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Stay up to date on happenings around Southview and the District. See pictures from our latest events and find information on upcoming activities and events.

Character Word = Kindness

What is kindness? It it just being nice? Kindness means many things and can be shown many ways. Kindness means being considerate, courteous, helpful, and understanding of others. Showing care, compassion, friendship, and generosity. Treating others as you would like to be treated. A kind person shows concern for the feelings of others and is helpful and generous. A kind person does good deeds without thought of reward. Kindness is showing others they are valuable by how you treat them.

Click play on the video below and watch a short video on kindness with your student.

Friday, November 17th Southview decked out in Purple to show support for our school and community members with Epilepsy. There are about 3.4 million people with Epilepsy nationwide: 3 million adults and 470,000 children. According to the latest estimates, about 0.6% of children aged 0-17 years have active epilepsy. Think of a school with 1,000 students—this means about 6 of them could have Epilepsy.

Click the purple ribbon to watch a short video about epilepsy or click the link below to learn more about epilepsy from Children's Mercy.

Want to see your student in the next newsletter? Make sure you have a media release on file!

Students in Laura Lueckenhoff's class are learning job skills both in the community and in the classroom. Laura's transition classroom works three days a week at Garden Villas and spends two days a week in the classroom working on vocational and independent living skills. Laura explains about this unique opportunity:

Garden Villas is an Independent and Assisted living facility that is one of Southview's Community Based Vocational Skills Instructional (CBVI) Sites. This opportunity allows a classroom of students to work on a plethora of skills beneficial for post-graduation options. Students learn various job tasks including, but not limited to: setting and bussing tables, rolling silverware, vacuuming, laundry, dishwashing, and delivering mail or fliers. Students even get to practice additional social and behavioral skills when working alongside and talking with Garden Villas staff and/or residents at the facility. The students work hard learning all these skills during almost the entire school day, but don't you worry... they also get to try their hand in some leisure activities such as aerobics and have even got to practice their skills on the putting range!

Carter Nagey, a graduating senior this year, said that his favorite part of working at Garden Villa is organizing the mugs in the dining room and delivering the mail to residents. Khasan Bekirov, is a wizard at quickly sorting the silverware and utensils in the industrial kitchen. Ben Oelzen, stated that he enjoys hanging up and handing out the Garden Villa flyers to residents. Joey Presson said that besides the delicious cookies, Garden Villa provides lunch to our workers, he enjoys rolling silverware and delivering packages to residents.

Resource: Heating Help This Winter

Winter is coming! Do you need help with heating your home this winter?

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) may be able to help you pay your home energy bills through:

• Energy Assistance - A one-time payment for one fuel type for your heating or cooling costs from October-May.
• Energy Crisis Intervention Program (ECIP) - Helps pay your energy bill when you have a termination or disconnect notice indicating a specific disconnect date, a final billing statement advising the account has been terminated, a propane-fuel oil tank is filled at less than 20% capacity, the customer is a cash on delivery (COD) customer, pre-paid electric customer indicates their pre-paid usage is about to run out, or when an applicant indicates another fuel source is about to fun out (Wood, corn pellets, kerosene). The amount of help you receive is based on the amount of bill with the energy provider.
  • Winter ECIP is available November—May based on funding. The maximum amount you could get is $800.
  • Summer ECIP is available June—September based on funding. The maximum amount you could get is $600.
• Contracted agencies may also provide emergency services such as blankets, emergency lodging, heating/cooling replacement or repair, window air conditioners, or wood stoves.

Click the picture to be taken to the DSS website.

Looking for an activity to promote gratitude this winter season? Try an appreciation circle!

1. An Appreciation Circle is an opportunity for us to openly acknowledge ourselves, a peer, our community as a whole, or whoever or whatever it is that we feel grateful for right now.

2. We will do this “popcorn style”; whoever feels called to share first can take space and share, while everyone else mindfully listens. When that person is complete, someone else can step up and share. No one is required to speak; simply share your gratitude if you feel called.

3. Who feels called to share first? (Allow the Appreciation Circle to continue for as long as it feels right. Complete the circle by sharing your appreciation.)

4. To soak this in, I invite you to bring your hands to your heart. Let’s take 3 collective breaths of Gratitude together. Take a deep breath in, honoring yourself, and a deep breath out. Inhale love, exhale appreciation. Breathe in gratitude for this whole

community, exhale, let it go.

This information and activity is brought to you by Breathe for Change's Cultivating An Attitude of

Gratitude in School Transformative Teaching Toolkit.

Turkeys were all over the halls at Southview in November. This graceful bird decorated doors, bulletin boards, and even some heads. But these birds weren't just for decoration. They helped put the "Thanks" in "Thanksgiving." Many classrooms chose the turkey and it's feathers to show off all the things they were thankful for during this season and throughout the year. Ezra Gordon, a 6th grade student in Mr. Suchanek's class said that he was thankful for his dog while Lydia Black, a 10th grade student in Mrs. Wyatt's class said she was thankful for her friends and classmates like Marcus Mason who sat with her at lunch.

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade happened at Southview?! It sure seemed like it! Several classrooms participated in a Thanksgiving Parade on Friday November 17th. Balloons, props, and smiles paraded through the hallways showing off their holiday spirit. Sarah Lehmann, a teacher in Southview's Multiple Disability department, stated "The students in the MU High School Department learned about the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade utilizing their News2You article. They did various classroom activities all week and Friday created their own parade! The students utilized their individualized communication systems to choose animals and props for their parade. It was a great time had by all!"

Specialists offer no-cost pre-employment transition services to Missouri high school students with disabilities, ages 16-21 (or as young as 14 if the need for Pre-ETS is documented in the student’s IEP.) Pre-ETS are designed to have a positive impact for students with disabilities at an earlier age, leading to better coordination, enhanced communication, and stronger collaboration through the high school transition process, and resulting in increased successful post-school outcomes.

The five Pre-ETS categories are:

• Self Advocacy
• Work-Based Learning
• Post-Secondary Counseling
• Workplace Readiness
• Job Exploration

Who is Eligible for MU Pre-ETS?

Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS) are available to Missouri high school students with disabilities who are potentially eligible for Vocational Rehabilitation services. To access services, please contact Southview's school counselor Maeghan Gunn at megunn@ssdmo.org/989.8931 or Southview's Transition Facilitator Lauren Rongey-Llanos at lerongey-llanos/989.8969.

Join the Winter Reading Challenge at St. Louis County Library! It is for all ages and runs from Dec. 1 to Jan. 31st. Everyone who reads gets a chance to win prizes. Books can be tracked online or on an app. See below for details and directions on signing up:

https://www.slcl.org/library-services/winter-reading-challenge

Visit December's Virtual Library features by clicking on the picture below!

High school seniors who receive at least one SSD service or attend an SSD technical school should take a look at these scholarship opportunities if they plan to enroll in a college, university or postsecondary program! Applications for The James E. Westbury/SSD Board of Education Scholarship, The Allison M. Haake Memorial Scholarship, and The Bonhomme Lions Club Scholarship are due Dec. 13, 2023. Additionally, the Special Education Foundation (SEF) sponsors the John Cary Scholarship. All scholarships require a letter of recommendation - don’t wait to begin! Visit ssdmo.org/scholarships for more information.

Applications for several awards which honor the contributions of SSD staff and community members are awaiting nominations, which are due Jan. 5, 2024. These awards are collectively known as Salutes awards because they are given at the District’s annual Salutes event in the spring. They include the following:

• Key to the Classroom Awards (for classroom teachers)
• Building Block Awards (for paraprofessionals)
• Lasting Impression Awards (for support/operations staff)
• Special Ambassador Awards (for community members or organizations)
• Distinguished Leader Awards (for administrators in SSD and partner districts)

Please refer to the Salutes webpage for details about each award. Some awards permit nomination by SSD staff only, while others accept nominations from people who are not employed by SSD. Please nominate someone you know who works for SSD and help us provide the recognition they deserve for their meaningful work in SSD!

Are you looking for unique and accessible activities to participate in this winter? Look no further than the latest FACE newsletter! In it you will find not only information on what FACE has to offer, but also ideas to enhance your student’s learning and great community events and offerings. You can sign up to have future newsletters sent to your inbox by visiting the FACE website today!

Would you like to learn more about how to support your student’s learning this Winter? Take a look at the FACE YouTube page and watch any of our pre-recorded webinars. Topics include toilet training, executive functioning, behavior supports, and Special Education Process. Check it out and email us at face@ssdmo.org to suggest other important topics.

American Sign Language classes were a huge success this Fall. If you did not get a chance to attend, registration for second semester classes will open up in mid December. Keep an eye out on the FACE website for more information. Classes will be held each Thursday for six weeks starting February 8th. Classes fill up fast so register early.

The SSD Board of Education strives for transparency, accountability, and accessibility. We welcome family, staff, and community members to share comments, concerns, and ideas with SSD Board of Education members. To find the Board member representing your subdistrict, visit the Board of Education page on the SSD website.