12 June
On
With 0 Comments

The financial help that was given by GRADS to the Sisseton School District-Transition Class was spent on the materials for coffee making and some tools for carpentry lessons.

For the carpentry, the class bought tool boxes, nails, hammers, screw drivers, rulers, and fliers.  Each of the students will have their own toolbox with tools inside which they can bring home to finish some carpentry assignments/job especially during distance learning or snow days in Winter time.

For the coffee making skill, sugar, coffee, and creamer were purchased to accomplish the training ang practice of such skill. 

The whole class is grateful to this grant.  May your organization continue to support us, the teachers. 

May Amodia, Sisseton School District

On Friday, May 5 Milbank hosted special Olympics. We had 290 athletes from 13 different school participate.  We were able to feed all athletes, coaches and families for free.  We used the 100.00 to help cover the expense of the food.

Abbey Trapp, Milbank School District 

 

Hello Mary Lou and the Grant Roberts Area Disability Supports,

I want to thank you and your group for the Boost for Teacher grant that I received.  

The funds from this grant were used for buying food for our transition program.  Students in this program enjoy going to the store to purchase food and other supplies for the apartment.  They learn how to make a shopping list, find items in a store, comparison shop, and live within a budget.  They also work on decision making skills and sometimes need to compromise with their peers before making a purchase.  After making a purchase, students enjoy using the food to make meals. 

Grocery shopping and meal making is a favorite activity for these students.  Most meals are decided upon by the students and allowing them to decide what to make encourages their enthusiasm and participation in the activity.  The students chose to use this money to buy groceries to make monster cookies, tater tot hotdish, biscuits and gravy, sloppy joes, and chicken fettucine alfredo.  The students did an excellent job learning how to make these meals and everything tasted delicious!  Since staff and students are the only individuals that use the apartment, students with the guidance of the staff members, are responsible for making sure that they clean up after themselves doing daily and weekly housekeeping tasks.  

This was my first year with the Milbank Transition Program. It was great to work with these students and help them develop their independent living skills.  I greatly appreciate the support your group gives to individuals with disabilities.   

Michele Benike, Milbank School District

I would like to thank GRADS for the support that had been extended to us. Initially, the proposal submitted was intended to buy materials for cricut machine so we can make cards, wall decorations and many more. However, I did not go with the plan since I still need to give more time studying how to run the cricut machine that the school has provided for my class. 

Fortunately, I was able to use the money to a more memorable way that I assumed my students would love to do. I let them do chocolate bouquets for Mothers’ Day celebration. They did not only make bouquets for their mothers, but also for their teachers in 8th grade as well. 

It was really a very timely project and a memorable one. Their mothers and even the teachers who received it expressed their gratitude and made good comments about the project. 

I will be sending some pictures for you to see. 

Again, thank you GRADS for having $100 Boost for Teachers support. 

More power!

Karen Siriban, Sisseton

12 February
On
With 0 Comments

GRADS Meeting Feb. 7, 2023

Middlebrook Community Room 5:30 p.m.

 

This brief meeting focused on the Lucky Leprechaun raffle and the Boost for Teachers grants.

Lucky Leprechaun Raffle

MaryLou Bullert shared pictures of donated items. Rachael Johnson brought additional items from Doubletree Gallery, 3 Bean Coffee, Teal’s Market and garden/bird stuff. MaryLou had a printout which listed all the gift basket contents. The three baskets have a total value of over $1,000. Rachael and MaryLou will send thank you notes to the contributors. Raffle tickets were distributed. The raffle officially starts today. If anyone wishes to help sell raffle tickets please reply to this message and we will mail some to you.

 

Boost for Teachers

We reviewed applications. It was decided to award four $100. grants for Boost for Teachers to be presented by February 17. The recipients are May Amodia from Sisseton (coffee shop project), Karen Siriban from Sisseton (Cricut project), Michele Benike from Milbank (transition program/ job readiness), and Abbey Trapp from Milbank (support for Special Olympics Track and Field event hosted by Milbank). Congratulations to these teachers and their students. Rachael Johnson, GRADS Secretary/Treasurer, issued the checks.

 

Website

A check for $100. will be sent to Cheryl Pocklington for her work with the GRADS website.

 

Meeting Schedule

We will meet at the end of the raffle for the drawing and distribution of baskets on Wednesday, March 15, 2023 at the Bullert home at tentatively 5:30p.m.

The GRADS annual meeting and election will be on Tuesday, April 11, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. at the Middlebrook Community Room, 902 East Milbank Avenue, Milbank.

20 October
On
With 0 Comments

Boost for Teachers Award Recipient 2022

Left to Right: MaryLou Bullert-GRADS Board Member, PAES/Transition Program participant, May Amodia-Transition-PAES Supervisor/Teacher, PAES/Transition Program participant and Colleen Siegel-Paraprofessional.

Boost for Teachers, a brand-new yearly GRADS initiative, is a grant program that will award $100 to a middle or high school special education teacher working in the Grant or Roberts County area.

To be considered for the award, teachers must submit a proposal for empowering students with disabilities to learn occupational skills.

This year’s recipient is May Amodia, a teacher and transition-PAES supervisor from Sisseton. She earned the $100 award for her work on a lunch project.

The project she developed instructs students how to prepare, cook and serve food. In addition to those concepts, students also learn planning, budgeting, and marketing skills that help them prepare for jobs and independent living.

Congratulations May!