bridge school info packet - 2015
TRANSCRIPT
2015 INFORMATION PACKET 545 Eucalyptus Ave, Hillsborough, CA 94010
(650) 696-7295 www.bridgeschool.org
Dear Friends,
Many of you know that we started The Bridge School in 1986 with the idea that children with severe physical and speech impairments, like our son Ben, could and should have an equal opportunity to have access to education and to communication. It was this vision and mission in our hearts and minds that we embarked on a journey that has seen this idea expand and evolve from an educational program serv-ing a small number of students in the Bay Area, to a comprehensive organization offering education and communication services and support to professional, children, and their families throughout the world. This journey has met challenges along the way and we have strived to keep our eyes on the dream.
Since the founding of The Bridge School the dream has kept alive through various fundraising efforts and through the generosity of donors who understand our mission and have supported us as we contin-ue to make a difference in the lives of children. Every year we call upon our friends in the music industry to come together for a Bridge Benefi t Concert and their generosity, combined with that of our donors, has enabled us to develop an internationally recognized program that has set the standard for educating children, partnering with parents, and disseminating what we’ve learned through a global outreach network.
We are dedicated to ensuring that the dream and the reality of The Bridge School will continue in per-petuity. We’re asking for your help in attaining our vision and achieving our mission. Take a moment to learn more about The Bridge School and what impact your contributions will have on our program by visiting our website www.bridgeschool.org We would like to thank you for your continued support for our dream of The Bridge School.
Sincerely,
Neil and Pegi YoungBoard of Directors of The Bridge School
“We are dedicated to ensuring that the dream and the reality of � e Bridge School will continue in perpetuity.”
-Neil & Pegi Young
The Bridge School is a non-profi t organization whose mission is to ensure that individuals with
severe speech and physical impairments achieve full participation in their communities through the use of augmentative and alternative means of communica-tion and assistive technology applications. Since its inception The Bridge School has provided a unique educational and communication program, imple-mented by team of professionals that have dedicated themselves to creating and disseminating a model of excellence. The strategies developed, employed and refi ned at the Bridge school are shaping the lives of children in the United States and throughout the world through our various local, national and inter-national outreach efforts.
This exciting journey we call The Bridge School began in 1986 has continued to grow beyond the wildest dreams of the original founders. At the local
level, the organization serves children with severe physical and speech impairments in our education and transition programs. All our students, ranging in age from 3 to 14, have physical impairments that preclude their using natural speech as their primary means of communication and that requires them to rely on assistive technology for mobility.
Once the students have a reliable communication system and have obtained literacy skills, they leave the bridge school and return to their local school district placement. The Bridge School’s transition team supports their re-entry into a mainstream edu-cational program and continues to provide guidance and training throughout the students’ academic years, including college. Most recently, we have sent three of our Bridge School Graduates to college! The contributions of our donors, friends, and families make a true difference.
ABOUT THE BRIDGE SCHOOL
On the national level we’ve tak-en a leadership role in devel-
oping and sharing effective teach-ing strategies for children who use augmentative and alternative education through presentations at conferences, contributions to professional publications and our dynamic website.
Internationally, our Teach-er-in-Residence program brings professionals from developing countries to The Bridge School to gain the skills and experience nec-essary to work with children with complex communication needs and to disseminate what they have learned when they return to their home countries. Our out-reach efforts extend to our Build-ing Bridges Camp and Train-ing Institute, our Bridging Communities Through Alternative Commu-nication - an adult advocacy and s e l f - d e t e r -mination g r o u p , T h e
Bridge School’s local access fairs and lecture series that expose families and professionals to the latest assistive technology and implementation strategies, and AAC By the Bay - a professional conference bringing national and international leaders in the fi eld together to share their knowledge and expertise. The Bridge School has been able to make a difference through the generous support of many friends. Making a difference involves much more than a single program working with a group of children. Making a difference means changing as many lives as possible for the b e t t e r .
Making a difference insists that attitudes and opinions toward people with challenges change. Making a difference requires a family of friends working together to achieve a purpose.
Education is not only prepara-tion for life; education is life it-self. Help us make a true differ-ence in building an education and support network for severely im-paired children.
29YEARS OF
HARD WORK
74CHILDRENLIFETIME-ENROLLED
$34MMONEY RAISED
IN THE LAST 10 YRS
3UNIVERSITY
GRADS
100%TRANSITION RATE
THE BRIDGE SCHOOL REPORT CARD
TEACHER-IN-RESIDENCE IMPACT
8TEACHERSTRAINED
19COUNTRIES
REACHED
50+SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
& CONFERENCES
1,000sOF CHILDRENHELPED
MILLIONSNEED US TODAYAN
D
meet Gabriela 2004-2005 Teacher-in-Residence, Gaby is a speech pathologist specializing in AAC.
Upon her return to Mexico City she started a clinic designed to serve
this underserved population.
Gabriela was a Teacher in Res-idence at The Bridge School in the 2004-2005 school year. Prior to her residency, Gabrie-
la was working as a speech and language pathologist in two centers in Mexico providing therapy services in oral-mo-tor, articulation and auditory-verbal training. When she was introduced to augmentative and alternative commu-nication in 2001, she quickly realized there was little knowledge, expertise or training in this fi eld in Mexico and this defi cit resulted in children with severe motor impairments receiving little or no access to education and communication. She was determined to change that sit-uation and sought to broaden her areas of expertise and knowledge. The Bridge School Teacher in Residence program was designed to ensure this was possible.
During her residency, Gabriela infused Mexican culture, language and tradi-tions into The Bridge School curriculum. Our students, families and staff benefi t-ed from her knowledge and expertise from her therapy background. Upon her return to Mexico, Gabriela co-founded the Centro de Apoyo Technologico para la Commuicacion y el Aprendizaje, know as CATIC. CATIC offers an array of AAC/AT services and hosts workshops and courses for families and profes-sionals in major metropolitan areas in Mexico. The center began as a demon-stration center allowing individuals with complex communication needs, family members and professionals to try out a range of low-and high-tech AAC devic-es and AT equipment. Several hundred children and adults receive AAC services at CATIC which has now evolved into a school, following The Bridge School model of teaching children and helping
them actively participate in mainstream education. CATIC also has an important dissemination program which includes the organization of AAC events such as conferences, workshops and courses throughout Mexico. This has resulted in hundreds of professionals receiving in-formation and instruction in the use of augmentative and alternative communi-cation with children with special needs. Gabriela has been instrumental in bring-ing internationally known experts in the fi eld of speech/language, vision, mobili-ty and education to Mexico and ensuring nation-wide access to this information. In addition to her work in Mexico, Gabri-ela has provided training to teachers and therapists in Perú, Canada and Spain.
Gabriela has been awarded a “dis-tinction” by the Universidad de la Americas and invited to teach cours-es in AAC in their Master’s Level pro-gram. Her publications include case studies on the topic of augmenta-tive and alternative communication.
meet Kirsty
2008-2009 Teacher-in-Residence, Kirsty is a speech and language therapist and audiolo-
gist working in Durban, South Africa for Pathways-Kloof school, where she
worked as principal.
As a speech therapist specializ-ing in working with children with severe disabilities I was already doing basic low tech
AAC, but I kept fi nding that my founda-tions were weak and I kept getting stuck in therapy. I needed to gain a strong foundation to be able to use all the tools available to me, particularly in South Africa where resources are limited and creativity is needed - you have to un-derstand what works and why it works to be able to innovate. The programs in South Africa at the time were not able to provide this strong understanding, and I knew that The Bridge School’s Teach-er-in-Residence program was the right choice for my career and personal goals.
From a learning perspective, being in a full day AAC classroom from lesson planning through to implementation was a fantastic experience which taught me to re-think how I implemented AAC on a daily basis, giving children the op-portunity to focus on their learning in the classroom and not how to commu-nicate.
When I returned as Principle of the Path-ways School, I continued to train the staff of 10 members for over 18 months. In addition to working at Pathways I helped a number of children who were AAC useres for close to 5 years in pri-vate practice, and trained approximately 15 other teachers in mainstead schools; approximately 8 therapists; and approx-imately 10 facilitators in the use of AAC. I also have had a longstanding relation-ship with Entabeni Special School where 5 therapists and 10 teachers have been trained in the use of AAC. They have now established an AAC class at the school based on the knowledge I shared.
Finally, working with one of the device suppliers, I managed training of ap-proximately 60 staff at 10 special needs schools in Mpumalanga, the Northern Province and Kwazulu Natal, South Af-rica.
I am very happy to have participated in various conferences and speaking en-gagements, including: The Bridge School workshop in 2010 at Entabeni School; Interface workshops; Inclusive solutions device retailer in South Africa (I provid-ed 6 training sessions at schools on their behalf); the Cerebral Palsy Association of South Africa (May 2012); the Occu-pational Therapy National Conference (OTASA, July 2012).
Overall, my experiences at The Bridge School Teacher-in-Residence program enabled me to help over 50 children through my school and private practice, as well as train close to 100 speech pa-thologists, teachers, facilitaotr and fam-ily members. There is so much more to communication than speaking - I will never forget the wonderful, warm ex-tra-curricular experiences that make The Bridge School so special. In fact, Ice Skating with the kids was one of the best learning experieces! I still get all my kids in South Africa to go ice-skating in their chairs!
2,300teachers & therapists trained
820hours of lectures
& seminars at universities
22conferences
across Europe
Alina (Ala) participated as a Teacher in Residence at The Bridge School in 2000-2001 and then returned to her school, Szkola Podstawowa Specjalna Nr 150, in Cracow and continued her mission. This educa-tional institution was the first in Poland to leverage the use of augmentative and alternative communica-tion (AAC) and has taken a national and internation-al leadership role in the education of children and adults who use AAC. Since her return, Ala’s work has exemplified the spirit of the Teacher in Resi-dence program. She has expanded her professional network to include training of approximately 2300 teachers and therapists throughout Poland and sur-rounding countries. Ala lectures at Universities in
Cracow, Warsaw, Łodź, and Częstochowa and has presented at over 22 conferences around Poland, Russia, Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Additionally, Ala became the head of the Polish AAC Association, “Speaking without Words” and retained that position for a period of 6 years.
Ala has edited the first book on AAC in Poland, “I Know What I Want, From Experiences of Polish AAC Users and Professionals” and written, “Brother! Sister! Help Me to Say It”, an educational program for siblings and families of children who use AAC. She is also the co-developer of the first Polish speech generating device and is working with software de-
meet Alina
velopers to translate speech and language programs into Polish.
Recently she has been selected by the Polish Minis-try of Education to work on two committees. One is a program to set standards for early development sup-port and monitoring of implementation standards for special needs children and their families, and the second is a new model of governmental solutions for children with special educational needs. Since October 2014, she has been the lead of a committee of 6 practitioners that spearheaded the commence-ment of the first postgraduate course in AAC at the Pedagogical University in Cracow. Ala is also the
proud recipient of a Presidential Award for Special Ed teachers.
As a result of Ala’s networking and advocacy, AAC has been given a voice in Poland. The Polish Min-istry of Education, with support from the European Union, has equipped 55 special education schools with computers, software, specialized keyboards, switches and simple digitized devices. Now more than a 1,000 children and adults with complex com-munication needs are receiving AAC services in Pol-ish schools and rehabilitation centers.
BRIDGE SCHOOLTHE
CONCERT$12.75MRAISED IN THE LAST
10 YEARS
600+ARTIST
PERFORMANCES
56CONCERT
NIGHTS
STATEMENT OF NEED1. THE ISSUEApproximately two to three out of 1,000 children in the Unit-ed States have cerebral palsy, and about 10,000 babies born each year will develop cerebral pal-sy in their childhood. About 2%-5% of such children have severe motor and communica-tion disabilities. Their options for education are few, and The Bridge School aims to help!
2. THE SOLUTIONOur organization was founded on the beliefs that everyone should have the opportu-
nity to achieve his or her maximum potential; everyone should have the opportunity to share knowledge, express feelings and be heard; everyone should have access to
a holistic communication system; and everyone should actively participate in his or her own learning. Because we believe that all children should have access to a
quality education that encompasses a broad base of knowledge and experienc-es, we have created an education and life-transition system for our students,
their families, and our teachers, to support learning for the rest of their lives. The Bridge School educational program is designed to assist stu-
dents in working towards communicative competence through the use of AAC systems and strategies, provide students access to the general
education curriculum and assistive technologies, provide long-term, ongoing, individualized support in their home school district.
3. THE CHALLENGESAs The Bridge School is not currently en-dowed, it depends on the kindness of donors and the generosity of concert fans to keep its doors open to children in need. It costs approxi-mately $2.6 million per year to support our educa-tion programs, summer camp, fi eld trips, transition services, and full-time staff.
4. THE HOPEWith the help of both special education teachers and speech
pathologists, as well as the dedicated leadership of the ad-ministrative staff and the board of directors, The Bridge
School pledges to bring special education to even more children. But before we can commit to training teach-
ers across the globe, we need to make sure that our current program is 100% self-sustaining.
COST OF SUSTAINABILITY
COST OF EDUCATION PROGRAMS
COST OF STUDENT TUITION PER YR
COST OF SUMMER CAMP PER CHILD
COST OF ONE SET OF SCHOOL SUPPLIES
$50,000,000$1,300,000
$792,000$10,200
$700
ABOUT THE BRIDGE SCHOOL ENDOWMENTIt is diffi cult to read a newspaper or magazine,
listen to a newscast or engage in a conversation about the future without encountering the word ‘sustainability’ in one context or another. At The Bridge School, when we talk about sustainability, we look at it in terms of the future of our institution and by asking how can we ensure that the services we provide, the innovative strategies we have imple-mented and the programs we have developed will continue in perpetuity. There is only one answer. We must establish an endowment fund that, when in-vested, earns enough to cover the annual operating expenses of The Bridge School. Currently the Bridge
Benefi t Concert raises half of our operating budget each year. The remaining funds covered by tuition paid by our students’ school districts, individual and agency donors, and grants. A $50,000,000 endow-ment will ensure a reliable, steady income as we con-tinue to address the needs of children with severe physical impairments and complex communication needs. The endowment will support future confer-ences, scholarships, student transition services, in-ternational teacher in residence programs, summer camps, fi eld trips, and the overall growth and out-reach of our programs. Help us by becoming a do-nor, today!
How can you participate? We all have a secret desire to be treated like a celebrity, and The Bridge School Concert, taking place October 24th and 25th this year, is the perfect place to feel like a superstar while giving back to children in need. You can purchase a reserved seat, VIP parking, VIP backstage access, and early entry into the Shoreline by selecting one of the following packages:
PLATINUM DONOR - $5,150 VIP PackageYou will receive a receipt for a tax deduction of $5,000 and Premiere Seating at the 100 Level. This is the only VIP package that offers exclusive access to the back stage (including VIP Terrace) where you can meet all of your favorite artists. In addition to back-stage passes, you will enjoy all the benefi ts of the previous packages, including VIP area access, VIP parking, early entry to Shoreline, and the famous swag bag.
GOLD DONOR - $2,650 VIP PackageYou will receive a receipt for a tax deduction of $2,500 and Prime Seating at the 100 Level. This incredible package offers VIP area access, VIP parking, early entry to Shoreline, and an amazing swag bag full of good-ies.
SILVER DONOR - $1,650 VIP PackageYou will receive a receipt for a tax deduction of $1,500 and Reserved Seating at the 100 Level. This incred-ible package offers VIP area access, VIP parking, early entry to Shoreline, and an amazing swag bag full of goodies.
Please visit VIP.BridgeSchool.org to book your incredible VIP experience today!
Still looking for a way to give back? Sometimes help comes in many different forms - tell us how you want to contribute! Are you an MBA or consultant? Join our strategy team! Do you want to volunteer your time to help us update our website? We would love to hear from you! Please call us at (650) 696-7295 for more information.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
CONTACTS Dr. Vick i R. Casella
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR(650) 696-7295
Mariya A. AndersonDEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
(650) [email protected]
PARTNERS
Dr. Vick i R. Casella
Mariya A. AndersonDEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
Mariya A. AndersonDEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
Mariya A. Anderson(650) 696-7295
Dr. Vick i R. CasellaEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
(650) [email protected]
Dr. Vick i R. Casella
CONTACTS Dr. Vick i R. Casella
Dr. Vick i R. Casella
Dr. Vick i R. CasellaEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Dr. Vick i R. Casella Dr. Vick i R. Casella
PEGI YOUNG BRIAN MORTON SARAH BLACKSTONE,PHD
BRIAN BELL
ELLIOT ROBERTS STEVE ATKINSON JAMES FORDERER NEIL YOUNG
“Look up at the stars and not down at your feet.
Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder...”
-Stephen Hawking