We Went Over the Edge for KIT!

On Saturday, October 17th a group of 45 intrepid KIT supporters showed their commitment to inclusion by rappelling 33 floors off of Hyatt hotel in downtown San Diego. The Over the Edge event raised over $50,000 to support KIT's service to its affiliates.

In an amazing show of dedication and support, KIT trainer Janet George traveled all the way from North Carolina to participate in the event. Here Torrie and Janet are going over the edge together (Torrie slow and steady on the left of the photo and Janet cool and confident on the right):



Nili also went over the edge, as did both of her parents!



It was a fun day and a great way to raise money for inclusion. Plans are already underway for next year. Wanna join us? Call or email the KIT office to get on the list for next year!

A Good Walk Spoiled

Wasn't that how Mark Twain described the game of golf? Well, in this case the game of golf was a good way to raise money for an excellent cause- inclusion! Mitsubishi Electric America held their annual Hallway Golf competition in their plants around the US, and KIT was selected as the national charity for the event. This means that half of the money raised at each of the 9 events will be donated to KIT to support its important work. The other half is donated within each plant's community.


KIT CEO Jan Giacinti was able to attend the event in Orange County, CA. She reported that Mitsubishi workers designed miniature golf holes that were fun and creative with a theme of "cartoons." Students from Rancho Alamitos High School both participated in the event and voted on their favorite hole. The winning hole from each event gets shipped to the headquarters for their big, culminating event. The winning hole in the Southern California event was Finding Nemo.



KIT is grateful for the on-going support of Mitsubishi Electric America and excited that the Mitsubishi staff members around the country recognize the importance of inclusion. Thank you, Mitsubishi!

Sometimes the party is at our house...

In general this blog details the travel of KIT staff, as we promote inclusion across the country and even around the world. However, we do also have a brick and mortar location in San Diego where we present training, both for local and national audiences. In addition to our KIT trainings, many other groups use our beautiful space to hold committee meetings, presentations and retreats. This was the case this week, as we hosted the California After School Network Leadership Team for two days of meetings. Leadership Team members from around California came together to participate in a strategic planning event facilitated by Glen Price of the Glen Price Group. The strategic plan will guide the efforts of the network for the next three years.

The meeting was very well facilitated, participants were engaged and the outcome was positive. But, I am going to keep it real and admit that our beautiful space is not air conditioned. This is not usually a problem in San Diego, but we were having a heat wave this week where temps were 10-15 degrees above the average for late September. We did what we could with fans, windows and cold drinks, but it was pretty warm. Everyone did a great job of keeping their cool under steamy conditions.

The Real Thing

Meet Jan. She participated in Jump Rope Camp this summer at the City of Coronado. The City of Coronado is one of KIT's Alumni Affiliates and dedicated to the process of inclusion. As a trainer, I am always talking about inclusion, providing examples and creating scenarios to tackle with training participants. It is always refreshing to hear a story from the program's perspective - real and uncut. Here is how Recreation Specialist Sarah Melchert explained Jan's experience at camp:

"Jan truly benefited from inclusion this week. There were many girls who didn't think twice about including Jan in their group, during a game or even just an encouraging high five. Because of inclusion, Jan was able to [perform] the jump rope skills she saw [modeled] all around her which allowed her to improve and learn new skills. This is a skill Jan can practice and improve upon her whole life almost anywhere. A skill that will last! Way to go Jan!"

Sarah's enthusiasm for Jan's success came shining through in how she described the experience. Celebrating success is so important to the process of inclusion, which can sometimes present many challenges along the way to success. So I say, "Way to go City of Coronado!"

Free KIT Webinar for Back to School!

The school busses are lined up and ready to go...it's back to school! Is your program ready for the children and youth that will populate your after school community this fall? Have you brushed up your skills in supporting positive behavior so that the year gets off to a good start? If you are new to KIT, we invite you to participate in one of our free webinars "Best in Behavior" in September. You can sit at your desk (with a computer and a phone) and participate in a 30 minute experience. Our KIT Program Specialist, Nili Mathews, CTRS, will give practical tips on the inclusion of children with disabilities in out-of-school time programs.

Dates: September 16th at 12pm PDT and September 23rd at 10am PDT

To register, please email Amanda Caruso at amanda@kitonline.org

Thank you KIT interns!

This summer KIT was lucky enough to have 3 interns, who helped us in a variety of ways. Laura Smith, an undergrad from the University of Arizona worked on grant research and writing, in addition to helping with upcoming special events by tracking donations. She is also an accomplished oboe player, as you can see from the photo!

Priyam Chatterjee, receiving her Masters in Information Technology from Rochester Institute of Technology, supported KIT's work by enhancing our online capabilities and conducting a thorough usability study of our website. Carrie Narvesen, an undergrad in the Graphic Design program at Rochester Institute of Technology directly supported KIT's training by creating handouts for conference sessions, working on a Google map of places we've trained, working with evaluation data and preparing training materials.
We are all so grateful for their help and to show our appreciation we held a Thank You Picnic at the end of the summer. There was lovely San Diego weather, the beautiful Liberty Station setting, delicious cake and a special musical performance by Laura. Thank you Priyam, Carrie and Laura and best wishes to you all!

KIT a Hit at the LEAD Conference in DC

On August 14 I traveled to Washington, DC to attend the LEAD (Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability) conference. I was asked to co- present at this conference with my friend Sheri Sherman from the San Diego Zoo. We had a great time and our session was a hit. We presented on the building of bridges between the participants and their frontline staff and between them and their upper management. There were many sessions throughout LEAD on interesting topics I don’t usually get to hear about. One of the sessions I attended was on assistive technology. There are incredible items people have created to make museums, theater, and the arts more accessible. We were able to hear about these items, where they are being used and of course the cost so we can save up to have our very own. We were even able to test them out! Apparently they will be coming soon to Disneyland. What is it? Oh yes, sorry it is a hand held device, about the size of an iphone, (a little bigger) and it captions a predetermined script on an exhibit or attraction for those with hearing loss or who are deaf, in addition it can audio describe for individuals who are blind or have low vision. The changes in accessibility are quite amazing due to these types of technology.

Did you know that KIT will be co-hosting the LEAD conference next year with the San Diego Zoo? If you are a museum or cultural institution this would be a good conference for you to attend. The dates are August 26-29, 2010 in San Diego!

(pictured are Nili Mathews, KIT and Sheri Sherman and Bob Dillon, San Diego Zoo)

What We Did With Our Summer Vacation

The summer typically means less travel for the KIT staff. You are busy giving kids wonderful summer memories in camps, and we are busy at the KIT office creating new training, resources and materials that will be ready for you when the kids you serve are back in school. So, just when we settled in for the summer and got quite cozy in our office chairs...the phone rang and we were invited to visit the City of Brotherly Love to present at the US Army Exceptional Family Member Program manager's conference.

Of course, we never turn down a chance to talk about inclusion so off we went! Alissa and I flew to Philadelphia for a long (5 day) weekend to meet and mingle with EFMP managers from all over the world. Our session was lively and even though it was right after lunch the participants were very engaged and responsive. We also had a little time to see the historic sites of Philly, and while we did not eat Philly Cheese Steak (sorry, Philly, I am vegetarian) we did enjoy a huge pretzel.

Meanwhile, back at the KIT ranch there are a lot of exciting things going on. Have you heard about our upcoming fundraiser?

We hope your summer is going well and that you are making magic for children with and without disabilities. Remember to be in touch if there is anything we can do to help ensure that all children can enjoy a summer camp experience.

Trip to North Carolina

I recently returned from a great trip to North Carolina. I had the pleasure of visiting several branches of the YMCA of the Triangle. The YMCA of the Triangle located in Raleigh North Carolina is one of KIT’s national affiliates. My guides through the YMCA of the Triangle were Yo and Marco two of North Carolina’s finest gentlemen; they are both associate executive directors for YMCA branches. My guides showed me the in’s and out’s of YMCA facilities and programming, highlighting summer camps and after school programs all of which are inclusive. Along the way on our two day tour I was able to meet the real stars of inclusion the young vibrant staff that stand out in my mind as the frontline heroes of our philosophy. The tireless job (and it is because I’ve done it) of being with kids 8 hours a day educating and entertaining and maintaining an inclusive environment is made to seem effortless by these frontline heroes. I really enjoyed thinking back to my summer camp days and the great stories I had about the wonderful people I worked with and those I supported.

Inclusion is such a passion for me and when I see the champion in others to promote it, I get all fired up!

A very special Thank You to my hosts, and true gentlemen, Yo and Marco. Thanks for the tour, the food, and especially the air-conditioning.

Also cheers to my buddies Janet and Anna for hanging with me during my stay always good to travel and see friends.

Nili

Janet George Shares Her 5 Questions for Families

Hi, I am Janet George, School Age Specialist for the Child Care Services Association in Wake County, North Carolina.

Last night I facilitated the Opening Doors to Inclusive Programs: Partnering with Families module for staff from child care centers who provide school age care. They really kept me on my toes! The participants were interactive and voiced strong opinions and beliefs. I think some were initially challenged with the strategies I asked them to employ but they left with new ideas and a willingness to try!

Throughout the evening we discussed many things, including the importance of building the relationship. As a group, we had to shift from a place where we think the parents are “not really interested” and/or “don’t have time” to a place of recognizing that families do want what is best for their children but there may be constraints we are not aware of that interfere. We agreed that creating a welcoming environment and working to figure out how to communicate successfully with families is really important. During the discussion I shared with them 5 questions I like to ask when establishing a relationship with families, and then we conducted an interview with parents in the room using the 5 questions. This approach put providers and parents at ease, and the providers get great information about the children. This is also a great first step to establishing a positive partnership with the family.

These are the 5 questions:
1. What does your child do that makes you laugh/smile?
2. What does your child do that makes him laugh/smile?
3. What are some things that upset your child?
4. What does it look like when your child is upset?
5. How does your child calm herself when she is upset? Does she need help to calm?

Historically, families of children with disabilities are asked about their child’s challenges, difficulties, etc as a first step. Using the questions above allows the parents to share what is important to them and gives the provider insight to likes, dislikes, strengths, needs, potential challenging behaviors and strategies to support the child!

Camp Winacka

Camp Counselors, Camp Winacka, Julian, CA

Girl Scouts are so much fun! Nili and I had the opportunity to train camp counselors working at a residential camp in Julian, CA yesterday. Hundreds of Girl Scouts will spend up to 13 days at the residential camp this summer. In two hours, we covered respectful accommodations, examples of accommodations and practiced making accommodations to games. Counselors learned drama-based games and brainstormed ideas for making accommodations for children with different types of disabilities to participate in the games. When asked the one thing they learned in the training that they will take with them, participants commented:

• "A person doesn't necessarily need to know everything to modify an activity for everyone."
• "The thought of being purposeful and aware of the kids."
• "How easy it is to adjust games without singling kids out."
• "Sometimes what you come up with is even better than the original activity, which is pretty cool."

Even though we got lost on the way and took a very lengthy detour to get there, it was a great experience. Julian is also famous for their apple pies so we stopped on the way back for some spectacular apple boysenberry pie!

Business Travel Has its Perks!

As you can tell by the blog, the KIT team has been traveling a lot lately! This trip to Washington DC actually took place May 20-22, but we are just now finding space for it on the blog. Nili and I traveled to DC together. I was attending the Including Samuel Summit and Nili was presenting a training for the Choral Arts Society of Washington, DC.

The perks of which I speak were in this case GIANT cookies from the Firehook Bakery & Coffee House in DuPont Circle. That cookie is bigger than Nili's head! We excitedly took it back to our hotel room and devoured it while watching the season finale of American Idol. Our other great find in DC was The Darlington House restaurant. If you are headed to DC and looking for a nice meal in a lovely setting, we give this one our recommendation.

OK, it wasn't all about the food. We did do some work on the trip. Nili worked with a great group of teaching artists who go into the schools. They took KIT's Supporting Positive Behavior and Supporting Social Emotional Needs training. Nili was very impressed with this group! While Nili was training, I was at the National Education Association at a meeting led by Working Films. They pulled together a group of twenty or so representatives from national organizations supporting inclusion and disability to discuss a strategy for using Dan Habib's beautiful film Including Samuel to promote inclusion at a grass-roots level. It was a great day, and good to see so many of our colleagues and collaborators face to face.

Mary in New Mexico

This is Mary Shea again and I just completed a 3 day trip to beautiful Albuquerque, New Mexico where I did my site visit with one of our MEAF National Affiliates, the Bernalillo County Parks and Recreation Department. (By the way, there will be a test at the end of this blog to see how many of you can spell Albuquerque the first time!) I think it is one of the hardest words I have ever had to spell.

I flew on Memorial Day and I would recommend that option to anyone who doesn’t like crowded airports. It was a pretty quiet day in the skies and no one else was at the rental car counter so that was quick and I was at the hotel in downtown Albuquerque by early afternoon (of course I left my house at 4:00 am). I took a long walk downtown later in the day to get some exercise (hot and muggy weather) but it was a very quiet day because it was a holiday and few folks were downtown so it was peaceful.


Tuesday morning began with Jeffrey Paul, the Inclusion Manager for the County’s Parks and Recreation Department picking me up at the hotel and we began driving to Community Centers all across the county, which was very large and very diverse. Jeff had arranged and confirmed all the appointments so when we arrived I was able to tour the facilities and meet with staff and most directors. It was their time to ask specific questions about their programs and services as well as specific children they were supporting that they were having challenges with. It was a good day and I met with 5 of the 7 directors and approximately 18 - 20 full time staff and I was able to provide some quality site specific consultation.



The next day involved a full day of training at Mountain View Community Center where almost all staff (50 total) from the recreation department as well as 5 of the newly hired inclusion facilitators were in attendance. We did 3 of the KIT core modules (Respectful Accommodations, Supporting Positive Support, and Partnering with Families, and we addressed some specific issues in supporting children with attention deficit disorders. The staff really seemed to enjoy the training and activities and besides the fire alarm going off and having to evacuate the building quickly, the day seemed very successful and empowering to the staff. It was a very pleasant surprise to have both the Director and Assistant Director of Bernalillo Parks and Recreation Department stop by the training during the day and show their support for inclusion.

This visit was short and very busy but well planned and efficient and Jeff has done a great job in the 2 years he has been with the department. By the way, he told me he had an opportunity to apply for last minute stimulus funding that had come to their county and that is how he was able to hire 8 additional staff for summer programming! Wouldn’t that be a wonderful treat to every one of you if that was available?

Summer is finally here so wishing you all a peaceful summer and good luck with summer camps and programs and enjoy each and every day you get to spend with those joyful children whose parents have entrusted your with their care 

Training at the Montclair YMCA

Camp Directors pose for a photo after participating in a training.

I just spent the week facilitating training for the Montclair YMCA in Montclair, New Jersey. The Montclair YMCA is one of our ten national affiliate programs funded by the Mitsubishi Electric Ameria Foundation (MEAF). Since I am originally from Massachusetts, I love spending time on the East Coast. The people I had the opportunity to meet were amazing. From the Director of Development to the Program Director and Managers, Camp Directors, and After Care and Summer staff, I was impressed with the thought they put into questions and comments during trainings. We covered a lot of different topics from On Common Ground: Activities that Facilitate Inclusion to Ready, Set, Summer and discovered ways to support children with and without disabilities in programs at the Montclair YMCA. I was delighted to see an After Care Site Director facilitating an activity she learned during a training with children at her site the next day. It was great to see how she had taken the information and applied it directly to her program. The Program Directors were great hosts (see below) and I had a wonderful time getting to know them and experiencing their programs and city.

Megan Chell, Adrienne Fuller, and Alissa Lavelle

Mary Shea visits Lee's Summit, MO

This is Mary Shea and I am writing as I return from Lee's Summit, Missouri after two days of training and consultation with the leadership and staff of Kids Country, one of our newest MEAF national affiliates. It was an energizing and busy couple of days and the staff I worked with was enthusiastic, well prepared for my visit and very welcoming.

It was Sunday (Mother's Day) and I arrived in Kansas City, got my rental car and drive 40 miles south to Lee's Summit, a town with a population of 82,820. It was a sunny day but managed to rain before the night was over, which is very typical of Midwest spring and summer days as I recall from growing up in Wisconsin. The rain was good-it kept me in the hotel reviewing the 3" notebook of policies and procedures, marketing materials, history and highlights of Kids Country over the past 13 years.

Kids Country is the before and after school provider for the 17 schools in the Lee's Summit R-7 School District and all the staff are school district employees. Monday morning started with Dawn Butler, Coordinator of Kids Country and Kristi Fate, Assistant Program Coordinator, both of who, I would spend many hours with during the next two days,s tarting our visits to Longview Farm Elementary School, which was a beautifully refurbished historic horsebarn and I was able to observe the before school program and start my day smiling watching kindergartners and 1st through 6th graders enjoying themselves at play- what a joy!

We spent the rest of the morning (after some good Seattle coffee) reviewing policies, procedures and programs, and outlining our goals for the visit. At lunch the three of us met with the Executive Director of Special Education Services and the Director of Classified Personnel and supervisor of Kids Country and we were joined by Christy Weber, a Registered Nurse and the newest hire on the leadership team. We made several more site visits in the afternoon where I met with and observed some terrific site supervisors and program staff engaged with kids and providing some excellent programs.

That night the entire Kids Country staff (~100) attended the Fear Factor workshop and once we gave them box dinners and let them wind down for a few minutes after working all day, we had a wonderful workshop and lots of energy and great ideas coming from the staff. It was a big success and thanks to Nancy McCutcheon, Quality Advisor, who prepared all the materials and coordinated the training.

Tuesday started with another site visit and was followed by training for the 21 members of the leadership team which included all 17 site coordinators, Dawn, Kristi, Christy and Nancy where I reviewed indicators of quality programming and introduced strategies to support and empower staff. That meeting was followed by a Community Meeting where afterschool directors of 5 other cities in the Kansas City metropolitan area as well as the Director of Parks and Recreation for Lee's Summit and a parent came together to learn more about Kids Country and how they were progressing in their journey to inclusion. Dawn and I led them through the session identifying strengths and challenges of inclusion in their currently existing systems and Dawn, who is a legitimate boundary crosser committed Kids Country to share lessons learned, strategies and resources and together the community group re-affirmed their commitment to ensure that children and youth with disabilities in all of their cities would have access to quality afterschool programming. They are actually planning to host a statewide conference next year on that very issue and I am 100% sure it will happen!

Our afternoon ended with some last minute review of marketing material as well as strategic planning including suggesting a change in the current Kids Country Parent Advisory Committee (PAC). To date the program has had the Advisory Committee and a separate but parallel committee, the Ability Awareness Team (parents of children and youth with disabilities). With some reflection and guided instruction (my very favorite thing to do), Dawn and Kristi and I were able to draft an agenda for the evening PAC meeting where Dawn would introduce the concept of combining both groups of parents as well as inviting other people from the community who are interested in kids and families and would commit as stakeholders to this community vision. It was very well attended and Dawn did an outstanding job of inviting them all to this new process and two hours later they were still meeting in one of four individual subcommittees that would address program, professional development, cultural competence and diversity, and funding and sustainability. The energy in the room was infectious and when I returned to my hotel room 13 hours after the day started, I could only smile and be reassured that these Kids Country folks would continue to make a difference in the lives of children and youth with disabilities and their families, not only in Lee's Summit but in the entire state of Missouri and probably across the river in Kansas!

Meet Alissa Lavelle

As promised, I am going to use this blog post to brag about another KIT superstar- Alissa Lavelle. If you have scheduled or attended a KIT training, you have probably encountered Alissa. In addition to her outstanding work developing curriculum and organizing training events, Alissa also frequently facilitates training. One of our other KIT trainers dubbed her the "power pack." It's true. Alissa is a big ball of passion and fire in a small package. She has a wealth of both knowledge and practical experience, which can be a surprise to our training participants as she also looks a lot younger than her chronological age. Learn more about Alissa and her background on the KIT website.
Alissa's interests related to inclusion are very broad. She frequently researches new topics for training, and her initiatives have included popular training sessions on supporting children's social-emotional needs, creating behavior plans and examining your physical and sensory environment. In the above photo she teaches basic sign language to a group of participants taking a training on accommodations for children with autism spectrum disorders. You can view one of Alissa's recent webinars on the topics of helping children understand their peers with autism or how attachment affects inclusion.

At KIT, staff members tend to wear a lot of different hats. As you can see from the photos, Alissa has served as a model for our new inclusion t-shirts, a trainer, an actor in the video shoot for the eLearning module on Supporting Positive Behavior and the manager of the Snow Zone at a KIT sponsored community festival.

If you haven't had a chance to attend one of Alissa's live trainings or webinars, then I recommend that you do! Check the training calendar to find an upcoming event.

Best Kept Secret

In today's post, I'd like to share with you one of KIT's best kept secrets. A best kept secret is something that is an outstanding service, that many people don't even know about. We actually have a couple of these little gems, so I'll share them with you over the next month or so in the blog. Today's secret is our helpline, which is managed by KIT's Program Specialist, Nili Mathews.



The purpose of the helpline is to provide customized inclusion support for staff at child and youth programs. The service is FREE. I'll say it again. The service is FREE. All you have to do is email your question to help at kitonline dot org (spelling it out to protect us from spammers!) and Nili will respond with an email or phone call and help you with any inclusion-related challenge.






Just so you know what kind of excellent quality you are getting with this service, let me tell you a little bit about Nili. She will not be happy that I am doing this, so I hope she doesn't read the blog. Anyway, Nili has been at KIT since the beginning. In fact, she worked in the original program that became KIT. She then spent years working for the YMCAs in San Diego County as an inclusion specialist, while also serving as a KIT trainer. Nili joined the KIT staff several years ago to head up a project funded by First Five. Nili is a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS) and she has over 20 years of experience serving people with disabilities in recreation activities.



Many of you have experienced Nili's dynamic and engaging training sessions. She is the only KIT trainer who always gets comments on evaluation forms that she is funny. I believe that people learn better when they are having fun and laughing, so I appreciate Nili's lighthearted approach to training. What you may not have experienced is Nili's ability to come up with accommodations for situations on-the-spot. She is a good listener and committed to helping youth development professionals work through challenges and find solutions. She has experience in many types of early childhood and after school settings. If you email the helpline with a question about how to better serve a child in your program, you will receive some great recommendations of things to try.

I am so grateful for the amazing, passionate and talented people I get to work with at KIT. In my next post I plan to brag about KIT's Program Coordinator, Alissa Lavelle.

Images of inclusion

I am back in the KIT office in San Diego after my trip visiting Metropolitan Family Service (MFS) in Portland, OR and facilitating a two-day training with child care providers in Pleasant Hill, CA. Having the opportunity to get out and do training with child and youth professionals and hear their voices is always an eye-opening experience. I was particularly impressed with the words and images chosen by site coordinators and program managers at MFS when they were asked to portray what inclusion means to them during a focus group. Every organization possesses its own strengths and faces unique challenges with regards to inclusion. It always amazes me that no matter what the organization's strengths and challenges may be, the individuals working within the organization always touch upon the central themes of acceptance, belonging, and support when asked to describe what inclusion means to them.

I love Portland!

I am very excited to be visiting one of our national affiliates, Metropolitan Family Service (MFS) in Portland, OR. From the eco-friendly toilets at the airport to the awesome public transportation, giant bookstores and little coffee shops, this is a great city. Today I had the opportunity to meet the executive team at MFS, facilitate a training for program managers, site coordinators, activity leaders, go out for a healthy lunch with the program managers, and still have time to visit two after-school program sites. Metropolitan Family Service is a non-profit organization dedicated to building stronger communities by providing services, connecting people with resources and offering volunteer opportunities throughout the Portland, Oregon region (www.metfamily.org). I was so impressed with the thoughtful questions and comments participants had during the training and seeing them "in action" at the sites. One school site I visited had a welcoming and calming environment. The quiet area below was in the hallway (left) and the cafeteria included a living room area (right). Tomorrow we are going to hold a focus group with the site coordinators to identify their needs for training and support for inclusion and next steps to ensure every child is successful.

KIT Goes International!

This is an exciting week in KIT-land! We will be conducting our first international site visit at the Navy Child & Youth Programs (CYP) in Naples, Italy. The visit actually occurs next week, but the travel part later this week. The goal of the visit is to orient the CYP professionals to KIT's services, visit the facilities and meet the staff and provide consultation on the CYP process of in-take for families with children with special needs. I will also meet with the regional staff from Navy CYP Europe and discuss the best ways to provide inclusion support to overseas installations. There will also be gelato involved and a visit to the famous pizzeria that has been described as the "sacred temple of pizza."

We cannot say enough about the Navy's commitment to the inclusion of children with disabilities and other special needs. They are looking at inclusion systemically and working on process and program improvements at every level. This is truly a top-down and bottom-up approach to organizational change. In many cases we have seen organizations whose journey to inclusion rests on the shoulders of one or two change agents. Once these one or two people leave the organization, or get promoted or relocated, the process of inclusion is hard to sustain for the rest of the staff left behind. In our work we caution these change agents to share their work with others and to develop and implement strategies that don't rely on them for success. The US Navy has change agents at every level and at every installation we have encountered thus far. Their energy and enthusiasm about inclusion is inspiring and we are so grateful for the opportunity to partner with such committed, dedicated professionals.

Ciao!

Hi from Orlando, FL!

Alissa and I are in Orlando doing training for the Training & Curriculum Specialists in Navy Child & Youth Programs. There are 100 of them here, and they represent Navy installations from all over the world. In fact, today we had lunch with 2 wonderful T & Cs from Italy and they shared a lot of interesting information about life on and off a military base in a foreign country.

In addition to the training we have provided, we have been able to informally talk to people at the meals and networking events. We are getting so much good feedback from the field about KIT's eLearning modules. Almost 2,000 Navy CYP professionals have completed the four self-paced modules so far. Go Navy! It is nice to hear that people are finding the modules both helpful to their work and fun to do.

We have one more day here and then we are back on Southwest Airlines headed for home. Alissa and I are both feeling very grateful that we get to work with people that are so committed to serving children and that we have the opportunity to spread the message of inclusion far and wide.

Here We Are at KIT's 5th Annual National Conference!

Today the blog is coming to you from KIT's 5th Annual National Conference on Inclusion! There are participants here from all over the United States, plus Japan and Australia! Many of KIT's partners are in attendance, including our newest partner the U.S. Navy Child and Youth Programs. There are people from early childhood programs, YMCAs, Boys & Girls Clubs, after school programs, dance companies, theatres, city parks and recreation departments just to name a few. 

Yesterday we kicked off the conference with a wonderful featured presentation by a 19 year old advocate Tyler Greene. If you missed the conference, we encourage you to check out his website.

More on the conference and some great photos in future posts. Oh, and we will be making many of the conference sessions available online in the next few weeks. 

"I could talk about this stuff for hours."

Yesterday I happened to be in the Apple store in Brea, CA. All the staff was wearing t-shirts that said "I could talk about this stuff for hours." Meaning, obviously, Apple products. But, my first thought went to inclusion. That is how I feel about inclusion. I could talk about it for hours. And I often do when I train around the country. I know that this is how Nili, Alissa and Mary and all of our KIT trainers feel- they could share their passion for inclusion for hours and hours. I feel so grateful to get to share my passion as my profession, and grateful for all of you who promote and support inclusion in your daily work. This movement of inclusion of children with disabilities in community life is so important, so critical to the future and in difficult times like these we need to reinstate our dedication to our cause.

So, today is the Inauguration of President Barack Obama. What an amazing day. What a day for all of us who work for the inclusion of all people. What a day for Americans to come together and celebrate our history of democracy. What a day to hope for the future and commit ourselves to making the world a better place than it is today.

I know that this blog is supposed to document the travel adventures of our trainers. And we will be doing a lot of travel in the coming months as we visit our new partners in Navy Child and Youth Programs around the world. However, I would also like to use this space as a forum to share, discuss and even to dream a little about the future. Especially today, when the future holds such promise.