Save the date - April 29

The third annual Visions of Hope Awards presentation will be held on Friday, April 29, 7:00PM, at the Woodstock Opera House. It will be followed by a performance of "Maybe in a Moment" by the Thresholds Theater Arts Performance Group.

Watch for more information before April 29.

There is no charge for the evening, but donations are appreciated. Make your reservation by emailing biehl@mc708.org or calling 815.455.2828

This performance is very likely to be SRO, so make your reservation early.

Bullying and kids in Special Education

Read today's article on www.woodstockadvocate.com about bullying and the great work being done by Jodee Blanco of Orland Park, Ill. Also, read the Daily Herald article; the link is within my article there.

If you don't get there "today", search on that other blog for "bullying" or just go to www.jodeeblanco.com

Boys and girls in Special Education know first-hand about bullying - unfortunately. It's time to put a stop to bullying.

Do you home-school your children?

Here's a letter from a home-school mom. The letter was sent to me by a candidate for School Board in Marengo.

 

To: Everyone

 

Please send this out to all of our home school parents.

I just want to let everyone know that I called the Senators office today. I have a 45 minute phone call with his staff member who was wonderful.

 

She wrote down all of my points and said the Senator might be in touch with me because my points were all so good and valid.

 

She is getting 100's of calls.. It is very important to call 773-881-4180 and voice your objections.

It helped that I am from the south side but they still want to hear from you.

 

These were the points.

 

1. Make public schools safe and make all public schools actually perform and then lets talk about home school registration.

 

2. Give all parents school choice.

 

3. Get rid of all Regional Superintendent of schools positions and save Illinois tax payers 4.5 million dollars. If Cook county can get away without a ROE then why should we in the Suberbs be burdened with their cost.

 

Right now there is NO oversight of their activities by anyone. These individuals don't add any value to the public or to school children. They abuse Parents and Children. I gave our personal example and she was horrified.

 

Don't find more for them to do...get rid of them and give that money to the communities to invest in education.

 

4   By providing school choice you will get parents to naturally want to participate in Home School registration but until you can make it of value to parents you will only get a back lash by trying to force it. Until you can make it safe for parents to home school without retaliation then don't put the cart before the horse.

 

5. Parents are tax payers and are not able to send their home schooled children to the public school for sports. We pay for services we are not entitled to use..fix this first .

 

6. Give parents the parent trigger law in Illinois. Allow us to take over unsafe under performing schools.

 

7. Force consolidations of small schools to bring more money and value to the tax payer. Right now Illinois has over 950 school districts..We should have 350.

 

Don't you think you have more to do in Illinois than this??? Please consider all of the problems First.

 

I can buy software for my child with 170 lessons in five subjects for $20.00 and its a better teacher than the public school teachers and I am paying thousands in tax money for nothing. And exposing them to unsafe environments.

 

 Please ask everyone you know who thinks Home schooling should be free from restrictions to call..Very important. Office is 773-881-4180

 

Send out to your entire email lists.

 

 

Thanks

 

Cynthia Allen Schenk

Running for District 165 School Board April 5th 2011

 

Dr. David J. Schenk

Anti-Bullying Network to meet in Woodstock

The following press release may be of interest to you, if you are a parent, teacher or young person who has been (or is) affected by bullying.

Woodstock -- The next meeting of the McHenry County Anti-Bullying Network will be held at the Woodstock Library, 414 W. Judd Street, on Saturday, February 19, from 9:30 to 10:30 A.M.

The newly formed organization is devoted to reducing the amount and effects of bullying in schools and among children and teens generally.  The group is open to parents, teachers and other school staff, and others who work with children and youth who are interested in helping to alleviate this problem.

The group is sponsored by Principled Minds, a non-profit organization based in Woodstock that seeks justice and equality for all persons in McHenry County. Principled Minds has made efforts to combat bullying one of its highest priorities and recently was a sponsor of the Don’t Kick the Penguins anti-bullying program at McHenry County College.

For more information, e-mail Principled Minds President Dan Larsen at dplarsen1073@att.net

Excellent workshop on Guardianship today

There was an excellent workshop on Guardianships today at McHenry County College, put together by SEDOM and others. The seminar classroom was full, and the hand-outs were plentiful.

The panel included two attorneys, Brian Rubin of Buffalo Grove and Bob Farley of Naperville. Brian explained Special Needs Trusts, and Bob mentioned a successful lawsuit against the State of Illinois to obtain substantially increased benefits for a disabled client.

The advice of the attorneys is "don't assume that you can't get benefits (or higher benefits)", if you have a significant disability. An example was the level of care that can be paid for to a developmentally-disabled person only until he is 21, after which the State says the family can pay for it. Suppose the person needs round-the-clock care. How does a family afford that?

Options & Advocacy www.optionsandadvocacy.org/ was represented by its Executive Director, Cindy Sullivan. Also on the panel was Annette Hammortree, of Hammortree Financial Services www.hammortreefinancial.com/. A representative from Equip for Equality www.equipforequality.org/, Chicago, came all the way out to Crystal Lake for this meeting, and a mother and her son from Johnsburg completed the panel.

Services of the attorneys can be viewed on their websites:
Bob Farley: http://www.farley1.com/
Brian Rubin: http://www.snfp.com/

D-200 Parent U. - Feb. 28

On Saturday, February 28, Woodstock (Ill.) District 200 school district will present Parent University at Woodstock North High School. The U. starts at 8:30AM and is scheduled to conclude at 11:30AM. This program is open to all parents (of middle and high school students), not just parents of students in Special Education.
A variety of sessions is planned, including topics such as (anti)-bullying, co-parenting in homes, and raising healthier teens.

Registration and a continental breakfast begin at 8:00AM. The opening speaker is scheduled at 8:30AM, and two one-hour break-out sessions are scheduled for 9:00AM and 10:30AM.

From 10:00-10:30AM there will be a break and a "Resourse" Fair. YES! That's how it reads: Resourse (sic) Fair. Keep in mind that this is the spelling on a school district-produced schedule. What are we raising around here? What are we hiring around here??? There are numerous grammatical errors in the online program; they are not typos!

Another example? "Co-parenting with someone who lives in a different home may results (sic) in very different views..."

Everybody is in a hurry these days. Some say there is too much work to be done by too few people in too short a time. But, if you don't have time to do it right the first time, you definitely do not have time to do it over!

Do I have little tolerance for highly-paid school district personnel who make these errors? You bet!

Let's hope that Parent U. is successful. Notice also that program scheduling doesn't allow time for movement between "classes."

Be sure to check out the online Registration Form. As you examine it, ask yourself the logical questions. You'll see what I mean, when you read it!

Yes, I know I'm critical, so you don't have to tell me.

Check it out for yourself at http://woodstockschools.org/news/parent-university-registration-now-open

Guardianship Panel - Tomorrow 1:00PM - Free

The Special Education District of McHenry County

&

McHenry County Transition Planning Committee

Presents:

Panel Discussion: Guardianship Issues for Students with Disabilities

When:        Friday, February 4th, 2011

Where:       McHenry County College

Room A102

Time:          1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.

Join us for a panel discussion regarding guardianship and hear about different philosophies and options parents have from individuals with expertise in this area.

Topics such as guardianship, power of attorney, trust funds, planning for adulthood, legal services, and advocacy will be discussed.

Speakers will include:

ü    The Law Office of Brian Rubin & Associates

ü    Robert H. Farley, Jr., LTD-Attorney at Law

ü    Annette Hammortree-Hammortree Financial Services

ü    Options & Advocacy for McHenry County

ü    Equip for Equality

ü    Individual with a Disability

                              

There is no cost to attend this event.

Please RSVP to Jeweldean Drechney: jdrechney@sedom.org