Kids overcome fears at social skills summer camp

By Diane Davies-Dixon

Smiles lit up the stage as nearly 50 children took turns revealing their talents.

Dressed in costumes made with their own hands and using props they made, the kids enthralled their audience of parents and staff members.

For six weeks, students diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism or anxiety disorders have attended summer camp in the Bristol Township School District to learn social skills that will help them function easier in society.

The talent show is part of the curriculum, according to JoAnne Allison, district supervisor of special education.

“The kids have to work in groups to develop ideas. They learn to be comfortable with what they are doing,” said Allison. “They learn to listen and learn to encourage each other.”

Those skills may come easily to many kids, but not to those with ADHD, autism or anxiety disorders, she said. 

On Thursday, the campers hosted their talent show in the auditorium of Neil A. Armstrong Middle School in Bristol Township. The performance marked the grand finale of the summer camp.

The school district partnered with the Delaware Valley Children’s Center to run the specialized camp for students aged 6 to 14. The nonprofit center is based in Wrightstown and specializes in autism diagnosis and treatment.

“It’s not often that you see a school district and behavioral partner work together,” said Allison.

During the third week of camp, the teachers began discussing the talent show with the children to help them get ideas. By the fifth week, the students had decided what they would do in the show

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Rain stops in time for grads

By Diane Davies-Dixon

Bill Fraser/Staff Photographer

The sky opened up and the rain poured down. People in the stands ran for cover, many taking shelter underneath the bleachers.

But the rain stopped in time for the ceremony to begin. Staff quickly dried off the chairs with towels and leaf blowers for graduates of the the Harry S. Truman class of 2013 to sit on.

A blue sky reappeared, chasing away the gray just long enough for speeches to be heard.

Senior David Andrew Micholas, president of the National Honor Society, gave the opening remarks.

“We are gathered to celebrate the end of our time together,” said Micholas.

Bill Fraser/Staff Photographer

“The memories we made will be behind us as we go our separate ways,” he said. “But today also brings new beginnings for us to grow stronger.”

Class President Luke John Robinson began his speech with a moment of silence for Eddie Brodecki a classmate killed in a one-car accident last April.

“There may be an empty seat. But he sits beside us getting his diploma.”

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Kelly's quest for the Silver

By Diane Davies-Dixon Correspondent 

Posted on September 3, 2012

• 
  by Carl LaVO

In a year of the just-completed Olympic Games, 13-year-old Kelly Young is closing in on a Silver.

A Girl Scout since kindergarten, the Lower Makefield teen is in line for Scouting’s second highest honor — the Silver Award — for leadership and community involvement.

She released scores of monarch butterflies this summer at the Silver Lake Nature Center in Bristol Township as part of a project she designed to help sustain the threatened species.

The Girl Scout Cadette had to search for a meaningful project to the community as part of her reach for the silver. Her love of butterflies inspired the idea of releasing the colorful insects as part of summer camp at the nature center. Jenn Bilger, coordinator of volunteers at the center, thought it was a great idea.

As Kelly put it about her interest in science, “It just felt natural to pick this project.”

With the backing of the Girl Scouts’ regional council, she formed a team of girls — some scouts and some not, as required by Girl Scouts — and waited for painted lady monarch caterpillars to arrive in the mail.

To her disappointment, they all died within the first few days.

With additional caterpillars on the way, Kelly trekked to the Delaware Canal to pick milkweed leaves with monarch caterpillar eggs on them. Eight eggs were collected. None survived.

The mail finally brought live caterpillars, settled into a salad container full of milkweed leaves. Survivors at last.

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King for the night

By Diane Davies-Dixon Correspondent | 0 comments

The secret was well-kept.

The teachers, staff and students at Harry S. Truman High School were left in the dark, as is the tradition, about the nominees for prom king and queen.

But when they found out who would be crowned king at Pen Ryn Mansion in Bensalem recently, they could not have been happier or more emotional.

That’s because the Class of 2012 didn’t go with the all-star jock or the class president. They didn’t pick the star of the school play.

Instead, they chose Michael Zielinski, 18, a life skills student who attended all special education classes except for gym.

“It was exciting,” said Zielinski, who had never before attended a prom.

“When Michael was crowned prom king, he was so excited,’’ said his prom date Adriana Stephenson, a senior at Bucks County Technical High School. “He was jumping up to pump up the crowd. He is such a nice guy and everyone seems to know him because of his outgoing personality. I met a countless number of his friends. As his friend myself, it was my pleasure to go to the prom with him.”

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