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Transition Newsletter May 2023
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May 2023
Possibilities
This month we want to highlight our incredible 2023 graduates and all of the exciting possibilities they have to look forward to!
Congratulations Lucas, Sean, Max, Gillian, and Morgan! We are so proud of you!
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Our 2023 Graduates
Lucas
Where are you currently employed? Challenge Unlimited for the Great Lakes Naval Base
What other plans do you have for your future? I am probably going to stay with mom for a few years and plan to move to an apartment with friends.
What accomplishment are you most proud of so far? I am really proud of how I have been more social with coworkers and made friends with people at the Naval Base.
What is one of your favorite memories from Transition? Going to Elawa Farm was a great experience. I really enjoyed this outing because I liked spending time outside walking the preserve and being with friends.
What advice do you have for other students who receive Transition Services? Try to make the most of the experience, have fun, and stay motivated in transition class.
Is there anything else you want to say to your family and friends? I would like to wish all my friends at Transition luck and hope they have a very enjoyable experience and future ahead of them.
Sean Coughlan
What plans do you have for your future? Finish college, get a job, and do a lot of scuba diving.
What accomplishment are you most proud of so far? Getting my Eagle Scout in three years, living independently, and graduating from high school.
What is one of your favorite memories from Transition? Going on the community trips and playing basketball.
What advice do you have for other students who receive Transition Services? Stay positive. Be friendly and supportive.
Is there anything else you want to say to your family and friends? Thank you for all the help that I got at Transition. You guys are amazing.
Max
Where are you currently employed? I am a DJ at Charizma Entertainment.
What other plans do you have for your future? I would like to go to the College of Lake County and then a life skills college in New York City.
What accomplishment are you most proud of so far? I am most proud of getting my high school diploma from Cove and being a member of Special Olympics.
What is one of your favorite memories from Transition? Meeting new people and new friends for life.
What advice do you have for other students who receive Transition Services? Use Transition as a way to gain employment and meet new friends.
Is there anything else you want to say to your family and friends? Thank you to my mom, my sisters, my aunt, my friends and my teachers. I had a wonderful time at Transition.
Gillian
Where are you currently employed? I am currently working at Lambs Farm.
What other plans do you have for your future? My plans for the future are hopefully college and living in a group home.
What accomplishment are you most proud of so far? The accomplishment I'm most proud of in my life so far is continuing to defy the odds of Prader Willi Syndrome.
What is one of your favorite memories from Transition? One of my favorite memories at Transition is when I was able to show both classes around Lambs Farm.
What advice do you have for other students who receive Transition Services? Just have fun and enjoy it, because it will be over before you know it.
Is there anything else you want to say to your family and friends? Thank you for coming to see me graduate and supporting and loving me throughout my life. To all the staff at Transition for understanding me and helping me out with my struggles with PWS.
Morgan Vangalis
Where are you currently employed? I am employed at Mariano's.
What other plans do you have for your future? To graduate college in a couple of years, to have fun and go to water parks.
What accomplishment are you most proud of so far? I am proud of myself for making new friends.
What is one of your favorite memories from Transition? My favorite memories are of the staff. They have taught me so many new things.
What advice do you have for other students who receive Transition Services? My advice to future students is to be open to learning new things like going out into the community.
Is there anything else you want to say to your family and friends? To my Transition friends, I will miss you. To my family, thank you for supporting me. When I first came to Transition I was nervous but I've learned so much and I had a lot of fun.
Conversations about Possibilities
What is something you hope to be doing after you graduate from Transition Services?
Emerson: After I graduate I would like to get a paying job (maybe at Jewel-Osco so I can work with Luke).
Quinn: After I graduate I would like to find a girlfriend and live in an apartment building. I would keep doing NSSRA and growing within that program.
Max: After I graduate I hope to go to the College of Lake County and then go to New York City and get a job that I enjoy. Something to do with cars, music or video games.
Jane: After I graduate I would like to go to college, keep working at Lake Forest Food & Wine and Sedgebrook.
Irving: After graduation I would like to keep learning and keep working.
Cristhian: After I graduate I hope to find a long-term job, to make money to live.
Gillian: After graduation I hope to work at Lambs Farm full-time and move into one of the Lambs Farm apartments.
Morgan: After I graduate I hope to continue working for Mariano's and Sedgebrook and babysit.
Luke: After graduation I would like to keep working at Jewel-Osco and continue swimming. I also want to be able to hang with friends.
John: After I graduate, I want to volunteer at Bernie's Book Bank, go to the library, and visit NSSRA.
Alex: After graduation, I want to travel and go to Lambs Farm and Center for Enriched Living.
Elliana: After I graduate, I hope to travel, make new friends, continue working at Walgreens, and go to Center for Enriched Living.
Nicolette: After graduation, I hope to keep working at Midtown, go to Lambs Farm and NSSRA, make lots of new friends, learn a new hobby, travel, and continue to do Special Olympics.
Hannah: After graduation I would like to continue learning, volunteer at Bernie's Book Bank, make new friends and participate in Special Olympics.
Tommy: After graduation, I hope to visit the library and to continue volunteering at Bernie's Book Bank.
JJ: After graduation I hope to be working at a paid job and traveling.
Tyler: After I graduate, I want to have a job, travel, make new friends, volunteer at Bernie's Book Bank, and keep learning. I hope to go to the library, Special Olympics. Lambs Farm, and NSSRA.
Upcoming Calendars
IMPORTANT DATES FOR MAY
Monday, May 29th
- Memorial Day. No school for students and staff.
Tuesday, May 30th through Friday, June 2nd
- We will be following the district finals schedule and the school days will end early at 1:10.
IMPORTANT DATES FOR JUNE AND ESY
ESY hours are 8:00am to 12:30pm.
No ESY on Fridays.
Monday, June 5th
- First day of ESY.
Monday, June 19th
- Juneteenth. No ESY for staff and students.
Wednesday, June 28th
- Last day of ESY.
Psychology with Poladian
This year has flown by! It is hard to believe that it is already May! And, it is equally hard to believe that graduation is just around the corner!
The word for this month is possibilities - The perfect word for the end of a school year. There is so much to look forward to in the summer. Summer often affords us the opportunity to engage in fun and novel activities and a chance to get some Vitamin D! Engaging in fun activities can lift our mood, and it can feel really good to be out in the sun. 🙂
Some summer possibilities could include:
-Taking a swim
-Visiting the beach
-Playing sports outside
-Going to a baseball game
-Riding in a boat
-Having a barbeque
-Going on a picnic
-Going to a park
-Plant some flowers
-Visiting a zoo
-And so much more…
The possibilities to enjoy yourself in the summer are endless! I hope you and your students have plenty of fun this summer. I cannot wait to hear about it next Fall!
Speech Tips with Sherry
Potential Possibilities for the Future
Sherry Manzella shares suggestions for conversations with students about potential possibilities after graduation. Please click on "Assessing Your Future" below.
Also included are links to helpful recreation and leisure as well as potential living arrangements.
Vocational Spotlight with Diana
Spring has sprung and with that opens up many opportunities for paid employment. This month, students have been working hard researching companies and finding job opportunities at the companies they are interested in.
This May, our monthly shout out goes to JJ Szorik for showing positivity and patience when job searching and applying for jobs. JJ is new to West Campus this year, and is being introduced to the soft skills and an internship that are necessary prior to applying and interviewing for paid part-time work.
With mentorship, encouragement, and guidance from the West Campus vocational staff, JJ attended a Costco informational interview this month. He researched this company, its culture, and the various types of positions that are available at Costco. With support of his job coach, he applied and attended a walk-in informational interview hosted at Costco.
The informational interview was valuable to JJ. It allowed him to learn from someone currently working in the field, and also helped JJ understand the job he had been interested in learning about online. JJ’s walk-in interview did go very well, and he has advanced to the next steps of the onboarding process.
Congratulations JJ for all your success leading up to this point!!
Health and Wellness Updates with Laurie
A Message from Our Nurse, Laurie Landsverk
Spring is finally here and the end of this school year is in sight. That means it is time to start thinking about next school year,. Getting your student’s health forms updated may take some advanced planning and getting in to see doctors seems to be taking longer than it used to! All medical forms are due by the first day of school.
HEALTH FORMS NEEDED EACH SCHOOL YEAR:
- Students with seizures, severe allergies, diabetes or asthma (due annually): Action Plans and Medication Authorization Forms. As a parent or guardian, you are responsible for informing the Health Office if your child has seizures, allergies, diabetes or asthma. By law, we are required to have an annual Seizure/Allergy/ Diabetes or Asthma Action Plan that is signed by BOTH the physician and parent on file in the nurse’s office.
Scheduled or As-Needed PRESCRIPTION and NONPRESCRIPTION medications. If your student takes or may need to take any prescription or over-the-counter medications at school the Medication Authorization Form must be submitted annually as well. In order for a pain reliever such as Tylenol or Ibuprofen to be administered to a student, a doctor must write an “as needed” authorization for headache, cramps, etc. The nurse would call home before administering an as needed medication, but still requires a medication Authorization form filled out by a doctor and signed by both the Doctor and a parent. EACH medication needs a separate medication authorization form! Prescribed and over-the-counter medicine needs to be in the original labeled container. Your student will be permitted to carry an EpiPen, Emergency seizure medication and inhalers with them, provided the aforementioned forms are submitted.
Links to all our Health Forms are below and are also available on the LFHS website under Education Services, Health Services. All links to medical forms can be found under medical forms.
Please direct all forms to Laurie Landsverk at the Transition Health office. You can email them to me at Llandsverk@lfschools.net or you can send them with your student.
Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions. My Office number is 847-235-9716.
Parent Series
Transition Planning
Please join us in-person or virtually on Monday, May 15th at 12:00 pm for our next D67 and D115 Parent Series on Transition Planning. During our meeting, Amy Engstrom, Transition Specialist from True North will be available to answer any of your questions related to transition planning. Please see the flyer for more information.
A light lunch will be provided for in-person attendees.
To RSVP for the event, click the button below.
Photo Highlights
Helpful Resources
CPI for Parents
TrueNorth 804 is excited to bring a training opportunity to you this spring! We will be offering a training program for parents: “De-escalating Challenging Behaviors.” Designed for parents and caregivers of children who display aggressive and self-injurious behaviors, as well as parents of children on the autism spectrum, the core focus of this research-based program is to train you to prevent, or mitigate, crises from occurring rather than managing crises with physical interventions.
This training program was developed by Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) in partnership with the Lurie Center at Harvard University and is taught by CPI Certified Instructors, Kelli Hunt and Sheena Watterson.
Benefits of the Training:
Build Confidence: Learn the skills necessary to anticipate and manage behavior escalation in your child.
Reduce Stress: Increase focus on self-care and therapeutic responses to maintain positive environments and relationships in your home.
Regain Control: Behavior influences behavior. Learn to manage your responses and how those responses can lead to positive outcomes with your child.
When:
Monday, May 15th from 9:00am-12:00pm
This session will be held at 776 Red Oak Ln, Highland Park (Rubloff Building).
300 S. Waukegan Rd.
Lake Forest, Illinois 60045