I've (Been to) Kansas City...Kansas City (There I Was)

At KIT one of our big hopes is that people who learn about inclusion will take their knowledge and spread it around. It’s obviously great if people learn new techniques to include children with disabilities and go back and use them in their own classrooms and programs, but it is even better if people take the message and philosophy of inclusion and share it with their colleagues so that it completely permeates an organization. We’ve seen organizations be absolutely transformed by inclusion- the concept of ensuring that every child is welcomed, valued and supported.

A wonderful example of this “psst…pass it along” is the after school program called Kids Country in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. Over the past several years Kids Country has been a National Affiliate of KIT, a program that is generously funded by the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation (MEAF). To say that we have been impressed with them would be a big, big understatement. In addition to doing the hard internal work of examining their own programs to improve inclusiveness, they have also been spreading the word about the value of inclusion far and wide in the state of Missouri. At our recent National Conference on Inclusion we honored their efforts with our highest honor, the KIT Leadership Award.

The staff of Lee's Summit Kids Country accepting their award.

This past weekend I attended the Missouri School Age Care Professional Development Institute (PDI), where I was a keynote speaker and presenter. This year’s PDI was organized by the staff at Kids Country and held in Kansas City. I was absolutely blown away by how the Kids Country staff incorporated inclusion as a theme throughout the event. Their passion for access and inclusion was obvious in their large-scale decisions (keynote speakers) and even in the smallest details (wonderful quotes about inclusion in their conference program).

Me with Tyler Greene- check out his video

So, thank you Lee’s Summit Kids Country! Spending the weekend with you and the dedicated professionals from the state of Missouri was an absolute gift.

Inclusion is…taking your passion and sharing it with others.

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The Conference Afterglow

I love a good conference, don’t you? One that inspires you and helps you go back to your real life feeling refreshed and recharged. One that allows you to experience different perspectives, and perhaps even some with which you might not fully agree. And one that gives you the chance to meet incredible people doing their great work all over the world. Yes, if a conference can do all this for me, I am happy. Of course, a pretty location and good food don’t hurt either.

Last week was KIT’s 6th Annual National Conference on Inclusion. Even though our KIT team was in charge of ensuring that the conference happened, I really spent a lot of time feeling like a learner and participant. I listened with rapt attention to our keynote speaker LeDerick Horne, as he shared the experiences that have driven him to be a poetic activist. I attended break-out sessions with passionate, committed people like Micaela Connery of Unified Theatre in Connecticut. And I got to meet incredible practitioners, like the team from Washington PAVE. I truly hope that our presenters and conference attendees feel like they got an inspiring and informational learning experience. Because they all sure taught me a lot!

More photos will be on the new KIT website soon!

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Tooting the KIT Horn

It may not be polite or modest to toot your own horn. However, we are very proud of something that has happened at KIT this week, so I am going to ignore modesty and share it with you. I think you’ll be interested, as it means that the training you receive from KIT now has even more benefits for you.

In November of 2009 (and thanks to Qualcomm, who supported this effort) we began the process to become an Authorized Provider of IACET, the International Association for Continuing Education and Training. Authorized Providers (APs) are organizations that meet IACET's internationally recognized continuing education and training standard and therefore may award IACET Continuing Education Units (CEUs). The process involved completing an extensive application that detailed every aspect of our policies and procedures at the National Training Center on Inclusion in 10 categories. Our 123-page application was completed in March and submitted for review. In late May we were notified that our application passed the initial review phase with flying colors, and we were to move onto the site visit. There were additional documents to prepare for the site visit, who came July 2nd to verify our information and examine our learning management system. It was a rigorous process, and it was probably similar to the accreditation processes that many of you go through for your programs. On July 12th we were notified that we had been approved as an IACET Authorized Provider!

Are you still with me? Are you wondering what this means for you? Now, the CEUs that KIT offers it’s training participants through the National Training Center on Inclusion are recognized as meeting the industry standard. People earning our CEUs will be able to use them for purposes of re-certification, salary advancement and as a significant boost to their resume. Check out the list of companies that accept CEUs from IACET Authorized Providers!

If you are interested in earning CEUs you can download the form and get started attending live or online training with KIT’s National Training Center on Inclusion!

Summer Camp Super Powers- Part I

Here we are. Another summer camp season upon us. Even though I have worked for KIT for the past 7 years, and haven’t been in the thick of summer camp, I am still very attuned to it. Kind of like when you are in your mid-late 20’s, your school days long past, but every August you get the urge to buy some new binders, pencils and a new pair of school shoes.

On June 5th I was honored to give the keynote presentation for the American Camping Association Southern California/Hawaii Chapter’s Staff Training Day. Their theme was “Be a Camp Super Hero” and I tailored my presentation to reflect their theme. It gave me a chance to spend some time thinking about what makes someone instinctively good at including all children. I’ve seen, and I am sure you have too, some people who are just naturals. Their ability doesn’t come from any training or education they’ve had, although learning new skills is absolutely a plus. These super heroes of inclusion bring with them personality traits that serve them well in this business.

So, what are these traits? Here are my Top 4 Super Powers for inclusion in summer camp. I am going to go through them individually in the next four blog posts. I invite you to personally reflect on these. What are your super powers? Could you work on strengthening any of these areas in order to provide better service to children and families this summer?

The first one is….FLEXIBILITY. The ability to bend, stretch and contort to meet the needs of the children and families in the program, while still maintaining consistency and order.

It’s true that structure and boundaries are good for kids, and without policies your program would have a hard time functioning. But, in summer camp you also need to be able to loosen your grip on the structure so that you can see the big picture. Let’s say that after lunch each day your campers have a restful, quiet time. However, this particular day there has been an assembly in the morning where the kids were sitting for an hour or more. By lunch they have a lot of energy they need to burn off. Can you change gears and instead of more restful, quiet time can you throw in some gross motor activities? If you firmly held to the established schedule of quiet time after lunch, you may end up spending the afternoon trying to manage behavior because the kids are not getting what they needed at that moment. Make sense?

Remember to use flexibility this summer. See if you can follow the needs of the children in your care just a little bit more and see what benefits that brings to your campers, their families and to you.

On the Road Again!

Today I am packing up and getting ready for a couple of trainings on the east coast next week. I think I can speak for Nili and Alissa also when I say that we love nothing more than getting out of the office, hitting the road and talking inclusion with people. Presenting a KIT training is a wonderful give and take with the participants. We learn a lot of them, and we hope they learn a lot from us. Our trainings are designed to make people think about inclusion in both large ways and small everyday, simple ways. We want people to take their new perspectives out of the classroom and into their lives. We also want them to commit to being flexible and willing to adapt some of their ingrained practices, if it will better support a child in their care. Changing practices is very difficult, takes sustained effort and constant reminders. Knowing this, KIT staff is always there to prompt, nudge and remind. We have developed online resources and tools for people to help them on the journey. We let people at our trainings know that we are just an email or phone call away. We don’t want our trainings to be a one-shot deal. “I came, I learned about inclusion, then I went back to doing what I have always done.” No, no, no, no, no. It’s a process and we are there to support each of our learners along the way.

That’s why it is so exciting to be preparing for a trip. There will be new people to meet and invite to join us on this beautiful path of inclusion.

June 10th, The Art of Inclusion in the Theater Arts Classroom, VSA International Conference, Washington DC. Co-presenting with Imagination Stage, Inc. Our 2009 Leadership Award winners!

June 11th- Success with Challenging Behavior: ADHD and Make & Take Accommodations, Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital, Washington DC.

Safe and happy travels wherever you are headed this summer!

Don't forget to register for the KIT National Conference on Inclusion! We want to see you at the Bahia Resort in San Diego, September 29-October 1, 2010!

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.