significant difference in our community-based sites, aiding students in their social and emotional growth. A huge shoutout to The Synapsory for their kind donation and for supporting our mission towards fostering independence. 💙 #TheSynapsory #VocationalSkillsProgram #CommunitySupport Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gm_Pm7bp

🌟 Today, SSD's amazing team came together to show their support for Unity Day by wearing orange! 🧡 Unity Day is all about standing against bullying and promoting kindness in our community. Check out these photos capturing our staff’s commitment to making a difference. Let’s continue to spread love and positivity every day!

Happy Boss's Day to our incredible superintendent, Dr. Michael Maclin! 🎉 Your leadership and vision not only inspire us daily, but also drive us toward excellence in everything we do. Thank you for your tireless dedication, support, and guidance. Here's to celebrating the amazing boss you are!

#NDEAM - Accent Group Solutions is a woman-owned local company that does design work, printing, and order fulfillment. Students in the Vocational Skills Program (VSP) work in the fulfillment warehouse, learning hard skills, and employability skills (also referred to as soft skills). Some of the hard skills students learn are putting together boxes, stacking pallets, and using the pallet jack. Employability skills include how to take feedback from a co-worker or supervisor and how to be appropriate with a co-worker at the job site. The employability skills tend to be the most important, because they’re the skills that are actually inhibiting a student from employment after graduation. Students at Accent regularly interact with employees. They even lead culture-building activities like a crafting day at the end of October and a secret gift exchange in the winter time. These activities promote a positive work environment for Accent employees and provide an opportunity for the employees to get to know the VSP students. VSP Teacher Claire Wilmes says Accent is “a very welcoming, inclusive environment. I think the CEO and president do a good job of [acknowledging] we have people with disabilities working alongside you, [and an expectation of] acceptance and knowing that they're equal workers just like you.”

#NDEAM - Students who participate in the Vocational Skills Program (VSP) at Little Creek Nature Area help care for the 97-acre lot, the animals that live there, and the classrooms on the property. The Ferguson-Florissant School District owns the nature area and uses it daily for field trips and a high school-level field biology course. On the grounds, there are two buildings for classes, a visitors’ center, two gardens, trails, and animals. In addition to the animals that live in the visitors' center, there are goats, sheep, alpacas, and chickens. To help care for the grounds, students learn a variety of employment skills through their experience at Little Creek - landscaping, gardening, forestry, trail maintenance, animal care, and custodial work. Students also take on projects. Joseph Schappe, the VSP teacher at Little Creek described a project from last school year, “we grew native flowers from seed and we had a big plant sale in the spring.” As a result of partnerships with environmental organizations, students get access to some cool activities that are unique to Little Creek. The Missouri Department of Conservation stocks its pond with fish and provides saplings; Forest Relief provides saplings to Little Creek as well. Students get to try fishing and plant the saplings as part of their VSP experience.

🍎✨🎉 Big shoutout to three remarkable SSD educators who've secured grants from the Missouri Retired Teachers Association (MRTA)! Join us in celebrating Amanda Wise, Debra Bear, and Hannah Smiles for their incredible achievements. MRTA, an organization committed to the welfare of retired school employees, also supports active educators in enhancing public school education through grants. 📚💡 Hannah Smiles, OT in Hazelwood School District, received a $500 Patty Dean Grant which she invested in sensory tools to empower her students to work independently and stay engaged in the classroom. Amanda Wise, Litzsinger School Teacher, received a $150 Patty Dean grant, which she utilized to enrich the Exact Path school store, buying essential appliances and inventory. This initiative not only fosters a love for learning among students but has also improved assessment scores. Debra Baer, RBT in Kirkwood School District, received a $500 Maggie Elder Grant, which went towards sensory tools and task boxes, enabling students to master various skills autonomously, fostering independence, and enhancing their learning journey. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gkFWrUVi

Excited to kick off National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM)! 🎉 This October, let's celebrate the incredible contributions of individuals with disabilities in the workforce and reaffirm our commitment to inclusive employment practices. Join us in promoting accessibility and recognizing the talents and skills that every person brings to the table. 💼🌈 #NDEAM #Inclusion #DiversityInWorkforce