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Kayla Bright, Swartz Creek Middle School special education teacher, spoke with the 22 Club members today about her work in the “cognitively impaired” program and how she has put our prior contributions to good use. Working with students who generally have IQ scores between 50-70, Kayla has taken them to Crossroad Village, Michigan State Capitol, Michigan Historical Museum, Ligon Outdoor Learning Center, Longway Planetarium and Sloan Museum on long-distance field trips, using the Club’s grant to fund high transportation costs. These and more “local” excursions – walks to the Public Library, community scavenger hunts, restaurant dining, shopping trips to Meijer’s, “Project Unify” in the school (integrating the “special ed” and the “general ed” students in mutually edifying activities), and Special Olympics (including events at Central Michigan University) – focus on developing “functional skills” that can be applied in future living as these students seek greater independence. For example, budget management, comparison shopping, time management, and social skills are necessary for successful navigation of a visit to Meijer’s that most of us can manage quite easily, but some of these students might be flummoxed without the opportunities and support that this educational opportunity can provide. A fishing trip that had been planned and highly anticipated had to be cancelled due storm-related dock damage, but the County Parks provided the substitute trip to Crossroads as a substitute. At $2.25 per mile and $17 per hour for driver time, transportation remains the most costly aspect of Ms. Bright’s work, so our gift of $1000 last year was greatly appreciated.

At the start of the meeting, rung in by President Jeff Dennings, George Kitchen led the Pledge of Allegiance, Ken Cullen gave the invocation, and Dan Crannie fined the entire Club for continuing to allow him to wear the King’s crown. Joe Farah was fined for a late arrival but “seemed to” imply a threat (a la, “Perhaps the 2nd amendment people can”) that carried a lot of weight in the Presidential decision-making process. Jeff Dennings distributed cards for the $5K Raffle free ticket drawing, Steve Schlott’s report on CANUSA Operation Feedbag (see related communication for details and photos) was read, John Farah’s ticket was drawn for the 50/50 pot ($17.50), guest Jayne Wensko was recognized, and Crystufer Reed, as today’s speaker chair, introduced Kayla Bright.

EVENTS TO REMEMBER:
8/25/16 Voting for “Optimist of the Year” ( in the morning meeting)
8/25/16 “Steak Dinner” Board Meeting (6:00 p.m. at Joe Farah’s, 5189 Warwick Woods Trail, Grand Blanc)
9/24/16 Walt Widder Memorial Golf Classic (get your team together, your name in for golf, and your money in for hole sponsorship)

10/27/16 “5K RAFFLE” – Sell Tickets!