“Where the Wild Things are” from Springfield R-12 Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) program

Our feature this month is “Where the Wild Things are” from Springfield R-12 Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) program.

The Springfield R-12 Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) program serves 430 children in the Springfield area.  Over 70 integrated peers receive a pre-school education while serving as models for language, social skills, and behavior.  The program offers a comprehensive range of programs provided by highly qualified teachers including: specialized instruction in the classroom, speech therapy, language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, intenerate services, parent collaboration and behavioral consultation.

The mission of Early Childhood Special Education is to effectively meet the individual needs of young children with disabilities by:

« Collaborating through community partnerships

« Providing quality services

« Incorporating developmentally appropriate activities into instruction

« Using research-supported practices

« Recognizing cultural diversity

« Being family-focused

“Where the Wild Things are” opens on May 7 (during the First Friday Art Walk) and will continue for the rest of the month.  We’re still putting the final touches to the display, and will post images soon. We’ll also add details about the hands-on session planned for Center City Saturday on May 15th – so check back soon!

Working with the Community

When we started Global Fayre, we knew that community outreach would be an important element of our work here, but frankly underestimated just how rewarding that aspect of the store would be.

We give at least one Fair Trade talk mosts weeks; these talks are to a wide variety of groups in the community, from pre-schoolers to Red Hat ladies. Sometimes it involves us packing some interesting pieces and visiting them, but most times they come to the store and get a “Fair Trade Talk and Tour” as we wander around the store using some of the beautiful items we have here to highlight the various aspects of Fair Trade.

One of the biggest kicks we get is when people return after a tour, bringing others with them, so pass on the message. It’s especially great to see kids bringing their parents in to explain what Fair Trade is all about.

One local school we’ve worked closely with the is the Phelps Center for Gifted Education. They are part of the public school system in Springfield, and have something called the WINGS Program. WINGS (Working with the Individual Needs of Gifted Students) is designed to identify academically gifted students. The purpose of the program is to provide academic challenge and rigor as well as address the social/emotional needs of the gifted student. We’ve given a few talks now to students on the WINGS program, but this week two of the students turned the tables and brought in books that they had created to help explain Fair Trade. They had done a great job of conveying what Fair Trade is all about in an interesting and engaging way, and wanted to donate the books to the store so that we can use them with other students in the future.

The books are proudly on display behind the counter, and we’re looking forward to using them!

Here’s a couple of shots taken during their visit to present their work: