Hi D5 Teachers in Special Education classes:

 

My name is Sandra Deming and I recently retired from 25 years of teaching students with Special Needs and I am so blessed from this extraordinary and fulfilling career.  The last 3 years of teaching were at Dutch Fork Middle School in an ID Self-Contained classroom. 

 

My desire was to expand my classroom learning so my students could be involved in as many functional life long learning experiences as possible both in and out of the classroom.  As always in the schools where I worked during my career, I knew there were very limited funds, and that was always a stressful factor as a teacher wanting to do more for her students.  BUT I was informed about the Carolina Exceptional Student Alliance (CESA) my first year at DFMS and I found an easy and efficient way to accomplish even more than I expected for my students!  When I learned about CESA, I got on board and involved Dutch Fork Middle School staff and students in the annual 5K event, so our school could receive money from the proceeds. Our school received a sizable amount each year depending on the overall race participation.  Using the funds issued for our classroom was easy and when I made a request, all those involved expedited the process each time.

 

Here are some of the many expenses CESA funded.  Transportation was the overall #1 need that CESA funded as it was the most expensive and necessary component to all field trips. 

* no charge to students for any of the off campus trips to help pay for bus drivers and gas: such as all Special Olympics events in the Fall and Spring and seasonal events (Nutcracker Ballet, State Fair);

* favorite leisure reading books and magazines for our classroom, assorted interactive table games, puzzles, and board games for classroom social skills training;

* matching school shirts for all off-campus events;

* 4 basketballs and colored practice mesh jerseys, 10 coed uniforms for state Special Olympics Basketball games; 

* assorted hands-on consumables for classroom lessons/activities throughout the year;

* t-shirts for a school-wide club membership and hands-on gardening items.

 

When I needed to purchase something for the students and/or classroom that enhanced their functional life skills, CESA funded those items with no questions asked. There were many opportunities and experiences afforded to my students because of the Carolina Exceptional Student Alliance and for that I am grateful.  As a teacher I am so appreciative for the help in exposing the students to additional learning activities and it all came from being involved with CESA.  

 

Please consider getting involved in CESA, as it truly is a great support for a D5 Self-Contained Teacher who teaches students with physical and intellectual disabilities.