CoMO SEPTA was officially started July 26, 2018. As July 2019 – and thus our first official year – both come to a close, I thought it would be fitting to detail some of the highlights of our first year. We’ve gotten a lot accomplished, and we’re looking forward to keeping that momentum going.
Fundraising
As a new organization, fundraising was one of the first things we worked on. In September we released a t-shirt (or hoodie!) design where 100% of the proceeds would go to further our goals. In October, we had a “Scoopie Night” at Culver’s where some of our SEPTA members (and SEPTA kids!) helped serve the patrons and 10% of sales went to us. We were so happy with how these events turned out for us. Our community is a fantastic one. Thanks to the funds we raised, we were able to meet our goals for our first-prioritized plans and also take on some other projects that we thought we’d have to wait on, such as mini-grants. Our tees for this year are sure to be cool, so keep an eye out!
Member Events
Throughout the 2018-2019 school year, CoMO SEPTA held brief monthly meetings followed by educational sessions for our membership. A variety of topics were covered, including IEPs, Advocacy, Assistive Technology, Overview of CPS Special Services, Picky Eating, and Pro-Social Interest Based Activities. The meeting location also varied as our membership comes from all areas of Columbia. For many of these meetings we were able to offer free on-site childcare courtesy of MU OT students.
In addition to our monthly meetings, we also held social gatherings for our member families. In the winter there was a holiday party, in May we met up at a park, and summer meant a trip to the spraygrounds at Stephens Lake. These social events were very informal; our kids were free to be themselves and have fun with no worry of judgement. We have heard from several members how happy they are to have developed friendships with other families that are either going through or have been through some of the same life experiences. Our members have stepped up to help one another when needed, whether it be showing support to a family going through a loss or helping a single mom get the hard work of moving done in a weekend.
Community Events
While we had lots to offer our members, we had community offerings too. In December, we teamed up with MoDE and the MoDE Foundation to have a holiday celebration around the Magic Tree. With free refreshments and fun activities indoors & out, this was a fun and inclusive event for the whole community. In late January we hosted a 2-day IEP Bootcamp workshop put on by MPACT. It was chock full of info about all steps of the IEP process. In March, CoMO SEPTA held a candidate forum for CPS school board hopefuls where questions were focused on issues related to special education. And in late April, we put on a free, family-friendly resource fair that gathered together many of the local services and organizations in order to let our community know what was available in the area.
Outreach
We’ve had a healthy focus on outreach as well. CoMO SEPTA has been active in Columbia City Council PTA and in Missouri PTA, learning from these larger branches of our organization. In local outreach, we’ve offered Parent Support for IEP/504 meetings, whether that’s just gaining another parent’s perspective on what an IEP or 504 might entail, or if you’d like a parent volunteer to come with you to your meeting to aid in notetaking. Across the state, we’ve been encouraged to see Special Education PTAs springing up in other towns after they’ve reached out to us. Hannibal, MO started a SEPTA during the 2018-19 school year, Jefferson City is set to officially start theirs this summer, and we’ve had 2 other school districts in the state contact us.
School Support
In addition to supporting our children at home via their families, and in their community, we of course wanted to help extend that support to their school environments. CoMO SEPTA developed a “party in a box” to help district classrooms enjoy school parties so these students would feel included in the festivities. We jumped at the chance to help out in school-specific PTA events such as hosting a station at Battle Elementary’s trunk-or-treat. We also created a traveling sensory space, which we’ve set up at several events at various CPS schools. It gives those who need it the perfect chance to unwind before re-entering the chaotic fun, thus making their school’s event more available to them.
Educator Recognition
And last but definitely not least, we wanted to make sure we could reward and recognize the amazing folks that play a role in our students’ educations. After all, what’s a Parent Teacher Association without teachers? CoMO SEPTA got to do fun little things like set up a trail mix bar for the educators at Center for Early Learning-North. As mentioned above, thanks to our fundraising, we were able to offer Mini-Grants during our very first year. We are happy to report that there will be some students enjoying sensory supplies, or making use of reading materials designed to go with their AAC (augmented and alternative communication) devices, and more.. all thanks to this grant money. Educators, if you have an idea of a way to support students with special needs, don’t hesitate to go to our Mini-Grant page and apply! And then possibly the most exciting part of the year for me – and the note we ended it on in May – was getting to present our SEPTA Award winners with their awards. Every nominee was truly outstanding, and to that end we made sure that they all knew they had made a difference.
Looking to Next Year
With such a successful first year, we’re planning on keeping going much as we have been. Our members will still enjoy special meetings and social events, and for the community events we plan on hitting the ground running with our Walk for Inclusion on August 31. You can head here to read more details and register – In It Together: A Walk for Inclusion. We’d love to see you there!
Another thing we’ll be working on is actually something that we started in spring 2019 – Recording Policy. We requested that the school board consider revising their policy KKB to allow recording during IEP and Section 504 meetings. In June many parents, community members, and students went before the school board to share their comments on the matter. You can see captioned videos of those comments here – CoMO SEPTA YouTube. In September the board will hold a vote to decide the matter.
And one more big project we’ll be working on is bringing a peer-to-peer buddy program to our schools. In this way, students both with and without disabilities can expand their social network and inclusion can be more prevalent across a variety of areas in the school environment. We’re excited at the thought of a program like this being offered throughout our district, so we’re determined to see what it would take. A donation from the Thompson Center has started these wheels rolling. If you know anyone else (whether person or business) who would like to donate towards our efforts on this project, please reach out to us at comosepta@gmail.com
We can make our second year just as great as our first one!