Searingtown Elementary School educators, students and their families recently visited the Garden City-based nonprofit Life’s WORC/The Family Center For Achievement to report on their chosen project during April, National Autism Awareness Month.
Maureen Andres, the school psychologist, joined with Randi Altmann and Thomas Graef, the special education teachers for the elementary school in the Herricks School District, led the group on the special field trip
Life’s WORC Senior Vice President Tina Moreno said the trio “are excellent examples of the way in which they bring about effective community projects to their students.”
The nonprofit organization was established 54 years ago by Victoria Schneps, the founding president of Schneps Media, the parent company of the Long Island Press. The group provides a variety of services to some 2,000 people with developmental disabilities and autism in Suffolk, Nassau, Queens, and Manhattan.
Searingtown School has some 585 K-5 students. About 80 are special needs students. According to U.S. News & World Report, Searingtown School ranks No. 69 among the best elementary schools throughout New York State.
There are about 20 students in the school’s Human Relations Club. Andres led a program recognizing neurodiversity acceptance.
“To build awareness students watched educational videos and engaged in teacher-led discussions that taught about neurodiversity,” she said. “Students also participated in weekly mindfulness exercises that targeted sensory regulation to elicit compassion for neurodivergent individuals who can experience sensory information differently. We created flyers and posters and broadcasted daily messages on the school’s public address system about our campaign. Our students designed bulletin boards with themes about awareness, acceptance and the understanding that everyone learns in different ways and everyone has different strengths. With this message, the students learn that everyone deserves mutual respect and kindness.”
Altmann added that “the bulletin boards showed successful and well-known celebrities and historical figures who faced neurodiverse challenges like Autism Spectrum Disorders, ADHD or dyslexia.”
Searingtown families, students, and staff participated in a Neurodivsersity Acceptance Campaign by submitting a decorated butterfly with a donation for The Family Center for Achievement in Garden City.
“We concluded the month on Neurodiversity Day by wearing rainbow and tie-dye colors to represent the diverse nature of the human mind,” Andres said. “The Human Relations Club and the 8:1:3 STRIVE classes hosted a Neurodiversity Day sale to raise additional funds.”
Dawn Del Mastro Chruma, the Life’s WORC/FCA Board Chairperson declared: “Thank you to Searingtown families, students and staff for their incredible generosity and support! It means so much to us and the neurodiverse community. We encourage all Long Island schools to follow Searingtown School’s community leadership.”
