Vandegrift students worked with students in the special education department to assemble “Boo Bags” that were sold at Cups & Cones, benefiting Lake Travis Christmas Hope. The Viper Special Education Department Booster Club created this opportunity.
By HADLEY HUDSON
Four Points News
The Viper Special Education Department Booster Club has just celebrated its first year as a nonprofit after forming to support and raise awareness for local students in special education.
“There has always been a silent support group among the parents of the students in SPED and I felt like if we organized ourselves we could be more effective in making change in the program,” SPED booster club president Lisa Dennis said.
The group wanted changes for their kids instead of complaining about things or wishing something could be done.
“We knew we had the support from the teachers here and we thought that if we organized ourselves then we could be a lot more helpful and take a proactive role and facilitate in our kids being more successful at school,” Dennis said.
The booster club has organized multiple events over the course of the year at places such as Cups & Cones. Students in special education participated in monthly work-days that began last November, and the students also sold self-made goods at the store as well.
Vandegrift Special Education Department staff.
“I feel like the community was able to rally around our kids and see what they’re capable of doing during their work-days at Cups & Cones,” Dennis said. “Visibility is what all of us want in our community. We want our kids to be seen as capable and hardworking contributors to this school and to this community as a whole.”
Another favorite project of the booster’s board was their poinsettias fundraising event. At the beginning of December, students in special education handed out these poinsettias to their buyers and to the community at Vandegrift.
“It was huge because our kiddos got to walk around and deliver flowers to teachers and to parents. It was beautiful,” said Chelsea Gonzales, VHS Individual Community Academic Program or ICAP teacher. “That was a really cool project that they did.”
The special education program includes many small categories and classes that teach diverse topics such as life skills, behavioral programs, vocational skills, and inclusion. Through all of these activities, the program’s biggest goal is to increase independence. Another ICAP teacher, Mike Kozlowski, even referred to the complexities of the special education program as a spiderweb.
“Before the booster club, we had to use our own personal funds or the kids could buy stuff for themselves with a stipend. But now that we have the booster club, we have running wish list for the whole entire SPED team,” Gonzales said. “Anything from cameras, because we want to have a SPED photography class, to rocking chairs for sensory breaks, to games for social skills, and to stuff as little as whiteboards and markers. It has made a huge impact in our team.”
The booster club works closely with the ICAP teachers at Vandegrift. When they diagnose the program’s needs, they see what areas they can help and they use that knowledge to serve their kids.
“We have great teachers at Vandegrift who want to do some really cool things with our kids. We thought they could probably do some pretty amazing things if they could explore those new avenues,” said Dennis. “If we can facilitate some more relationships in the community that are going to help our students get the skills they need to be successful once they leave Vandegrift, then that’s what we want to do.”
The ICAP teachers at Vandegrift were previously limited by the funding they received from the district, but the booster club had changed the way that the program can set goals for the future.
“I think that the booster club is important for the program because it gives us a sense of community,” Gonzales said. “We were very close as a SPED program before, but this has made us work together more because we have to come together and think about what’s best for the kids and what we could get them that could benefit all of them.”