If we can make it here...

We'll make it anywhere! Isn't that what Ol' Blue Eyes sings about NYC? KIT has a new national affiliate, sponsored by the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation, whose offices are headquartered in the heart of Times Square. The After School Corporation (TASC) serves 125 after school programs in all 5 boroughs of New York City. I spent two days at their offices participating in planning meetings and presenting training to site supervisors of the after school programs and TASC staff members. It was fun to call my mom and tell her that my childhood dream had finally come true and I was working on Broadway! OK- it was just for two days...but still...it felt great to be walking along Broadway not as tourist, but on my way to work just like thousands of others those mornings.

Before the visit to NYC, I spent several days working in Bethesda, MD with one of our other new affiliates. Imagination Stage has a long history of serving children with disabilities and they are looking to strengthen their processes when it comes to inclusion. They have an amazing facility, a visionary founder/executive director, a talented and dedicated staff and wonderful children and families that they serve. While I was there I saw their beautiful production of Looking for Roberto Clemente, a work they commissioned about the baseball legend. I saw a performance that was held for school kids- this day all 6th graders- that included a talkback with the actors at the end of the show. One of the characters in the play has a disability and in the storyline he wants nothing more than to play baseball in a league with his brother and friends. He is allowed to be the bat boy and is repeatedly given the message that winning the games are just too important to let him play this time. The 6th graders were fascinated with this talented actor and asked him most of the questions in the talkback. "Can you really play baseball?" they wanted to know. It was great to see inclusion demonstrated in such a powerful way for hundreds of young people. The talented actor, JP Illarramendi, answered their questions with honesty and humor.

Both of these dynamic organizations have made a commitment to improve their service to children with disabilities. It is a delight to work with them and I know they will make great strides in their journey to inclusion. Next up- news from Nili's trip to visit Family YMCA in Blackhawk County, Iowa and Alissa's trip to see the Camp Fire USA- Heartland Council, Kansas City (which is in Missouri- funny story about that so watch for future posts!).