From the Traverse City Record-Eagle:
TRAVERSE CITY — For at least four years, Toni Ferris’ special education students built self-esteem and coordination through regular swimming lessons.
But this year’s lessons nearly didn’t happen: The grant-supported program, designed for students with mild cognitive impairments in Traverse City Area Public Schools, didn’t receive funding by the start of the school year.
So Ferris, their teacher at the former Glenn Loomis Elementary, applied again, and received about $9,500 from the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians shortly before Valentine’s Day.
The funds will help about 50 students with disabilities swim at the Grand Traverse County Civic Center pool from late April through mid-June.
“Living by the lakes, I just think that swimming is just a critical part of our program,” Ferris said. “The kids are so exuberant. They’re just so excited.”
The band twice a year awards grants to area government organizations using 2 percent of its gambling revenue from video slot machines at its casinos, the result of a 1993 consent decree that settled a federal case under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
Programs are selected for funding after a review by the band’s council, tribal Chairman Derek Bailey said.
Ferris’ students typically have IQs ranging from 50 to 70, she said, and some are autistic or have sensory challenges.
The weekly lessons help them build coordination, learn responsibility by storing their belongings in lockers and shake fears of water.
“I’ve had some students who were so terrified of the water that just putting their swimsuit on and sitting on the bench was a major accomplishment,” she said, adding that one in particular swam 25 meters in the Special Olympics later that year.
“I see the gains in self-confidence.”
About $15,500 in grant funds was awarded to the district’s Students in Transition Empowerment Program, which assists students without permanent housing.
It’s an increase of about $5,000 from past years, coordinator Joan Abbott said, correlating with a growing number of students in the program.
Social workers and counselors use the money to supply secondary students with basic needs, including clothing, food, toiletries, school supplies, transportation vouchers or gas cards. It is entirely grant-funded.
In February, 408 students in kindergarten through 12th grade were part of STEP, Abbott said. A year earlier, 340 students — including preschoolers — were involved.
“We rely on this so heavily,” she said of the grant. “We’re just trying to normalize their experience.”
Turtle Talk 