At the age of 5 months, Jesus Sifonte became a student of Albert Lea Area Schools. He has been receiving service year-round since Feb. 12, 2007. Jesus was born with Down syndrome, a condition known to hinder development.

Jesus is eligible to receive special education services according to both federal and state statutes. In Minnesota, these services are mandated for school districts to provide.

Services provided included home-based visits by an early childhood special education teacher, occupational therapist and physical therapist serving him in his home. He also received indirect service from one of the district’s speech/language pathologists. Before Jesus was 2 years old, he had gained enough skills so the services of the occupational therapist and physical therapist have become less direct and more consultative.

The philosophy of Linda Opstad, the district’s home-based teacher, is that the parent is the “teacher” and that the early childhood special education teacher and therapists take on more of coaching roles. Jesus’ mother has taught him to sit, crawl, walk, feed himself, do actions to songs like “Five Little Monkeys,” sign and speak some words.

His mother, Liz Renteria, who gave permission for the personal identification in this story, would like to thank the district for providing this program. She found out about the program from Dr. Heidi Stoltenberg, Albert Lea Medical Center pediatrician. The doctor gave this mother the name of the central referral person for Interagency Early Intervention Committee, Mona Skare. If you know of a baby, toddler or preschooler who may have special needs, consider a referral to Skare at 373-4930.

Business management class takes active rolein homecoming

This year, the Albert Lea High School business management class did a lot for homecoming. Class members designed homecoming and powder puff shirts. They also created homecoming banners for the community, and promoted tiger pride by handing out cherry and blue spirit beads to all students at ALHS.

To accomplish the goals by the deadline, the class broke into committees. Students had to learn to work with a variety of people and personalities. Using teamwork, they accomplished their goals for homecoming week.

What is a speech pathologist?

When you enter Southwest Middle School and go to the office, you might happen to glance to the left and see a door with some lights behind it and a brightly colored curtain. It is the office of the speech pathologist.

Just what is a speech pathologist? He or she is a trained professional (master’s degree needed) who is educated in the study of human communication, its development and its disorders. Speech pathologists have been and are called many things, such as speech/language pathologist, speech clinician, speech therapists, and speech teachers. Speech pathologists can work in many settings, including hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, clinics and public schools. They also work with clients across the age span from infants to the elderly. In schools like Southwest Middle School, they see students who have a variety of communication difficulties.

Communication includes speech (articulation, intonation, rate, intensity, voice, resonance and fluency), language (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics), both receptive and expressive language (including reading and writing), social communication and non-verbal communication such as facial expression and gesture. In addition, speech pathologists are involved in managing swallowing problems in the oral and pharyngeal stages of swallowing.

At Southwest, the speech pathologist is usually working with from one to five on a variety of the above communication issues.

If you have questions about the speech and language services at Southwest, contact Beth Erickson at 379-5310.

Class learns about fire prevention

The early childhood special education class is learning about fire prevention this month and got a visit from the fire department to learn what to do in case of a fire and see the fire trucks. Students learned how to stop, drop and roll and how to crawl low when in a room full of smoke. They also played with many of the dramatic fire toys in the room and pretended they were firefighters.

Training teaches about special needs, technology

United Preschool, along with members of the Early Childhood Special Education team, have started a 20-hour training from Pacer involving young children with special needs and technology. Project KITE (Kids Included through Technology are Enriched) started on Oct. 1 and will wrap up the middle of December.

Parents, regular education staff and special education staff are working together to learn more about computer programs and assistive technology to help the young children who attend United Preschool.

Chorale goes on retreat

The Albert Lea High School Chorale went on a working retreat Oct. 15 to Good Earth Village near Spring Valley. They sang for many hours and learned their holiday program in one day’s time while exploring the woods and eating lots of great food!

They were chaperoned by parents Cindy Gould, David Christopherson, Bob Sturtz and director Diane Heaney. The students who attended were Erika Blickenderfer, Kelly Duncomb, Lana Howe, Kayla Hartmann, Samantha Petersen, Mikaela Pierson, Rachel Gould, Ashley Viktora, Sarah Hundley, Holly Ryks, Mollie Hernandez, Emily Troe, Logan Tufte, Reid Anderson, Tim Stoneking, Caleb Gaudian, Andrew Schewe, Matt Dorman, Aaron Thomas, Ben Knutson, Anthony Tate, Jack Sturtz, Noah Christopherson and Matt Buhr. Organizations wishing to book the group for holiday events should contact Diane Heaney at ALHS soon.

Sign up now for middle school sports

Sign-ups are taking place for two of the three winter sports offered for Southwest Middle School’s Youth First Athletics. Students may register for girls’ basketball and wrestling. Girls’ basketball practice will begin Nov. 2 while wrestling will begin Nov. 9. Registration for boys’ basketball will take place in December. If you have any questions you can contact Max Jeffrey, athletic director at Southwest Middle School, at 379-5281.

Parents become ‘mystery readers’

At Halverson Elementary School, parents signed up at pre-school interviews in August to be the “mystery reader” in Marcia Hoffman’s third-grade class. Parents pick out a book, and on Fridays, the mystery reader comes in and reads the book to the class. The students look forward to the mystery reader and are really surprised when it turns out to be Mom or Dad. Even a grandpa came to read.

Ensemble performs at Lakeview

On Tuesday, “New Horizons,” the U.S. Air Force clarinet ensemble, performed at Lakeview Elementary. The group presented a patriotic-themed presentation for students in all grades.

Screening set

Minnesota requires a check of vision, hearing, and developmental growth of all 3- to 4-year-olds. The Albert Lea School District conducts free screenings each month at Brookside Education Center. The next screening will be held on Thursday, Nov. 19, from 1 to 6 p.m. If your child has not been screened, call Julie at 379-4843 or e-mail jsager@albertlea.k12.mn.us.

ALHS holds Pathways to Success assembly

On Oct. 23, Albert Lea High School class of 2010 had its Pathways to Success assembly that recognized Distinguished ALHS Alumni that have made significant contributions to their community, their state, their nation and the world.

The program is a collaborative effort of the Albert Lea-Freeborn Chamber of Commerce, Albert Lea Area Schools and the Educational Foundation of Albert Lea.

This year’s honorees included Tom Nee, ALHS class of 1938; Howard Christensen, ALHS class of 1941; Richard Ackland, ALHS class of 1959; Gayle Kvenvold, ALHS class of 1969; and USAF Maj. Gen. Tom Andersen, ALHS class of 1976. Dr. Bryant Pickering, ALHS class of 1947, was also recognized as he was unable to attend in 2007 at his induction.

A reoccurring theme from all participants was that of responsibility.

Albert Lea Area Learning Center hosts conference

Teachers are always learning. They learn from college classes, from what they read, from staff development at their schools and from their students. But sometimes, teachers best learn relevant and essential information and skills from other teachers.

On Oct. 2, the Albert Lea Area Learning Center hosted the fall South Metro and Southeast Minnesota Regional Conference for the Minnesota Association of Alternative Programs (MAAP).

David Larson, psychologist and certified life coach, gave the keynote speech encouraging teachers to remember the passion that attracted them to teaching. Superintendent Michael Funk welcomed the participants. Rep. David Bly, a former alternative school teacher, filled participants in on legislative action from the last session and proposals for the next.

Teachers presented break out sessions on autism, team building, community building, Bal-A-Vis-Ex, poverty and brain research, Smart Board training, genocide, difficult children, Tech tools for science, community connections, and the ATTPS program.

Teachers presented the breakouts, and then attended breakouts presented by other teachers.

Southwest holds Exploratory Day

By Sarah Reuter

Southwest Middle School

Southwest Middle School had an Exploratory Day on Oct. 14. I chose to go horseback riding. We went to The Stables Equestrian Center in Rochester. We met Eliese, the owner of the facility. She introduced us to the horses (some of their names were Fletcher, Anne, Chip, Lady and Scrummy). I got to ride Chip. We were shown how to groom them and how to ride. Some people were scared because they had never been on a horse before, but everyone rode. (I had never been on a horse before.) We walked and trotted. We rode over a small bridge and weaved between cones. We couldn’t all ride at the same time so when we weren’t riding we worked around the barn and went outside and saw some miniature horses.

Other exploratory classes offered were: horseback riding, ice skating, disc golf, optical illusions, scrapbooking, swimming, God’s eyes, notebook fun, chess, risk, notebook fun, earth fashion, tie-dying, T-shirt tote bag, knitting, puzzle time, board games, movies, DiscoverE, kick-start career development, manicures and a trip to the YMCA.

If you have a hobby you would like to teach students about at the next Exploratory day, contact the school at 379-5240.