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 The Vincent Smith School in Port Washington has expanded its program offerings to include an innovative and extremely important initiative entitled, the Self-Advocacy and Mentoring (SAM) Program.
SAM has been designed and implemented to allow students to develop the necessary skills for communication, self-advocacy, autonomy, and the ability to access needed services and support. Students will be participating in SAM every Tuesday during their club period. The 45-minute sessions include various activities such as role playing, discussion and written exercises. Each group has no more than eight students. Teachers have received extensive training from VSS staff member and clinical psychologist Dr. Valerie Gaus.
Staff members took a Learning Styles Inventory, developed by educational researchers Rita Dunn and Kenneth Dunn. The inventory helped make staff cognizant of their personal learning styles. Research has shown that if students can be taught in their own learning style (visual, auditory, tactile) they are far more likely to succeed. However, most teachers teach the way they were taught, which is either visual or auditory.
Last year 6-8th graders took the Learning Style Inventory, which is an online exam developed by Dunn and Dunn. VSS educators felt it was most appropriate because it was age-based. The results of the test enabled students to understand how they learn based on how they answered questions. Teens with learning differences grow up to be adults with learning differences. Once students know how they learn, they are then able to facilitate their own learning and advocate for themselves. The high school component will be completed by November.
“It is important for our children to understand who they are,” said Principal Veronica McCue. “It is equally important that they can advocate for themselves. We want all of our students to understand that it is okay to learn differently. We also want them to accept their differences as well as those of others.”
SAM will facilitate self-discovery and self-awareness; foster self-acceptance; and teach self-advocacy skills. Research supports the fact that close to 90% of students with special needs go on to college and after one year, less than 10% of them remain. Those who have the strongest self-advocacy skills are among that 10%. More than 80% of the VSS Class of 2007 went on to higher education, the majority of these students are currently attending four-year colleges. SAM will help to ensure that VSS students continue to succeed after graduation.
“We had to answer the question, ‘What do we want our students to do, know and be when they leave the Vincent Smith School?’” said Mrs. McCue. “We then had to work our way back to determine what would give our students the greatest chance for success. The SAM program teaches our students to advocate for their needs and that is a huge factor in whether or not they will achieve continued success after they leave the Vincent Smith School.”
Caption: Vincent Smith School students participate in the SAM Program under the facilitation of their VSS teacher Maria Murphy. |
