|
 The
ribbon cut was done in the perfect, warm and sunny weather with a
large number of very special guests attending.
The cut was for a new communication board that has been installed in
the playground area of the school. The board will be particularly
useful for special needs children who have difficulty verbalizing
their thoughts and feelings.
The board was acquired for the school through money
earned by the students in fundraising activities, and a special
donation from Heartland Bank.
“This board will provide all children the opportunity to talk about
what they see and what they want to do during playtime together.
This will especially be a helpful tool for those students with
limited communication skills. Many of these students have a speech
generated device that they use throughout the day to communicate,
but these devices can be very expensive and difficult to carry as
the children are playing on the playground. We hope this playground
communication board promotes public awareness and acceptance of
those that communicate differently,” said District 27
Speech-Language Pathologist.
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For the ribbon cutting, LDN provided the ribbon and
big scissors. The ribbon was held by the current school principal
Chris Allen, and District 27 Superintendent Kent Froebe. Cutting the
ribbon was Heartland Representative Rachel Martin and her daughter
Karina, a fifth-grade student at Northwest.
In addition to the students who will benefit most from the new
board, others behind the ribbon included the incoming school
Principal Ashley Phillips who will assume that role in the 2024-25
school year, Conrady and Functional-Life Skills teacher Deana
Brooks.
Brooks and Conrady also posed for a photo with the
new board and holding the special communication pads the students
use in the classroom.
[Karen Castelein with information
provided by Janna Conrady] |
