By Jessica Baron | Executive Director
Hello, Friends of Special Learners,
I am writing you this month to share some amazing news. Thanks to your generosity and encouragement, our special education team has grown and we are on the move! Since the last time you got a report on this initiative some fantastic education leaders have taken up the effort to get music to kids in special day classes with GITC.
Longtime GITC Classroom Teacher at Kearney HS in San Diego, Meghann Hughes has become the chair of the Special Education Caucus for the California Teacher's Union. She invited GITC to share her table at the recent New Teachers Conference for the Southern California Region. We put ukuleles and a guitar out and were approached by 65 different special ed teachers who are interested in training to bring music into their classrooms. Now Meghann wants GITC at each state level conference and is hoping to help us offer a workshop in 2019-2020. Thank you, Meghann!
And in January, Director of Visual and Performing Arts in San Diego Unified, Russ Sperling put together a meeting with the leadership in SDUSD's Special Education Services Department. Russ and I met with the new director of Curriculum & Instruction for Special Education, Ms. Andrea Vinson and she is onboard to help any special ed teacher in San Diego access GITC training through a carefully structured implementation plan for this- our home district. We are in the planning process now and welcome district Home Office teacher Stefanie Torres to the team. Stefanie has been assigned to help implement GITC for the district. This is a great bit of progress. Andrea Vinson and Russ Sperling ROCK!
Next Month (February) we begin planning to make great progress in our neighboring district, Chula Vista Elementary School District with the great Lauren Shelton. Lauren directs VAPA in Chula (on the border with Mexico) and she has grown that music program into a formidable one in which every sing student gets music education. Three cheers for her and Chula Vista. We are so excited to serve there!
I realize that this report is all about grown-ups. But these grown-ups are special. They are all heroes for the kids and because they care so deeply, hundreds of thousands of children are going to benefit from their desire to champion this cause and to take action. Please stay tuned because good times and important lessons await just up ahead.
We are here because you care to be a part of the solution. Thank you for your amazing participation and encouragement!
For the children,
Jess
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