Special Needs

I have written before about the accommodations that Glendale schools have put forth to improve the learning environment for our students with special needs. Officially, there is a long-standing record of compliance with state rules and mandates that our district can point to with pride. It can also be proud of the supremely dedicated teachers who work day in and day out with challenges that the rest of us in the profession can only imagine. I am proud to call these people my colleagues because they embody in their teaching, in their exceptional patience, in their tender regard for kids who need extra help, the very best in my profession.

When Glendale resident Dolly Villaflor, migrated to the United States after World War II from the Philippines to start a better life, she also felt the need to fulfill some goals. The 85-year-old decided to pursue an education, and enrolled in college where she earned a master's degree in guidance counseling. After being turned down for teaching jobs at public schools, Villaflor found her place teaching students in special education. She taught special-needs children in Los Angeles and Europe.

Families of special-needs students ages 14 to 21 are invited to a forum from 5:45 to 8:45 p.m. March 22 at the Glendale Civic Auditorium. Foothill Special Education Local Plan Agency (SELPA) is hosting the event, and it includes dinner, a presentation by attorney Carlos M. Gonzalez, and more than 30 agencies will provide information about transition services. Reservations are required. Foothill SELPA coordinates services for special-education and special-needs students in Glendale, Burbank and La Cañada Flintridge.

It is a unique existence to deal with a child, or other loved one, with special needs of a physical or psychological nature. Those who care daily for such individuals know the challenges firsthand. The simplest duties, such as getting a child ready for school, can be exhausting. If it is a physical disability, they may have to provide hands-on assistance. If it is psychological or emotional, they may need to use special methods of consoling and reasoning to get this task done. And every other duty during the day may take the same amount of superfluous energy.

    Descanso Gardens is a beautiful place to come and relax in La Cañada. The gardens are maintained by horticulturalist and professional gardeners. But one special garden, set just outside the complex. is tended not by gardeners, but by students. These horticulturalists-in-training are part of a Harvest Garden outreach program that teams special needs students with volunteers and Descanso employees. Each week they tend to a patch of soil in the Harvest Garden adopted by their class.

The works of artists Adrian Wong Shue and Peter Shire are on display from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Art Exhibit and Sale benefiting Hillside Learning Center. Shire's metal sculptures are part of the California landscape in the neighborhoods of Elysian Park, the Burbank Empire Center and the MTA Station at Wilshire and Vermont. A donation will be made to Hillside for each piece sold at the event on the campus at 4331 Oak Grove Drive, La Canada Flintridge.

For more than 50 years, Jerry Campbell has dedicated his time and energy for the good of the developmentally disabled in the community. The 83-year-old retired mechanical engineer and his wife, Phyllis, are founders of the Glendale Assn. for the Retarded. Since its inception in 1954, the association has served hundreds of adults with special needs between the ages of 20 and 60. Although the organization now has a full-time staff, Campbell continues toto contribute. And he’s not ready to stop any time soon.

As the “I’m just a bill” School House Rock cartoon ended, Hoover High School teacher Monica Wilke-Lewis began distributing a flow chart with 10 bubbles that represent how laws are made in Congress. Some in the government class of about 20 special-education students were still giggling about the video. Another stared out the window behind his right shoulder. Just like the average classroom, most students were quiet, some attentive, and others a bit sheepish as Wilke-Lewis detailed the legislative process.

Glendale Unified's special-needs school is set to receive some special attention. In a 4-1 vote, school board members opted this week to proceed with an expansive set of construction plans for College View School. An updated cost estimate for the project hovers at $24.3 million. The physical overhaul of the campus will be among the first capital projects funded by Measure S, a $270-million school bond passed by voters in April 2011. Located on Mountain Street across from Glendale Community College's upper parking lot, College View currently enrolls 75 severely disabled students from Glendale, La Cañada Flintridge and Burbank.

Jun Hwang, a 12-year-old at Monte Vista Elementary School, was a bit nervous when he arrived at Hansen Dam Recreation Area in Lake View Terrace on Thursday to spend the morning with students from College View, a Glendale school for kids with special needs. Jun said he had never spent much time with children with disabilities before, and he was a little scared. But after Jun learned that he and his buddy-for-the-day, 11-year-old College View student Shane Proffitt, shared the same birthday month, he felt more comfortable.

A group of parents of children with special needs experienced frustration firsthand on Saturday when they were asked to perform a series of exercises designed to test their visual perceptions and thought processes. The word “Red” was printed in blue, and when parents were asked to say the color's name, they shouted “blue.” But they were supposed to say “red.” The exercise was designed to acquaint parents with the frustration and processing difficulties experienced by their special-needs children.

Glendale Unified's special-needs school is set to receive some special attention. In a 4-1 vote, school board members opted this week to proceed with an expansive set of construction plans for College View School. An updated cost estimate for the project hovers at $24.3 million. The physical overhaul of the campus will be among the first capital projects funded by Measure S, a $270-million school bond passed by voters in April 2011. Located on Mountain Street across from Glendale Community College's upper parking lot, College View currently enrolls 75 severely disabled students from Glendale, La Cañada Flintridge and Burbank.

Built in 1977 and passed over amid a wave of bond-funded refurbishment projects three decades later, College View School is now poised for a multimillion-dollar makeover that Glendale Unified officials say will enable the district to better serve its severely disabled students. School board members on Tuesday picked apart four potential construction projects with price tags ranging from $11.6 million to $19.4 million that would dramatically reshape the site. It will be among the first projects funded by Measure S, a $270-million school bond passed by voters in April 2011.

Greg Donoghue grew up around film sets. His father worked as a film publicist in Europe and his uncle is Pierre Spengler, a producer of the "Superman" movies. But the 30-year-old had never seriously considered a career in the movie industry until he got a chance to direct his own short-film called "Sunshine Manor," a love story about relationship between a nursing home patient and her doctor. "It takes a lot of patience, and time is your worst enemy," Donoghue said of his directorial debut.

Families of special-needs students ages 14 to 21 are invited to a forum from 5:45 to 8:45 p.m. March 22 at the Glendale Civic Auditorium. Foothill Special Education Local Plan Agency (SELPA) is hosting the event, and it includes dinner, a presentation by attorney Carlos M. Gonzalez, and more than 30 agencies will provide information about transition services. Reservations are required. Foothill SELPA coordinates services for special-education and special-needs students in Glendale, Burbank and La Cañada Flintridge.

It is a unique existence to deal with a child, or other loved one, with special needs of a physical or psychological nature. Those who care daily for such individuals know the challenges firsthand. The simplest duties, such as getting a child ready for school, can be exhausting. If it is a physical disability, they may have to provide hands-on assistance. If it is psychological or emotional, they may need to use special methods of consoling and reasoning to get this task done. And every other duty during the day may take the same amount of superfluous energy.

As the “I’m just a bill” School House Rock cartoon ended, Hoover High School teacher Monica Wilke-Lewis began distributing a flow chart with 10 bubbles that represent how laws are made in Congress. Some in the government class of about 20 special-education students were still giggling about the video. Another stared out the window behind his right shoulder. Just like the average classroom, most students were quiet, some attentive, and others a bit sheepish as Wilke-Lewis detailed the legislative process.

I have written before about the accommodations that Glendale schools have put forth to improve the learning environment for our students with special needs. Officially, there is a long-standing record of compliance with state rules and mandates that our district can point to with pride. It can also be proud of the supremely dedicated teachers who work day in and day out with challenges that the rest of us in the profession can only imagine. I am proud to call these people my colleagues because they embody in their teaching, in their exceptional patience, in their tender regard for kids who need extra help, the very best in my profession.

Just like in the NASCAR 500, the car race that took place Friday at Tobinworld school featured pit stops, souped-up vehicles and drivers running on adrenaline. But in the Tobinworld 500 — an annual event held at the Glendale school for students with special needs like autism, learning disabilities and emotional disturbances — the drivers run the race, carrying homemade race car replicas around their waists as they sprint. Educators have put the high-energy variation of the NASCAR 500 together for students since 2001, Assistant Principal Chris Lougheed said.

For more than 50 years, Jerry Campbell has dedicated his time and energy for the good of the developmentally disabled in the community. The 83-year-old retired mechanical engineer and his wife, Phyllis, are founders of the Glendale Assn. for the Retarded. Since its inception in 1954, the association has served hundreds of adults with special needs between the ages of 20 and 60. Although the organization now has a full-time staff, Campbell continues toto contribute. And he’s not ready to stop any time soon.