Where in the World is KIT?

Trip to North Carolina

2009-07-13T15:58:00.001-07:00

I recently returned from a great trip to North Carolina. I had the pleasure of visiting several branches of the YMCA of the Triangle. The YMCA of the Triangle located in Raleigh North Carolina is one of KIT’s national affiliates. My guides through the YMCA of the Triangle were Yo and Marco two of North Carolina’s finest gentlemen; they are both associate executive directors for YMCA branches. My guides showed me the in’s and out’s of YMCA facilities and programming, highlighting summer camps and after school programs all of which are inclusive. Along the way on our two day tour I was able to meet the real stars of inclusion the young vibrant staff that stand out in my mind as the frontline heroes of our philosophy. The tireless job (and it is because I’ve done it) of being with kids 8 hours a day educating and entertaining and maintaining an inclusive environment is made to seem effortless by these frontline heroes. I really enjoyed thinking back to my summer camp days and the great stories I had about the wonderful people I worked with and those I supported.

Inclusion is such a passion for me and when I see the champion in others to promote it, I get all fired up!

A very special Thank You to my hosts, and true gentlemen, Yo and Marco. Thanks for the tour, the food, and especially the air-conditioning.

Also cheers to my buddies Janet and Anna for hanging with me during my stay always good to travel and see friends.

Nili

Janet George Shares Her 5 Questions for Families

2009-07-06T08:40:00.001-07:00

Hi, I am Janet George, School Age Specialist for the Child Care Services Association in Wake County, North Carolina.

Last night I facilitated the Opening Doors to Inclusive Programs: Partnering with Families module for staff from child care centers who provide school age care. They really kept me on my toes! The participants were interactive and voiced strong opinions and beliefs. I think some were initially challenged with the strategies I asked them to employ but they left with new ideas and a willingness to try!

Throughout the evening we discussed many things, including the importance of building the relationship. As a group, we had to shift from a place where we think the parents are “not really interested” and/or “don’t have time” to a place of recognizing that families do want what is best for their children but there may be constraints we are not aware of that interfere. We agreed that creating a welcoming environment and working to figure out how to communicate successfully with families is really important. During the discussion I shared with them 5 questions I like to ask when establishing a relationship with families, and then we conducted an interview with parents in the room using the 5 questions. This approach put providers and parents at ease, and the providers get great information about the children. This is also a great first step to establishing a positive partnership with the family.

These are the 5 questions:
1. What does your child do that makes you laugh/smile?
2. What does your child do that makes him laugh/smile?
3. What are some things that upset your child?
4. What does it look like when your child is upset?
5. How does your child calm herself when she is upset? Does she need help to calm?

Historically, families of children with disabilities are asked about their child’s challenges, difficulties, etc as a first step. Using the questions above allows the parents to share what is important to them and gives the provider insight to likes, dislikes, strengths, needs, potential challenging behaviors and strategies to support the child!

Camp Winacka

2009-06-23T16:21:00.000-07:00

Camp Counselors, Camp Winacka, Julian, CA

Girl Scouts are so much fun! Nili and I had the opportunity to train camp counselors working at a residential camp in Julian, CA yesterday. Hundreds of Girl Scouts will spend up to 13 days at the residential camp this summer. In two hours, we covered respectful accommodations, examples of accommodations and practiced making accommodations to games. Counselors learned drama-based games and brainstormed ideas for making accommodations for children with different types of disabilities to participate in the games. When asked the one thing they learned in the training that they will take with them, participants commented:

"A person doesn't necessarily need to know everything to modify an activity for everyone."
"The thought of being purposeful and aware of the kids."
"How easy it is to adjust games without singling kids out."
"Sometimes what you come up with is even better than the original activity, which is pretty cool."

Even though we got lost on the way and took a very lengthy detour to get there, it was a great experience. Julian is also famous for their apple pies so we stopped on the way back for some spectacular apple boysenberry pie!

Business Travel Has its Perks!

2009-06-17T12:47:00.001-07:00

As you can tell by the blog, the KIT team has been traveling a lot lately! This trip to Washington DC actually took place May 20-22, but we are just now finding space for it on the blog. Nili and I traveled to DC together. I was attending the Including Samuel Summit and Nili was presenting a training for the Choral Arts Society of Washington, DC.

The perks of which I speak were in this case GIANT cookies from the Firehook Bakery & Coffee House in DuPont Circle. That cookie is bigger than Nili's head! We excitedly took it back to our hotel room and devoured it while watching the season finale of American Idol. Our other great find in DC was The Darlington House restaurant. If you are headed to DC and looking for a nice meal in a lovely setting, we give this one our recommendation.

OK, it wasn't all about the food. We did do some work on the trip. Nili worked with a great group of teaching artists who go into the schools. They took KIT's Supporting Positive Behavior and Supporting Social Emotional Needs training. Nili was very impressed with this group! While Nili was training, I was at the National Education Association at a meeting led by Working Films. They pulled together a group of twenty or so representatives from national organizations supporting inclusion and disability to discuss a strategy for using Dan Habib's beautiful film Including Samuel to promote inclusion at a grass-roots level. It was a great day, and good to see so many of our colleagues and collaborators face to face.

Mary in New Mexico

2009-06-08T10:01:00.000-07:00

This is Mary Shea again and I just completed a 3 day trip to beautiful Albuquerque, New Mexico where I did my site visit with one of our MEAF National Affiliates, the Bernalillo County Parks and Recreation Department. (By the way, there will be a test at the end of this blog to see how many of you can spell Albuquerque the first time!) I think it is one of the hardest words I have ever had to spell.

I flew on Memorial Day and I would recommend that option to anyone who doesn’t like crowded airports. It was a pretty quiet day in the skies and no one else was at the rental car counter so that was quick and I was at the hotel in downtown Albuquerque by early afternoon (of course I left my house at 4:00 am). I took a long walk downtown later in the day to get some exercise (hot and muggy weather) but it was a very quiet day because it was a holiday and few folks were downtown so it was peaceful.

Tuesday morning began with Jeffrey Paul, the Inclusion Manager for the County’s Parks and Recreation Department picking me up at the hotel and we began driving to Community Centers all across the county, which was very large and very diverse. Jeff had arranged and confirmed all the appointments so when we arrived I was able to tour the facilities and meet with staff and most directors. It was their time to ask specific questions about their programs and services as well as specific children they were supporting that they were having challenges with. It was a good day and I met with 5 of the 7 directors and approximately 18 - 20 full time staff and I was able to provide some quality site specific consultation.

The next day involved a full day of training at Mountain View Community Center where almost all staff (50 total) from the recreation department as well as 5 of the newly hired inclusion facilitators were in attendance. We did 3 of the KIT core modules (Respectful Accommodations, Supporting Positive Support, and Partnering with Families, and we addressed some specific issues in supporting children with attention deficit disorders. The staff really seemed to enjoy the training and activities and besides the fire alarm going off and having to evacuate the building quickly, the day seemed very successful and empowering to the staff. It was a very pleasant surprise to have both the Director and Assistant Director of Bernalillo Parks and Recreation Department stop by the training during the day and show their support for inclusion.

This visit was short and very busy but well planned and efficient and Jeff has done a great job in the 2 years he has been with the department. By the way, he told me he had an opportunity to apply for last minute stimulus funding that had come to their county and that is how he was able to hire 8 additional staff for summer programming! Wouldn’t that be a wonderful treat to every one of you if that was available?

Summer is finally here so wishing you all a peaceful summer and good luck with summer camps and programs and enjoy each and every day you get to spend with those joyful children whose parents have entrusted your with their care 

Training at the Montclair YMCA

2009-06-05T09:18:00.000-07:00

Camp Directors pose for a photo after participating in a training.

I just spent the week facilitating training for the Montclair YMCA in Montclair, New Jersey. The Montclair YMCA is one of our ten national affiliate programs funded by the Mitsubishi Electric Ameria Foundation (MEAF). Since I am originally from Massachusetts, I love spending time on the East Coast. The people I had the opportunity to meet were amazing. From the Director of Development to the Program Director and Managers, Camp Directors, and After Care and Summer staff, I was impressed with the thought they put into questions and comments during trainings. We covered a lot of different topics from On Common Ground: Activities that Facilitate Inclusion to Ready, Set, Summer and discovered ways to support children with and without disabilities in programs at the Montclair YMCA. I was delighted to see an After Care Site Director facilitating an activity she learned during a training with children at her site the next day. It was great to see how she had taken the information and applied it directly to her program. The Program Directors were great hosts (see below) and I had a wonderful time getting to know them and experiencing their programs and city.

Megan Chell, Adrienne Fuller, and Alissa Lavelle

Mary Shea visits Lee's Summit, MO

2009-05-19T12:46:00.001-07:00

This is Mary Shea and I am writing as I return from Lee's Summit, Missouri after two days of training and consultation with the leadership and staff of Kids Country, one of our newest MEAF national affiliates. It was an energizing and busy couple of days and the staff I worked with was enthusiastic, well prepared for my visit and very welcoming.

It was Sunday (Mother's Day) and I arrived in Kansas City, got my rental car and drive 40 miles south to Lee's Summit, a town with a population of 82,820. It was a sunny day but managed to rain before the night was over, which is very typical of Midwest spring and summer days as I recall from growing up in Wisconsin. The rain was good-it kept me in the hotel reviewing the 3" notebook of policies and procedures, marketing materials, history and highlights of Kids Country over the past 13 years.

Kids Country is the before and after school provider for the 17 schools in the Lee's Summit R-7 School District and all the staff are school district employees. Monday morning started with Dawn Butler, Coordinator of Kids Country and Kristi Fate, Assistant Program Coordinator, both of who, I would spend many hours with during the next two days,s tarting our visits to Longview Farm Elementary School, which was a beautifully refurbished historic horsebarn and I was able to observe the before school program and start my day smiling watching kindergartners and 1st through 6th graders enjoying themselves at play- what a joy!

We spent the rest of the morning (after some good Seattle coffee) reviewing policies, procedures and programs, and outlining our goals for the visit. At lunch the three of us met with the Executive Director of Special Education Services and the Director of Classified Personnel and supervisor of Kids Country and we were joined by Christy Weber, a Registered Nurse and the newest hire on the leadership team. We made several more site visits in the afternoon where I met with and observed some terrific site supervisors and program staff engaged with kids and providing some excellent programs.

That night the entire Kids Country staff (~100) attended the Fear Factor workshop and once we gave them box dinners and let them wind down for a few minutes after working all day, we had a wonderful workshop and lots of energy and great ideas coming from the staff. It was a big success and thanks to Nancy McCutcheon, Quality Advisor, who prepared all the materials and coordinated the training.

Tuesday started with another site visit and was followed by training for the 21 members of the leadership team which included all 17 site coordinators, Dawn, Kristi, Christy and Nancy where I reviewed indicators of quality programming and introduced strategies to support and empower staff. That meeting was followed by a Community Meeting where afterschool directors of 5 other cities in the Kansas City metropolitan area as well as the Director of Parks and Recreation for Lee's Summit and a parent came together to learn more about Kids Country and how they were progressing in their journey to inclusion. Dawn and I led them through the session identifying strengths and challenges of inclusion in their currently existing systems and Dawn, who is a legitimate boundary crosser committed Kids Country to share lessons learned, strategies and resources and together the community group re-affirmed their commitment to ensure that children and youth with disabilities in all of their cities would have access to quality afterschool programming. They are actually planning to host a statewide conference next year on that very issue and I am 100% sure it will happen!

Our afternoon ended with some last minute review of marketing material as well as strategic planning including suggesting a change in the current Kids Country Parent Advisory Committee (PAC). To date the program has had the Advisory Committee and a separate but parallel committee, the Ability Awareness Team (parents of children and youth with disabilities). With some reflection and guided instruction (my very favorite thing to do), Dawn and Kristi and I were able to draft an agenda for the evening PAC meeting where Dawn would introduce the concept of combining both groups of parents as well as inviting other people from the community who are interested in kids and families and would commit as stakeholders to this community vision. It was very well attended and Dawn did an outstanding job of inviting them all to this new process and two hours later they were still meeting in one of four individual subcommittees that would address program, professional development, cultural competence and diversity, and funding and sustainability. The energy in the room was infectious and when I returned to my hotel room 13 hours after the day started, I could only smile and be reassured that these Kids Country folks would continue to make a difference in the lives of children and youth with disabilities and their families, not only in Lee's Summit but in the entire state of Missouri and probably across the river in Kansas!

Meet Alissa Lavelle

2009-05-18T13:37:00.001-07:00

As promised, I am going to use this blog post to brag about another KIT superstar- Alissa Lavelle. If you have scheduled or attended a KIT training, you have probably encountered Alissa. In addition to her outstanding work developing curriculum and organizing training events, Alissa also frequently facilitates training. One of our other KIT trainers dubbed her the "power pack." It's true. Alissa is a big ball of passion and fire in a small package. She has a wealth of both knowledge and practical experience, which can be a surprise to our training participants as she also looks a lot younger than her chronological age. Learn more about Alissa and her background on the KIT website.
Alissa's interests related to inclusion are very broad. She frequently researches new topics for training, and her initiatives have included popular training sessions on supporting children's social-emotional needs, creating behavior plans and examining your physical and sensory environment. In the above photo she teaches basic sign language to a group of participants taking a training on accommodations for children with autism spectrum disorders. You can view one of Alissa's recent webinars on the topics of helping children understand their peers with autism or how attachment affects inclusion.

At KIT, staff members tend to wear a lot of different hats. As you can see from the photos, Alissa has served as a model for our new inclusion t-shirts, a trainer, an actor in the video shoot for the eLearning module on Supporting Positive Behavior and the manager of the Snow Zone at a KIT sponsored community festival.

If you haven't had a chance to attend one of Alissa's live trainings or webinars, then I recommend that you do! Check the training calendar to find an upcoming event.

Best Kept Secret

2009-05-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

In today's post, I'd like to share with you one of KIT's best kept secrets. A best kept secret is something that is an outstanding service, that many people don't even know about. We actually have a couple of these little gems, so I'll share them with you over the next month or so in the blog. Today's secret is our helpline, which is managed by KIT's Program Specialist, Nili Mathews.

The purpose of the helpline is to provide customized inclusion support for staff at child and youth programs. The service is FREE. I'll say it again. The service is FREE. All you have to do is email your question to help at kitonline dot org (spelling it out to protect us from spammers!) and Nili will respond with an email or phone call and help you with any inclusion-related challenge.

Just so you know what kind of excellent quality you are getting with this service, let me tell you a little bit about Nili. She will not be happy that I am doing this, so I hope she doesn't read the blog. Anyway, Nili has been at KIT since the beginning. In fact, she worked in the original program that became KIT. She then spent years working for the YMCAs in San Diego County as an inclusion specialist, while also serving as a KIT trainer. Nili joined the KIT staff several years ago to head up a project funded by First Five. Nili is a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS) and she has over 20 years of experience serving people with disabilities in recreation activities.

Many of you have experienced Nili's dynamic and engaging training sessions. She is the only KIT trainer who always gets comments on evaluation forms that she is funny. I believe that people learn better when they are having fun and laughing, so I appreciate Nili's lighthearted approach to training. What you may not have experienced is Nili's ability to come up with accommodations for situations on-the-spot. She is a good listener and committed to helping youth development professionals work through challenges and find solutions. She has experience in many types of early childhood and after school settings. If you email the helpline with a question about how to better serve a child in your program, you will receive some great recommendations of things to try.

I am so grateful for the amazing, passionate and talented people I get to work with at KIT. In my next post I plan to brag about KIT's Program Coordinator, Alissa Lavelle.

Images of inclusion

2009-05-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

I am back in the KIT office in San Diego after my trip visiting Metropolitan Family Service (MFS) in Portland, OR and facilitating a two-day training with child care providers in Pleasant Hill, CA. Having the opportunity to get out and do training with child and youth professionals and hear their voices is always an eye-opening experience. I was particularly impressed with the words and images chosen by site coordinators and program managers at MFS when they were asked to portray what inclusion means to them during a focus group. Every organization possesses its own strengths and faces unique challenges with regards to inclusion. It always amazes me that no matter what the organization's strengths and challenges may be, the individuals working within the organization always touch upon the central themes of acceptance, belonging, and support when asked to describe what inclusion means to them.

I love Portland!

2009-04-29T20:21:00.000-07:00

I am very excited to be visiting one of our national affiliates, Metropolitan Family Service (MFS) in Portland, OR. From the eco-friendly toilets at the airport to the awesome public transportation, giant bookstores and little coffee shops, this is a great city. Today I had the opportunity to meet the executive team at MFS, facilitate a training for program managers, site coordinators, activity leaders, go out for a healthy lunch with the program managers, and still have time to visit two after-school program sites. Metropolitan Family Service is a non-profit organization dedicated to building stronger communities by providing services, connecting people with resources and offering volunteer opportunities throughout the Portland, Oregon region (www.metfamily.org). I was so impressed with the thoughtful questions and comments participants had during the training and seeing them "in action" at the sites. One school site I visited had a welcoming and calming environment. The quiet area below was in the hallway (left) and the cafeteria included a living room area (right). Tomorrow we are going to hold a focus group with the site coordinators to identify their needs for training and support for inclusion and next steps to ensure every child is successful.

KIT Goes International!

2009-04-20T08:45:00.000-07:00

This is an exciting week in KIT-land! We will be conducting our first international site visit at the Navy Child & Youth Programs (CYP) in Naples, Italy. The visit actually occurs next week, but the travel part later this week. The goal of the visit is to orient the CYP professionals to KIT's services, visit the facilities and meet the staff and provide consultation on the CYP process of in-take for families with children with special needs. I will also meet with the regional staff from Navy CYP Europe and discuss the best ways to provide inclusion support to overseas installations. There will also be gelato involved and a visit to the famous pizzeria that has been described as the "sacred temple of pizza."

We cannot say enough about the Navy's commitment to the inclusion of children with disabilities and other special needs. They are looking at inclusion systemically and working on process and program improvements at every level. This is truly a top-down and bottom-up approach to organizational change. In many cases we have seen organizations whose journey to inclusion rests on the shoulders of one or two change agents. Once these one or two people leave the organization, or get promoted or relocated, the process of inclusion is hard to sustain for the rest of the staff left behind. In our work we caution these change agents to share their work with others and to develop and implement strategies that don't rely on them for success. The US Navy has change agents at every level and at every installation we have encountered thus far. Their energy and enthusiasm about inclusion is inspiring and we are so grateful for the opportunity to partner with such committed, dedicated professionals.

Ciao!

Hi from Orlando, FL!

2009-04-07T16:42:00.000-07:00

Alissa and I are in Orlando doing training for the Training & Curriculum Specialists in Navy Child & Youth Programs. There are 100 of them here, and they represent Navy installations from all over the world. In fact, today we had lunch with 2 wonderful T & Cs from Italy and they shared a lot of interesting information about life on and off a military base in a foreign country.

In addition to the training we have provided, we have been able to informally talk to people at the meals and networking events. We are getting so much good feedback from the field about KIT's eLearning modules. Almost 2,000 Navy CYP professionals have completed the four self-paced modules so far. Go Navy! It is nice to hear that people are finding the modules both helpful to their work and fun to do.

We have one more day here and then we are back on Southwest Airlines headed for home. Alissa and I are both feeling very grateful that we get to work with people that are so committed to serving children and that we have the opportunity to spread the message of inclusion far and wide.

Here We Are at KIT's 5th Annual National Conference!

2009-03-20T06:37:00.000-07:00

Today the blog is coming to you from KIT's 5th Annual National Conference on Inclusion! There are participants here from all over the United States, plus Japan and Australia! Many of KIT's partners are in attendance, including our newest partner the U.S. Navy Child and Youth Programs. There are people from early childhood programs, YMCAs, Boys & Girls Clubs, after school programs, dance companies, theatres, city parks and recreation departments just to name a few.

Yesterday we kicked off the conference with a wonderful featured presentation by a 19 year old advocate Tyler Greene. If you missed the conference, we encourage you to check out his website.

More on the conference and some great photos in future posts. Oh, and we will be making many of the conference sessions available online in the next few weeks.

"I could talk about this stuff for hours."

2009-01-20T12:36:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I happened to be in the Apple store in Brea, CA. All the staff was wearing t-shirts that said "I could talk about this stuff for hours." Meaning, obviously, Apple products. But, my first thought went to inclusion. That is how I feel about inclusion. I could talk about it for hours. And I often do when I train around the country. I know that this is how Nili, Alissa and Mary and all of our KIT trainers feel- they could share their passion for inclusion for hours and hours. I feel so grateful to get to share my passion as my profession, and grateful for all of you who promote and support inclusion in your daily work. This movement of inclusion of children with disabilities in community life is so important, so critical to the future and in difficult times like these we need to reinstate our dedication to our cause.

So, today is the Inauguration of President Barack Obama. What an amazing day. What a day for all of us who work for the inclusion of all people. What a day for Americans to come together and celebrate our history of democracy. What a day to hope for the future and commit ourselves to making the world a better place than it is today.

I know that this blog is supposed to document the travel adventures of our trainers. And we will be doing a lot of travel in the coming months as we visit our new partners in Navy Child and Youth Programs around the world. However, I would also like to use this space as a forum to share, discuss and even to dream a little about the future. Especially today, when the future holds such promise.

Celebrating Civil Rights

2008-11-04T14:28:00.000-08:00

Traveling and training for KIT does provide some wonderful benefits. Meeting people from all over the country who care about providing quality services for all children and are eager to learn new techniques, getting to talk about the positive and powerful subject of inclusion every day and the chance to visit other parts of our beautiful nation. This past week I was in Memphis, Tennessee to meet with the Headquarters staff for the US Navy Child & Youth Programs. KIT is partnering with the US Navy CYPs to ensure that staff who work with children on Navy bases WORLDWIDE have training on inclusion. Wow- we are so impressed with the US Navy Child & Youth Programs and the commitment they have to inclusion.

So, while in Memphis I had a few free hours. This allowed me to visit a museum devoted to one of the subjects I am most passionate about (I know you are thinking Graceland right now). No, my passion is not Elvis Presley. I spent a morning visiting the National Civil Rights Museum and it was a moving and powerful experience. The museum is located in the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. The motel has been gutted and turned into a museum, but the facade remains and there is a wreath placed on the balcony outside room 306 in King's honor. Across the street from the motel is the second part of the museum, which is located in the boarding house where the assassin (James Earl Ray) shot from. You can stand in the location of the bathroom where the assassin stood and look out the very same window to the motel. Learn more about the museum here.

The displays in the museum are outstanding and detail every element of the civil rights movement leading up to King's assassination. It was incredibly moving. In a ten-minute film that runs in the museum's theatre I heard that "movements don't start as movements, movements start with individuals" and I could not help but think about the movement of inclusion. It is true. It starts with individuals. KIT's work is to train and speak to as many people working in out-of-school time programs as we can, and invite them to join our movement so that all children can experience the life-enhancing benefits of participating in their own community, doing typical childhood activities.

I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to do this important work, and that I get to share it with so many others around the United States (and now the world- thank you US Navy!).

Our Nation's Capital

2008-09-28T12:33:00.000-07:00

I loved spending time in our nation's capital. It was nice to be reminded of our great history and how far we have come. Visiting Abe Lincoln and reading the words he wrote so long ago was a reminder that civil rights and equality are virtues we have fought for throughout our history. I started my trip working with teaching artists at Imagination Stage in Bethesda, MD, one of KIT's national affiliates. We spent three hours exploring ways to make accommodations for children with autism spectrum disorders participating in theater and arts classes and programs. I also had the great pleasure of working with volunteer trainers and staff at Girl Scouts Council of the Nation's Capital in Washington DC. I am proud to welcome these talented women into the growing family of individuals trained to present KIT's core training curriculum Opening Doors to Inclusive Programs. Represented in the photo below are volunteer trainers, residential and community camp directors, Program and Inclusion Specialists who will now train fellow volunteers, leaders, and staff on including children with and without disabilities in their programs, helping to assure that every girl is welcome and supported at Girl Scouts Council of the Nation's Capital.

On the Road Again!

2008-09-22T14:37:00.000-07:00

Typically, we don't do as much traveling and training in the summer. This is mostly because all of you are busy with your summer programs. The fall things get pretty busy, and this fall is no exception. In fact, we started early this year with the NIRI conference (National Inclusive Recreation Institute) in Eugene, OR where Mary Shea and Nili Mathews both presented workshops. Now it is Torrie and Alissa's turn to travel. This week, Torrie will be in Memphis to work on a project and Alissa will be in the Washington DC area to train the staff and volunteers from Girl Scouts of the Nation's Capital and the staff from Imagination Stage. We are all excited to be back on the road, as the best part of this mission is talking to the dedicated people in our trainings who are working hard to ensure that children learn and grow in their programs.

Oh, and if you see us in an airport or a Starbucks in your city, please say Hello! You'll know us by our KIT shirts.

If we can make it here...

2008-05-27T08:24:00.001-07:00

We'll make it anywhere! Isn't that what Ol' Blue Eyes sings about NYC? KIT has a new national affiliate, sponsored by the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation, whose offices are headquartered in the heart of Times Square. The After School Corporation (TASC) serves 125 after school programs in all 5 boroughs of New York City. I spent two days at their offices participating in planning meetings and presenting training to site supervisors of the after school programs and TASC staff members. It was fun to call my mom and tell her that my childhood dream had finally come true and I was working on Broadway! OK- it was just for two days...but still...it felt great to be walking along Broadway not as tourist, but on my way to work just like thousands of others those mornings.

Before the visit to NYC, I spent several days working in Bethesda, MD with one of our other new affiliates. Imagination Stage has a long history of serving children with disabilities and they are looking to strengthen their processes when it comes to inclusion. They have an amazing facility, a visionary founder/executive director, a talented and dedicated staff and wonderful children and families that they serve. While I was there I saw their beautiful production of Looking for Roberto Clemente, a work they commissioned about the baseball legend. I saw a performance that was held for school kids- this day all 6th graders- that included a talkback with the actors at the end of the show. One of the characters in the play has a disability and in the storyline he wants nothing more than to play baseball in a league with his brother and friends. He is allowed to be the bat boy and is repeatedly given the message that winning the games are just too important to let him play this time. The 6th graders were fascinated with this talented actor and asked him most of the questions in the talkback. "Can you really play baseball?" they wanted to know. It was great to see inclusion demonstrated in such a powerful way for hundreds of young people. The talented actor, JP Illarramendi, answered their questions with honesty and humor.

Both of these dynamic organizations have made a commitment to improve their service to children with disabilities. It is a delight to work with them and I know they will make great strides in their journey to inclusion. Next up- news from Nili's trip to visit Family YMCA in Blackhawk County, Iowa and Alissa's trip to see the Camp Fire USA- Heartland Council, Kansas City (which is in Missouri- funny story about that so watch for future posts!).

North Carolina Providers Trained on KIT Curriculum

2008-05-02T09:02:00.000-07:00

Nili and I are back from our trip to North Carolina. We sure had fun on the East Coast, especially with our parters from Community Partnerships, Inc. It was amazing to see individuals from all types of programs (YMCAs, Boys & Girls Clubs, Girl Scouts, early childhood, school age after-school programs, and parks and recreation) together to become trained to present KIT's Opening Doors to Inclusive Programs series. We were excited to try our first glass of "Sweet Tea" - boy, they are not kidding, it is sweeeeet! We also had the pleasure of zooming around Raleigh in a bright yellow rental car. Until next time...Alissa

Greetings from St. Pete's

2008-04-21T17:39:00.000-07:00

I am excited to post my very first blog. Anything for KIT! I am currently in my hotel room in St. Petersburg, Florida (yay wireless!) I am here facilitating a two-day training of trainers for individuals from St. Petersburg, Naples, Tampa, and Clearwater City Departments of Parks and Therapeutic Recreation. I have enjoyed hearing their unique experiences with staff training on inclusion. They are so grateful to have a standardized curriculum to use to train summer camp and recreation staff throughout the year and cannot wait to get out there and empower their staff to include all kids. I am certainly loving the Florida sunshine and 80 degree weather...until next time - Alissa

The Party's at Our House!

2008-04-15T16:54:00.000-07:00

This blog is intended to be about KIT's travels around the country providing training on inclusion to early childhood and out-of-school time programs. And, believe me, there will be a lot of that coming up. In the next month or so the KIT team of trainers will be hitting the road for northern California, Florida, North Carolina, Maryland, Iowa, Kansas and New York. Keep watching the blog for all the details!

Right now, though, we'd like to celebrate the coming together of over 200 people for KIT's 4th Annual National Conference on Inclusion. This April 2-4th, 2008 everyone came to our house (well, the Mission Valley Marriott to be exact) for three days of learning about inclusion, sharing ideas and strategies and networking with colleagues from around the country. Our keynote presentation was Dan Habib, award-winning filmmaker of the new documentary Including Samuel.

Thanks to everyone who presented, contributed and attended for an another amazing journey! If you weren't there please try to join us next year and see what all the excitement is about.

First Post from the Road!

2008-02-20T18:41:00.000-08:00

Today I flew all the way from San Diego to Raleigh, NC to present a one-day Inclusion Institute for our good friends and colleagues at Community Partnerships, Inc. Last year KIT trained Janet George and Anna Berkeley of Community Partnerships to be KIT trainers and they have been actively training in the Raleigh-Durham area. Now they have gathered 70 out-of-school time providers together for a one-day intense training on inclusion. The conference is tomorrow and we are all really excited!

While I am here Alissa Lavelle and Nili Mathews from the KIT staff are in the Bay Area of California presenting the last half of a training series for the Contra Costa Unified School District. Check back later for pictures and posts from both events!

Welcome to our new blog!

2008-02-04T16:56:00.000-08:00

Welcome to KIT's new blog- Where in the World is KIT? Keep watching this space for updates on the travels of KIT trainers, who deliver KIT training on inclusion to out-of-school time programs around the United States- and sometimes beyond! We can't wait to share with you what your colleagues in other states are doing to implement inclusive practices and ensure that all children in their community have a place to belong.