Local Knights of Columbus councils donate funds to Clare-Gladwin RESD special education programs

The Knights of Columbus councils in Clare, Gladwin, and Harrison recently made donations totaling more than $2,900 to the Clare-Gladwin RESD’s special education programs, including the Clare-Gladwin Area School and the Early Childhood Special Education classes. According to Clare-Gladwin RESD Assistant Superintendent for Special Education Jan Weckstein, “We are so very appreciative for the generosity of the Knights of Columbus. These funds will be used to benefit student activities and opportunities that the children may not otherwise be able to participate in."

Local preschool students participate in Storytime

Two Harrison preschool classrooms recently joined together for Storytime, a monthly program provided by the Harrison Public Library. Children from Becky Nobis’ Early Childhood Special Education class of Clare-Gladwin RESD spent the afternoon with Cindy Scare’s Great Start Readiness Preschool class of Harrison Community Schools.

“Storytime is a great opportunity to bring the community into the schools, as well as to stress the importance of literacy and how it can be so much fun,” said Scare. “Storytime is a wonderful asset to our early childhood program and we absolutely love it!”

According to Nobis, another benefit of the shared afternoon was that it allowed her students with special needs to experience quality inclusion time with their peers. “It is important for the children in special education to have good role models during play, and in speech, sitting, and attending,” she said. “This is also positive for the children enrolled in the regular preschool because they learn that we are all unique and it helps to build compassion and understanding of others.”