Focus: Special Needs
Year 4 has a few students with special needs in our class. A few have learning disabilities of some kind, and I've previously mentioned R, who has autism. Because of this week's focus, I tried to spend at least a few minutes just working with each of them.
Just after he called role, Mr. Barry pointed out to G, who has dyslexia, that she needed to get a laptop at the start of the day from now on because she would need it to do her micro-writing - a new provision on her IEP. Her reading level, interestingly, is at the top of the class, although her writing lags behind it. During micro-writing, I served as the scribe for A, which I have done in previous weeks as well. He has no trouble coming up with different ideas, but when he tries to write them himself, the physical task challenges him. He also proved that he understands the relevant rules of grammar when he read it back through. As his scribe, I had to leave out any capital letters, commas, speech marks (quotation marks) or full stops (periods) unless told to include them. When he read the sentences back to me, he would point out places that he needed these.
After they did micro-writing, it was time for micro-maths, a set of short word problems using basic arithmetic. I pulled I out to work one-on-one in the ICT (information and communication technology) suite because he wasn't getting along with the girls sitting near him. Originally from Bangladesh, his first language isn't English, which is why our teaching assistant Ms. Bryant is technically assigned to him. As soon as he was in a quieter setting, however, he was able to begin working with me and started to at least understand what was required in the task.
Guided reading followed micro-maths, so I took my group into the ICT suite to work. When they were done, we went back to class in time for their midmorning break.
After the break, the students worked on their Take One Picture stories. A little more than half the students worked on their stories on laptops, but since there weren't enough for everyone, I took a half students into the ICT suite, including G. I supervised and provided spelling assistance as they wrote. Aside from needing a bit more spelling assistance than her classmates, G didn't have any troubles with the assignment. Some of the students had a lot of ideas. M and V, for instance, each wrote more than the rest of the group combined. This didn't surprise me, considering that the two girls are at the top of the class for most things. Other students, particularly D, had much more trouble with their task. I'm not sure whether she was intimidated by other students who were further ahead or if her language barrier came into play (she speaks Polish at home), but she became increasingly frustrated and uninspired until lunch finally rolled around.
After lunch, the students had creative time until my dance lesson began. I found it was much more successful to give my initial instructions before we left the classroom, although their first instincts upon entering the hall was still to run around for a bit. They warmed up with the Brain Dance. Tentative at first, I found that once a few of the students started to engage with it, the rest of the class followed suit. Once they were warmed up, I led them through an exploration of positive and negative space. Mr. Barry and I had a wonderful time watching the students create crazy shapes together. After a twenty minute lesson, we had to go back to the classroom so that the Year 3 class could set up for their class assembly. They were so good during the dance lesson that Mr. Barry decided that they could have a little extra break time until assembly, which they loved.
At the end of the day, R's mother came in when she picked him up. She asked Mr. Barry about how R's week had been so far. Her visit signified the school's commitment to working with parents of children with special needs and to keeping them up-to-date regularly on their children's progress.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Monday, March 24, 2014
#sprig
One aspect of my classes I neglected in my earlier blog posts is our study trips. Essentially, each class gets to take a field trip to add some experience to the material they're learning. My first study trip was to the Montacute House in Somerset with my class on Tudor and Stuart England.
The Montacute House is an Elizabethan mansion and expansive garden. It sits on what was once monastic lands, which were bought by a local landowner when the monasteries were dissolved as part of the English Reformation. (See, I have been learning, I promise!)
At the start of our day, the little coach picked up the class, and we started our hour-and-a-half journey. When we pulled into the gravel lot at the Montacute House, we found our tutor John sitting on a bench. He waved as we parked and stood to greet us. He led us to the back of the house first, which is a bit deceiving considering the driveway that connects it to the road. He explained that the house has seen virtually no alterations since it was first built because its owners, the Philips family, soon fell out of favor at court and therefore could not afford it. While they may have considered that a negative aspect, it turned out to be a blessing for historians!
We walked around to the front of the house, which opens onto the main gardens. As was tradition, the path by which visitors would have come when the house was occupied was separated from the house itselve by a small fenced in garden. The front of the house features 9 statues, three each from biblical, classical and medieval traditions. We entered the house and immediately walked up the stairs to the long hall.
The long hall, or the top floor of the house, is currently home to selections from the National Portrait Gallery's Tudor and Stuart collection. There, we saw original portraits of Henry VII and his wives, as well as well-known figures from the Elizabethan and Jacobean ages. The Tudor features were particularly interesting as we have just finished studying that period in our class and are beginning the Stuart reign this coming week. Once we had wandered through the gallery, we descended to the second floor, where a library caught our attention. Colorful stained glass crests adorned the windows, a beautiful contrast to the dark book bindings. We also had a chance to wander through a few of the bedrooms.
Having spent sufficient time inside the house, we drifted out to the gardens, where we imagined the lives of the house's original residents and guests, transported back to the Elizabethan age. Once we completed our exploration of the gardens, we gathered in the cafe to eat our lunches, and ASE treated us to tea and cakes.
For the afternoon, John led us from the house through the town. We saw the remains of the gatehouse I referenced earlier, as well as the only other small building, which once housed the doves kept by the monks for eggs and meat. A small pond, which once held fish, also remained on the premises. We also got to peek into the local church, which still functions under the 39 Articles of Faith established by Queen Elizabeth I and in which the Philips family is entombed.
On the walk back through the town to our bus, we passed a sign advocating local events and sites of interest. It leaned on the typical "I (heart) _____", but instead of a heart the image was of a small branch, We debated the proper term for it as we passed through the parking lot and agreed on a "sprig" which should be used to describe things which are particularly close to our hearts, hence the title of this blog post.
Our ride back to Bath was uneventful, and we arrived at our residences in mid-afternoon. I took the time after to pack for Oxford, our next big adventure!
Cheers!
The Montacute House is an Elizabethan mansion and expansive garden. It sits on what was once monastic lands, which were bought by a local landowner when the monasteries were dissolved as part of the English Reformation. (See, I have been learning, I promise!)
At the start of our day, the little coach picked up the class, and we started our hour-and-a-half journey. When we pulled into the gravel lot at the Montacute House, we found our tutor John sitting on a bench. He waved as we parked and stood to greet us. He led us to the back of the house first, which is a bit deceiving considering the driveway that connects it to the road. He explained that the house has seen virtually no alterations since it was first built because its owners, the Philips family, soon fell out of favor at court and therefore could not afford it. While they may have considered that a negative aspect, it turned out to be a blessing for historians!
We walked around to the front of the house, which opens onto the main gardens. As was tradition, the path by which visitors would have come when the house was occupied was separated from the house itselve by a small fenced in garden. The front of the house features 9 statues, three each from biblical, classical and medieval traditions. We entered the house and immediately walked up the stairs to the long hall.
The long hall, or the top floor of the house, is currently home to selections from the National Portrait Gallery's Tudor and Stuart collection. There, we saw original portraits of Henry VII and his wives, as well as well-known figures from the Elizabethan and Jacobean ages. The Tudor features were particularly interesting as we have just finished studying that period in our class and are beginning the Stuart reign this coming week. Once we had wandered through the gallery, we descended to the second floor, where a library caught our attention. Colorful stained glass crests adorned the windows, a beautiful contrast to the dark book bindings. We also had a chance to wander through a few of the bedrooms.
Having spent sufficient time inside the house, we drifted out to the gardens, where we imagined the lives of the house's original residents and guests, transported back to the Elizabethan age. Once we completed our exploration of the gardens, we gathered in the cafe to eat our lunches, and ASE treated us to tea and cakes.
For the afternoon, John led us from the house through the town. We saw the remains of the gatehouse I referenced earlier, as well as the only other small building, which once housed the doves kept by the monks for eggs and meat. A small pond, which once held fish, also remained on the premises. We also got to peek into the local church, which still functions under the 39 Articles of Faith established by Queen Elizabeth I and in which the Philips family is entombed.
On the walk back through the town to our bus, we passed a sign advocating local events and sites of interest. It leaned on the typical "I (heart) _____", but instead of a heart the image was of a small branch, We debated the proper term for it as we passed through the parking lot and agreed on a "sprig" which should be used to describe things which are particularly close to our hearts, hence the title of this blog post.
Our ride back to Bath was uneventful, and we arrived at our residences in mid-afternoon. I took the time after to pack for Oxford, our next big adventure!
Cheers!
Friday, March 21, 2014
"How many waffles can you eat in a weekend in Brussels? Challenge accepted"
After the success of Scotland and Ireland, it was time for a different kind of challenge: language. Megan and I decided that in honor of my birthday, we were going to take a trip to Brussels, the land of waffles and chocolate.
We started our journey by hopping on a train from Bath to London Paddington first thing Friday morning. Once we arrived in London, we briskly walked across town to St. Pancras station (about 2.4 miles), where we had our passports checked for our ride to Brussels. We arrived in Belgium in the early afternoon, and we immediately set off toward the center of the city.
Anyone who has ever visited Brussels will probably tell you that you need to see the Grand Place, and when that was the first stop on our journey, we could tell why. We had opted to walk from the train station, and the roads leading up to the Grand Place weren't really anything special. All of a sudden, however, the streets emptied into a large courtyard. Ornate buildings lined the sides of what was once a central market square. Small streets around the edges led to restaurants, cafes, and shops. We wandered around until we found a cafe, where we grabbed lunch, and then we looked for a good waffle shop.
After we found our first waffles, we continued our quest for Belgium's other indulgence: chocolate. We found a little chocolate shop, and then we bought some chocolate ice cream before walking up to our hostel. We checked in and relaxed for a bit there, letting the day catch up with us. After a short while, we left the hostel in search of Greenwich Tavern, a traditional Belgian pub recommended by my brother's old roommate. Dinner was delicious, and I got to brush up on my French vocabulary, since the menu wasn't in English. This meant that I ordered for both myself and my roommate, which I was proud to have done successfully. Afterwards, we headed back to the Grand Place for dessert, which was of course going to be waffles again :)
We walked back up to the hostel, waffles in hand, and turned in for the night. The next morning, we decided to get an early start so that we could cram everything else we wanted to do in before our train back to London. When we left the hostel, the streets were completely deserted. The city was absolutely silent. It was incredible. We made our way back to the Grand Place, where we got breakfast - waffles, of course - at a little cafe.
After breakfast, we discovered a huge chocolate shop, where we purchased our souvenir chocolate, aka my birthday present to myself. I must say, I've never had a celebration quite as sweet. Our next stop was the Museum of Musical Instruments, which was definitely one of the coolest things I've ever been to. We got audio guides at the entrance, which activated when held over symbols in front of many of the display cases. However, instead of the typical history or descriptions of the instruments in the cases, the audio files were actual pieces of music played by the instruments in question. The museum's collection included an incredible array of instruments in beautiful condition. The featured exhibit explored the history of the saxophone.
After spending a bit of time at the museum, we continued on our route to see the last few big shops. We stopped at Place Royal and the Palais Royal (royal palace). Our last big stop was the Place du Petit Sablon, an adorable little park. We walked back to the Place Royal to grab one more waffle for the day.
After our last waffles, it was time to head back to the train station. We retraced our route through the Grand Place. We stopped for tea on the way back and then grabbed sandwiches at the station for a late lunch. We checked in for our train ride back to the UK and passed through border security. Our train to London went smoothly, and then we bolted across town to Paddington station so we would have time to grab dinner (a pair of bagels) before we hopped on the train to Bath Spa. Once we got back, we broke into our chocolate before we went to bed, ready for some well-earned rest after a successful birthday celebration :)
We started our journey by hopping on a train from Bath to London Paddington first thing Friday morning. Once we arrived in London, we briskly walked across town to St. Pancras station (about 2.4 miles), where we had our passports checked for our ride to Brussels. We arrived in Belgium in the early afternoon, and we immediately set off toward the center of the city.
Anyone who has ever visited Brussels will probably tell you that you need to see the Grand Place, and when that was the first stop on our journey, we could tell why. We had opted to walk from the train station, and the roads leading up to the Grand Place weren't really anything special. All of a sudden, however, the streets emptied into a large courtyard. Ornate buildings lined the sides of what was once a central market square. Small streets around the edges led to restaurants, cafes, and shops. We wandered around until we found a cafe, where we grabbed lunch, and then we looked for a good waffle shop.
Waffle 1: banana and chocolate
After we found our first waffles, we continued our quest for Belgium's other indulgence: chocolate. We found a little chocolate shop, and then we bought some chocolate ice cream before walking up to our hostel. We checked in and relaxed for a bit there, letting the day catch up with us. After a short while, we left the hostel in search of Greenwich Tavern, a traditional Belgian pub recommended by my brother's old roommate. Dinner was delicious, and I got to brush up on my French vocabulary, since the menu wasn't in English. This meant that I ordered for both myself and my roommate, which I was proud to have done successfully. Afterwards, we headed back to the Grand Place for dessert, which was of course going to be waffles again :)
Waffle 2: nutella
We walked back up to the hostel, waffles in hand, and turned in for the night. The next morning, we decided to get an early start so that we could cram everything else we wanted to do in before our train back to London. When we left the hostel, the streets were completely deserted. The city was absolutely silent. It was incredible. We made our way back to the Grand Place, where we got breakfast - waffles, of course - at a little cafe.
Waffle 3: banana and whipped cream
After breakfast, we discovered a huge chocolate shop, where we purchased our souvenir chocolate, aka my birthday present to myself. I must say, I've never had a celebration quite as sweet. Our next stop was the Museum of Musical Instruments, which was definitely one of the coolest things I've ever been to. We got audio guides at the entrance, which activated when held over symbols in front of many of the display cases. However, instead of the typical history or descriptions of the instruments in the cases, the audio files were actual pieces of music played by the instruments in question. The museum's collection included an incredible array of instruments in beautiful condition. The featured exhibit explored the history of the saxophone.
After spending a bit of time at the museum, we continued on our route to see the last few big shops. We stopped at Place Royal and the Palais Royal (royal palace). Our last big stop was the Place du Petit Sablon, an adorable little park. We walked back to the Place Royal to grab one more waffle for the day.
Waffle 4: whipped cream
Friday, March 14, 2014
What Are All The Miles For?
On my recent trip to Scotland and Ireland, I sat with a small notebook and a pen in my hand, updating my list of all the places we had walked during the day. One of the girls I traveled with asked me what I was doing, and I explained that I wanted to have the list so I could track how many miles we had walked during the weekend. The girls all realized that I was referring to my posts in "Run for the White House for Childhood Cancer Awareness 2014," which popped up on their newsfeeds but had never come up in conversation. It was then that I first encountered the now-familiar question: "what are all the miles for?" I discovered that many of my friends were asking the same question, so here's my response, along with my answers to a few other Frequently Asked Questions.
What are all the miles for?
"Run for the White House for Childhood Cancer Awareness 2014" is an awareness campaign started by Brian Jones, whose son Lincoln was diagnosed with cancer in 2011 and has since become one of the loudest advocates for childhood cancer in the country. In January 2013, he and friends began to track the miles they ran, covering the distance from Brian's hometown to the White House. Word spread, and the event grew to include runners, walkers, cyclers, and more from every state as well as international partners.
As the event grew, teams formed to recognize different children. Team Smashing Walnuts runs for Gabriella Miller, an incredible advocate who lost her battle with DIPG - an inoperable brain cancer - at the age of 10. Brian's son Lincoln is the inspiration for members of Running For Lincoln. Many of the teams are running toward specific goals, while others are just uniting in support. Those of us who aren't on a specific team - like me - run for Team Follow Me or just for Our Kids, which means that our miles count toward the total but not to any specific child's team. The team name "follow me" comes from the phrase at the center of the campaign - follow me to the White House!
The event has also expanded beyond running. Participants can credit hours of zumba or yoga, lifting weights, stationary bikes, and more. My contributions are the miles I walk on campus or, more recently, the distances I walk while I'm traveling. I post 1.6 miles every Tuesday, which is the distance I walk to my school placement and back to the flat.
Last year, Brian and other runners gathered at the White House during Cure Fest, presented by TheTruth365. That day, they literally ran to the White House, cheered on by the hundreds of attendees. After taking a short break in the fall, Brian restarted the event for 2014. The goal this year is to run 1 million miles, and it's on track. In mid-February, the campaign reached 100,000 miles toward the goal, and it continues to grow every day.
How did you get involved?
The first time I encountered childhood cancer, I was in the second grade. Early in the year, the nurse came into our classroom to talk about our classmate Eeva Crannell. We learned that she had been diagnosed with cancer a few years earlier, and that she had missed Kindergarten because of her treatments. I later learned that Eeva's diagnosis had been Leukemia, a blood cancer, and that a bone marrow donation had saved her life. By the time I met her in second grade, however, Eeva was in remission.
All through school, Eeva was there. We shared a few mutual friends (Maddie comes to mind), but we were never close. As was the case with many of my classmates, Eeva was someone I rarely saw after I was put on the advanced track. In eighth grade, we took a class field trip to Lake Compounce, a local amusement park. When we stepped off the buses, everyone looked around for their friends, since the bus assignments had been alphabetical. I found mine, but before we left, we noticed Eeva standing alone, still looking around. The students she usually hung out with had all opted not to come on the trip, so we invited her to join us. She became part of our group for the day. A few weeks later, Eeva's mom ran into Maddie's mom and expressed how glad she was that we had invited Eeva to join us, and what a difference it had made. What had felt like a run-of-the-mill decision had turned out to be the highlight of her day.
High school was tough on Eeva. It's not easy for anyone, but for some people it's worse than for others. Eeva's past had never been a secret, but in high school, it became a weapon. At one point in the fall of our freshman year, Eeva was bullied off her school bus because she had had cancer. She stopped taking the bus after that, opting instead to be driven to and from school. I learned about this during a peer mentoring retreat in March of my sophomore year, from a fellow mentor who had sat silently on the bus as it occurred and wished he could go back and change that.
By the time I heard this story, Eeva had already relapsed and had been in treatment for a few months. She passed away on May 12, 2009, when she was just 16.
In the months that followed Eeva's death, I started to look for answers. I was frustrated and confused, and I needed answers. The facts I have learned are startling. 1 in 5 children diagnosed with cancer pass away within 5 years. After those 5 years, the death rate continues to increase, and the ones who live aren't in the clear. The treatments children receive can cause secondary cancers or heart failure. Children are plagued by hearing loss, poor vision, and depression and survivor's guilt. Some bear the physical signs of their treatments. The worst part, perhaps, is that these kids don't get the support they deserve. 4% of the government's budget for cancer research is dedicated to all 12 subtypes of childhood cancer combined. The American Cancer Society donates less than 1% of its funds to childhood cancer research. Pharmaceutical companies don't bother with childhood cancer research at all. Research is driven by private donations, mostly coming from childhood cancer foundations.
Luckily, there is an effort in the childhood cancer community to change that. When I started looking for answers, I began to follow the stories of many children on Facebook. One of these led me to TheTruth365, a documentary campaign dedicated to uniting the community, increasing awareness, and advocating for more research funding as well as less toxic treatment options for kids. Since last May, I have been coordinating the secondary social media for the campaign, which is how I learned about "Run for the White House." I also learned about the campaign I'll be working on this summer.
What's the campaign you're working on this summer?
Dancers vs. Cancer is a fundraising campaign sponsored by the Arms Wide Open Childhood Cancer Foundation (the parent organization that sponsors TheTruth365) and the Brad Kaminsky Foundation.
I first got involved with the campaign this fall as they prepared for the inaugural iDance4aCURE marathons, which were held simultaneously at 7 different studios on the East Coast. Collectively, the studios raised $75,000 of which 85% went directly to researchers searching for less toxic treatments. Following the marathons, I knew I wanted to get more involved with the campaign. After all, this was my forte. I have been a dancer since I was young, and I already had experience as an organizer as well as a member of the childhood cancer community. I sent an email to Lisa Kaminsky Miller, who runs the campaign, and included a link to the dance I had choreographed in the fall, which was inspired by Talia Castellano and Erin Griffin, two more loud advocates. (For those of you who haven't seen the piece, you can view it by clicking HERE) Talia passed away in July 2013 when she was 13 after a 6-year battle with Neuroblastoma. Erin, also 13, has been battling DIPG for just over 2 years.
After she received my message, Lisa and I emailed back and forth for a few weeks, and I am proud to say that I will be volunteering full time with the campaign this summer. I've started part of what I'll be doing, which is developing a comprehensive database of dance studios in the United States. I send my progress on the database back to Lisa, who works with other volunteers to contact the studios. Aside from the database, I'll be working as an event liaison this summer for studios that decide to host fundraisers during June and July. My tasks will range from ensuring they receive shipments of shirts and materials to preparing flyers and press releases. When I'm not working on either of those aspects, I'll be drafting a plan to expand the program to college and professional dancers and the organizations with which they associate. This will mostly require adjusting the plan that has already been developed for studios to fit the needs and abilities of older dancers. My final goal is to connect the campaign in some way to the major dance publications. Ideally, the hope is to have the campaign featured during September, which is Childhood Cancer Awareness month.
So, what are all the miles for?
They're for Eeva, who should have graduated high school with the rest of us. They're for Talia and Gabriella, whose incredible advocacy still ripples through the community after their deaths last year. They're for Lincoln and Erin, who are still in the thick of the fight. They're for the 36 children whose families will hear the words "your child has cancer" today. They're for the 7 children who will earn their wings today. They're for all the kids who have lost their battles, all the ones who have emerged victorious, and all the ones who are still fighting for their lives and their futures.
They're for you to ask exactly that question.
What are all the miles for?
"Run for the White House for Childhood Cancer Awareness 2014" is an awareness campaign started by Brian Jones, whose son Lincoln was diagnosed with cancer in 2011 and has since become one of the loudest advocates for childhood cancer in the country. In January 2013, he and friends began to track the miles they ran, covering the distance from Brian's hometown to the White House. Word spread, and the event grew to include runners, walkers, cyclers, and more from every state as well as international partners.
As the event grew, teams formed to recognize different children. Team Smashing Walnuts runs for Gabriella Miller, an incredible advocate who lost her battle with DIPG - an inoperable brain cancer - at the age of 10. Brian's son Lincoln is the inspiration for members of Running For Lincoln. Many of the teams are running toward specific goals, while others are just uniting in support. Those of us who aren't on a specific team - like me - run for Team Follow Me or just for Our Kids, which means that our miles count toward the total but not to any specific child's team. The team name "follow me" comes from the phrase at the center of the campaign - follow me to the White House!
The event has also expanded beyond running. Participants can credit hours of zumba or yoga, lifting weights, stationary bikes, and more. My contributions are the miles I walk on campus or, more recently, the distances I walk while I'm traveling. I post 1.6 miles every Tuesday, which is the distance I walk to my school placement and back to the flat.
Last year, Brian and other runners gathered at the White House during Cure Fest, presented by TheTruth365. That day, they literally ran to the White House, cheered on by the hundreds of attendees. After taking a short break in the fall, Brian restarted the event for 2014. The goal this year is to run 1 million miles, and it's on track. In mid-February, the campaign reached 100,000 miles toward the goal, and it continues to grow every day.
How did you get involved?
The first time I encountered childhood cancer, I was in the second grade. Early in the year, the nurse came into our classroom to talk about our classmate Eeva Crannell. We learned that she had been diagnosed with cancer a few years earlier, and that she had missed Kindergarten because of her treatments. I later learned that Eeva's diagnosis had been Leukemia, a blood cancer, and that a bone marrow donation had saved her life. By the time I met her in second grade, however, Eeva was in remission.
All through school, Eeva was there. We shared a few mutual friends (Maddie comes to mind), but we were never close. As was the case with many of my classmates, Eeva was someone I rarely saw after I was put on the advanced track. In eighth grade, we took a class field trip to Lake Compounce, a local amusement park. When we stepped off the buses, everyone looked around for their friends, since the bus assignments had been alphabetical. I found mine, but before we left, we noticed Eeva standing alone, still looking around. The students she usually hung out with had all opted not to come on the trip, so we invited her to join us. She became part of our group for the day. A few weeks later, Eeva's mom ran into Maddie's mom and expressed how glad she was that we had invited Eeva to join us, and what a difference it had made. What had felt like a run-of-the-mill decision had turned out to be the highlight of her day.
High school was tough on Eeva. It's not easy for anyone, but for some people it's worse than for others. Eeva's past had never been a secret, but in high school, it became a weapon. At one point in the fall of our freshman year, Eeva was bullied off her school bus because she had had cancer. She stopped taking the bus after that, opting instead to be driven to and from school. I learned about this during a peer mentoring retreat in March of my sophomore year, from a fellow mentor who had sat silently on the bus as it occurred and wished he could go back and change that.
By the time I heard this story, Eeva had already relapsed and had been in treatment for a few months. She passed away on May 12, 2009, when she was just 16.
In the months that followed Eeva's death, I started to look for answers. I was frustrated and confused, and I needed answers. The facts I have learned are startling. 1 in 5 children diagnosed with cancer pass away within 5 years. After those 5 years, the death rate continues to increase, and the ones who live aren't in the clear. The treatments children receive can cause secondary cancers or heart failure. Children are plagued by hearing loss, poor vision, and depression and survivor's guilt. Some bear the physical signs of their treatments. The worst part, perhaps, is that these kids don't get the support they deserve. 4% of the government's budget for cancer research is dedicated to all 12 subtypes of childhood cancer combined. The American Cancer Society donates less than 1% of its funds to childhood cancer research. Pharmaceutical companies don't bother with childhood cancer research at all. Research is driven by private donations, mostly coming from childhood cancer foundations.
Luckily, there is an effort in the childhood cancer community to change that. When I started looking for answers, I began to follow the stories of many children on Facebook. One of these led me to TheTruth365, a documentary campaign dedicated to uniting the community, increasing awareness, and advocating for more research funding as well as less toxic treatment options for kids. Since last May, I have been coordinating the secondary social media for the campaign, which is how I learned about "Run for the White House." I also learned about the campaign I'll be working on this summer.
What's the campaign you're working on this summer?
Dancers vs. Cancer is a fundraising campaign sponsored by the Arms Wide Open Childhood Cancer Foundation (the parent organization that sponsors TheTruth365) and the Brad Kaminsky Foundation.
I first got involved with the campaign this fall as they prepared for the inaugural iDance4aCURE marathons, which were held simultaneously at 7 different studios on the East Coast. Collectively, the studios raised $75,000 of which 85% went directly to researchers searching for less toxic treatments. Following the marathons, I knew I wanted to get more involved with the campaign. After all, this was my forte. I have been a dancer since I was young, and I already had experience as an organizer as well as a member of the childhood cancer community. I sent an email to Lisa Kaminsky Miller, who runs the campaign, and included a link to the dance I had choreographed in the fall, which was inspired by Talia Castellano and Erin Griffin, two more loud advocates. (For those of you who haven't seen the piece, you can view it by clicking HERE) Talia passed away in July 2013 when she was 13 after a 6-year battle with Neuroblastoma. Erin, also 13, has been battling DIPG for just over 2 years.
After she received my message, Lisa and I emailed back and forth for a few weeks, and I am proud to say that I will be volunteering full time with the campaign this summer. I've started part of what I'll be doing, which is developing a comprehensive database of dance studios in the United States. I send my progress on the database back to Lisa, who works with other volunteers to contact the studios. Aside from the database, I'll be working as an event liaison this summer for studios that decide to host fundraisers during June and July. My tasks will range from ensuring they receive shipments of shirts and materials to preparing flyers and press releases. When I'm not working on either of those aspects, I'll be drafting a plan to expand the program to college and professional dancers and the organizations with which they associate. This will mostly require adjusting the plan that has already been developed for studios to fit the needs and abilities of older dancers. My final goal is to connect the campaign in some way to the major dance publications. Ideally, the hope is to have the campaign featured during September, which is Childhood Cancer Awareness month.
So, what are all the miles for?
They're for Eeva, who should have graduated high school with the rest of us. They're for Talia and Gabriella, whose incredible advocacy still ripples through the community after their deaths last year. They're for Lincoln and Erin, who are still in the thick of the fight. They're for the 36 children whose families will hear the words "your child has cancer" today. They're for the 7 children who will earn their wings today. They're for all the kids who have lost their battles, all the ones who have emerged victorious, and all the ones who are still fighting for their lives and their futures.
They're for you to ask exactly that question.
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Dalkey and back to Bath
After two straight days in cities, we were definitely ready for someplace a little quieter. After grabbing a quick breakfast at the hostel, we packed our things and checked out. About half the group rented a locker to store bigger luggage while we were away from the morning. We walked across the river to the train station, where we purchased tickets to Dalkey, a small town about 30 minutes outside the city. As soon as we stepped off the train, we started to walk towards the coast. However, because we didn't have a map, our only indication of the coast's location was the general direction we could determine from our train ride.
We set off, keeping to one path so that we would have fewer roads to remember. As we came around a bend, we saw the sea out on the horizon. We continued on our journey, finally reaching the town's small marina, where we stopped to take pictures and explore. Our fun was short-lived as it began to rain, so we gathered our bags and started to make our way back to the center of town, where we had walked past a number of cafes and restaurants. We checked the prices on a few displayed menus before deciding on a small american diner, where we grabbed a quick bite before it was time to head back to Dublin.
As soon as we returned to Dublin, we split into two groups to grab remaining luggage and the last few souvenirs. We met back up at the bus stop just in time to watch it pull in, and soon we were off to the airport for our third flight of the weekend!
We passed through security quickly and said goodbye to Cae, who would be going back to her program London while the rest of us returned to Bath via Bristol. However, just as we dropped her off, we ran into Chelsea, who had spent the weekend in Ireland visiting her older brother. As it turned out, she would be taking the same flight as us, so she joined us in waiting to board the plane.
When we landed in Bristol, we grabbed something to drink at the airport cafe while we waited for the bus that would bring us back to Bath. Unfortunately, the sign was a bit confusing, so we thought we had missed the 5:00 bus, but it was actually a 5:30 bus. When we went outside just before 6, we learned that the next bus would leave at 6:30. Already tired, we were certainly not happy. Luckily, when we finally got on the bus, our journey took just under an hour, and by 7:30, we were safely back in Bath!
We set off, keeping to one path so that we would have fewer roads to remember. As we came around a bend, we saw the sea out on the horizon. We continued on our journey, finally reaching the town's small marina, where we stopped to take pictures and explore. Our fun was short-lived as it began to rain, so we gathered our bags and started to make our way back to the center of town, where we had walked past a number of cafes and restaurants. We checked the prices on a few displayed menus before deciding on a small american diner, where we grabbed a quick bite before it was time to head back to Dublin.
As soon as we returned to Dublin, we split into two groups to grab remaining luggage and the last few souvenirs. We met back up at the bus stop just in time to watch it pull in, and soon we were off to the airport for our third flight of the weekend!
We passed through security quickly and said goodbye to Cae, who would be going back to her program London while the rest of us returned to Bath via Bristol. However, just as we dropped her off, we ran into Chelsea, who had spent the weekend in Ireland visiting her older brother. As it turned out, she would be taking the same flight as us, so she joined us in waiting to board the plane.
When we landed in Bristol, we grabbed something to drink at the airport cafe while we waited for the bus that would bring us back to Bath. Unfortunately, the sign was a bit confusing, so we thought we had missed the 5:00 bus, but it was actually a 5:30 bus. When we went outside just before 6, we learned that the next bus would leave at 6:30. Already tired, we were certainly not happy. Luckily, when we finally got on the bus, our journey took just under an hour, and by 7:30, we were safely back in Bath!
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
St. Andrew's Visit 4: Equal Opportunities
Focus: Equal Opportunities
This Tuesday was Year 4's assembly day, which changed the whole day around. Instead of their usual academic work, the class spent their time preparing their assembly, the point of which is to present what they had been working on to the rest of the school. In Year 4's case, that meant presenting their work surrounding the Take One Picture.
One of the most interesting parts of the process was seeing the extent to which the Picture had been integrated into their other subject learning. In literacy, they read about knights and castles. History featured the evolution of weapons. Microwriting (three sentences based on a picture) images featured the same material. Even PE had become part of the process, where they had been working on play swordfighting all week.
I gathered 9 students who had decided that this was something they wanted to present, and together we transformed their PE into a creative movement-style dance. I let them take the lead as they moved through a battle in slow motion, separating into two "armies" and deciding who would win. A, one of the smallest boys in the class, decided that since his team was going to be the "losing" side, he wanted to be the one who died. His swordfighting partner RJ happily agreed to stand above him with her sword held high in victory. This served as the jumping off point for the other students to create their ending pose, which included two boys still locked in battle. As they rehearsed, I talked about different ways they could incorporate levels as well as guiding them through the musical cues for the ending pose.
In the middle of the morning, a photographer arrived to take a school photograph for the local paper. The paper plans to run a story on the school's latest Ofsted report, which moved them from "satisfactory" to "good" in all categories and has been a source of school pride in recent weeks. This improvement becomes more remarkable when considering the backgrounds from which these students come. The percentage of students at the school who have Special Education Needs, who receive Free Lunch provisions, or who are English Language Learners is higher than the national average, and the school has committed to increasing the one-to-one attention each of these students receives. The Free Lunch provisions have been one of the most interesting policies for me to learn about. Instead of the US system in which a child from a poor home life or disadvantaged background receives a free meal at school, schools in the UK receive additional funding for these students in order to provide resources that the student may need in order to succeed. Although this policy, based on the idea that a child with a less-than-ideal home life requires additional support in order to thrive at school, seems intuitive, it doesn't exist in the US and seeing it here makes me wish that it would.
Aside from the PSHE lesson I observed on my first day on discrimination, the subject hasn't been discussed in the classroom. Nor, I've discovered, has it needed to. Perhaps because it is both small and diverse, St. Andrews has thus far been void of any discrimination or even bullying aside from the typical drama of pre-pubescent boys and girls.
In the few cases of bullying I have witnessed, the nearest teacher has stepped in and proposed a solution that focused on identifying the emotions felt on both sides of the disagreement. All the staff members emphasize the respect that the students should have for each other, their teachers and faculty members, and the school. For example, when a few of the boys in the class decided to hold a side conversation while one of the girls rehearsed her piece of the assembly in front of the class, Mr. Barry pointed out that they were being disrespectful to himself, the student presenting, and the rest of the class. Suitably chastised, they apologized both to Mr. Barry and the student presenting.
At the end of the day, Year 4's assembly went off without a hitch. They presented beautifully, proudly displaying all their hard work to the rest of the school community. Mr. Barry and I watched delightedly from the sidelines, and he was quick to express his praise when they returned to the classroom at the end of the day. We reviewed the day briefly after the students had been dismissed, collecting the peaks and troughs of behavior and noting that R, the student who has autism, had done remarkably well considering that his normal routine had been disrupted.
This Tuesday was Year 4's assembly day, which changed the whole day around. Instead of their usual academic work, the class spent their time preparing their assembly, the point of which is to present what they had been working on to the rest of the school. In Year 4's case, that meant presenting their work surrounding the Take One Picture.
One of the most interesting parts of the process was seeing the extent to which the Picture had been integrated into their other subject learning. In literacy, they read about knights and castles. History featured the evolution of weapons. Microwriting (three sentences based on a picture) images featured the same material. Even PE had become part of the process, where they had been working on play swordfighting all week.
I gathered 9 students who had decided that this was something they wanted to present, and together we transformed their PE into a creative movement-style dance. I let them take the lead as they moved through a battle in slow motion, separating into two "armies" and deciding who would win. A, one of the smallest boys in the class, decided that since his team was going to be the "losing" side, he wanted to be the one who died. His swordfighting partner RJ happily agreed to stand above him with her sword held high in victory. This served as the jumping off point for the other students to create their ending pose, which included two boys still locked in battle. As they rehearsed, I talked about different ways they could incorporate levels as well as guiding them through the musical cues for the ending pose.
In the middle of the morning, a photographer arrived to take a school photograph for the local paper. The paper plans to run a story on the school's latest Ofsted report, which moved them from "satisfactory" to "good" in all categories and has been a source of school pride in recent weeks. This improvement becomes more remarkable when considering the backgrounds from which these students come. The percentage of students at the school who have Special Education Needs, who receive Free Lunch provisions, or who are English Language Learners is higher than the national average, and the school has committed to increasing the one-to-one attention each of these students receives. The Free Lunch provisions have been one of the most interesting policies for me to learn about. Instead of the US system in which a child from a poor home life or disadvantaged background receives a free meal at school, schools in the UK receive additional funding for these students in order to provide resources that the student may need in order to succeed. Although this policy, based on the idea that a child with a less-than-ideal home life requires additional support in order to thrive at school, seems intuitive, it doesn't exist in the US and seeing it here makes me wish that it would.
Aside from the PSHE lesson I observed on my first day on discrimination, the subject hasn't been discussed in the classroom. Nor, I've discovered, has it needed to. Perhaps because it is both small and diverse, St. Andrews has thus far been void of any discrimination or even bullying aside from the typical drama of pre-pubescent boys and girls.
In the few cases of bullying I have witnessed, the nearest teacher has stepped in and proposed a solution that focused on identifying the emotions felt on both sides of the disagreement. All the staff members emphasize the respect that the students should have for each other, their teachers and faculty members, and the school. For example, when a few of the boys in the class decided to hold a side conversation while one of the girls rehearsed her piece of the assembly in front of the class, Mr. Barry pointed out that they were being disrespectful to himself, the student presenting, and the rest of the class. Suitably chastised, they apologized both to Mr. Barry and the student presenting.
At the end of the day, Year 4's assembly went off without a hitch. They presented beautifully, proudly displaying all their hard work to the rest of the school community. Mr. Barry and I watched delightedly from the sidelines, and he was quick to express his praise when they returned to the classroom at the end of the day. We reviewed the day briefly after the students had been dismissed, collecting the peaks and troughs of behavior and noting that R, the student who has autism, had done remarkably well considering that his normal routine had been disrupted.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Dublin
On Saturday morning, we were glad to have turned in early when our alarms went off starting at 5. We quickly rolled out of our beds, dressed, and packed our things. Within 30 minutes, all seven of us jogged down the stairs to drop off our keys and walked back to the bus stop where we had been dropped off. We had to wait just a few minutes for our bus to pull up and take us to the airport, where we arrived at 6.
The airport, which had bustled on our arrival two days prior, was quiet at this early hour. We breezed through our passport checks and walked quickly through security. As we waited, we picked up breakfast at a cafe and sat patiently, watching the departure for the gate number of our 8 AM flight. Just after 7, we watched it pop up on the board. We said goodbye to Katie, whose flight back to Bath would leave a few minutes later, and walked down to our gate.
Our flight was smooth, and it wasn't long before we had landed in Dublin, where my passport was stamped for the first time since my arrival in the UK. We picked up bus tickets so that we could get to Isaac's hostel, which we found with almost no difficulty (the smartphone certainly helped). We weren't able to check in yet, but the hostel allowed us to drop our bags if we so desired.
To kill some time, we decided to get a jump start on our site-seeing and made our way to Trinity College. The beautiful old buildings starkly contrasted the modern city around, as if time on the campus had stopped while the city went on. We walked around for a bit until we decided it was time for lunch, at which point we began to walk down Grafton Street. Street performers lined the road on both sides, entertaining us until we discovered a small cafe at which we ate.
After lunch, we continued our journey down the street. We stopped into a small jewelry shop so that Cae, Hadley, and Megan could buy clada rings before we walked into the beautiful park at the end of the block: Saint Stephen's Garden. A small lake featured in the center, surrounded by statues hidden among the vegetation. We wandered around for a bit, taking a bit of a break from the bustling city we had entered, before we walked back to Isaac's hostel along the same route we had come.
Back at the hostel, we collected our keys and found our 6-bed room. We were glad to not need to share the space for the night, glad that we could lock our belongings away without risking theft. We took a short break, resting after our early travels, before we walked back out, this time with a further destination in mind: the Guinness Storehouses.
Even though I don't drink, walking through the storehouses was pretty cool. We explored the history of the company and watched its process. Their exhibit on advertising featured some of their greatest commercials from various decades, and the bar on the top floor was surrounded by a 360-degree view of the city. After we stopped in the gift shop, we walked back toward the center of the city for dinner at the Porterhouse, which had been recommended to us by a friend of Allison. Dinner felt very Irish, especially as a live band played, so I ordered an Irish stew, which turned out to be a wonderful decision. After dinner, we spent a little time wandering around and weaving through the Temple Bar area on the long route back to the hostel. Once we arrived, we began to plan for the last stage of our adventure: a morning in Dalkey.
The airport, which had bustled on our arrival two days prior, was quiet at this early hour. We breezed through our passport checks and walked quickly through security. As we waited, we picked up breakfast at a cafe and sat patiently, watching the departure for the gate number of our 8 AM flight. Just after 7, we watched it pop up on the board. We said goodbye to Katie, whose flight back to Bath would leave a few minutes later, and walked down to our gate.
Our flight was smooth, and it wasn't long before we had landed in Dublin, where my passport was stamped for the first time since my arrival in the UK. We picked up bus tickets so that we could get to Isaac's hostel, which we found with almost no difficulty (the smartphone certainly helped). We weren't able to check in yet, but the hostel allowed us to drop our bags if we so desired.
To kill some time, we decided to get a jump start on our site-seeing and made our way to Trinity College. The beautiful old buildings starkly contrasted the modern city around, as if time on the campus had stopped while the city went on. We walked around for a bit until we decided it was time for lunch, at which point we began to walk down Grafton Street. Street performers lined the road on both sides, entertaining us until we discovered a small cafe at which we ate.
After lunch, we continued our journey down the street. We stopped into a small jewelry shop so that Cae, Hadley, and Megan could buy clada rings before we walked into the beautiful park at the end of the block: Saint Stephen's Garden. A small lake featured in the center, surrounded by statues hidden among the vegetation. We wandered around for a bit, taking a bit of a break from the bustling city we had entered, before we walked back to Isaac's hostel along the same route we had come.
Back at the hostel, we collected our keys and found our 6-bed room. We were glad to not need to share the space for the night, glad that we could lock our belongings away without risking theft. We took a short break, resting after our early travels, before we walked back out, this time with a further destination in mind: the Guinness Storehouses.
Even though I don't drink, walking through the storehouses was pretty cool. We explored the history of the company and watched its process. Their exhibit on advertising featured some of their greatest commercials from various decades, and the bar on the top floor was surrounded by a 360-degree view of the city. After we stopped in the gift shop, we walked back toward the center of the city for dinner at the Porterhouse, which had been recommended to us by a friend of Allison. Dinner felt very Irish, especially as a live band played, so I ordered an Irish stew, which turned out to be a wonderful decision. After dinner, we spent a little time wandering around and weaving through the Temple Bar area on the long route back to the hostel. Once we arrived, we began to plan for the last stage of our adventure: a morning in Dalkey.
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