Back to School Support – Pioneers Division Celebrates CEC’s 100th Birthday in July
2022 marks 100 years since a small group of “kindred spirits” joined together to form the Council for Exceptional Children. The CEC-Pioneers Division Board has developed a calendar of monthly activities to continue the “CEC Birthday Bash” which began in January 2022 at the convention in Orlando. To celebrate CEC’s100th anniversary, during the month of July, the Pioneers Division encourages each member to consider how they can support local back to school efforts.
Back to School Efforts in Your Community
As schools get ready to open each year, communities conduct many different events to assist students in being ready to start school with needed supplies. These may include “fill the backpack” with school supplies as well as commercial stores conducting special reductions and shopping days for schools and parents. There are also needs for classrooms and schools as well as teacher supplies. Additionally, backpack programs are also used to fill gaps in meals during the summer or in some communities over the weekends.
Pioneer Division Members are encouraged to provide assistance in getting everyone “start ready” for school by any of the actions listed below or one that meets a special need for your community.
Suggested Back to School Support Activities
- Locate any school supply drives or “fill the backpack” programs in your community and determine how you can best participate in these.
- Identify a school in your neighborhood (perhaps one where you worked or where your children or grandchildren attend) and contact the principal or counselor or parent organization to see if there are specific needs for supplies or materials, and then determine how you might assist in developing a program to collect the needed items; join into an existing way of providing for the identified need; or simply set up a way to drop off items on a one time or continuing basis.
- Adopt a classroom and work with the teacher as needs arise during the school year enlisting your colleagues, friends, and neighbors to assist as required.
- Work with a local CEC chapter to provide teacher appreciation with a care page of items such as post it notes, colored file folders, or other items including of course some chocolate. Also, think of ways to express community support for teachers for all that they did during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Explore having a school supply closet that can be accessed by students as they need supplies even paper and pencils. (Some materials are easily accessible through district sources and may be provided and some are dependent on parents purchasing. If there is a way to set up a “store” where all students can get supplies this makes it accessible to all and becomes part of the school routine so no one has to feel unprepared due to lack of basics.)
- Obtain the “teachers list of needed supplies” and complete this for one or more students who need extra assistance due to financial considerations.
- Some retail stores within a community may have lists of supplies by schools and have a way to have the materials purchased and designated for delivery. If these lists are available in your area, they are an easy way to assist with a one stop shop.
- Provide new or gently used books for the school library if there is a need here or for individual students to take home to enjoy and practice reading.
Share Your Stories!
Send information about the fact that you participated in this Pioneer’s Back to School activity by sending a message to the cecpioneers@gmail.com. Your note can be something as simple as I purchased school supplies for a student, or a longer description of your volunteer work or the success of the community project that you were a part of.
We look forward to sharing these stories in future newsletters!