Blue Valley Educational Foundation

MIDDLE SCHOOL
Sensory Stimulation for Students with Disabilities
Leawood Middle School $4,200.00
Authors: Debbie Matthews and Mary Yakle
The program is to enhance the sensory systems of students with severe
disabilities. When the visual, auditory and tactile systems are stimulated, these
students are better able to move and attend to a wider variety of tasks. This
sensory stimulation equipment enhances their positions to improve their
self-esteem, their ability to function, and their ability to make progress in the
educational setting.
Partially funded by JP Morgan.
“This new equipment stimulates the visual, auditory
and tactile systems and our students are better able to
move and attend to a wider variety of tasks.”
Mary Beth Yakle, BVSD occupational therapist
Shout Out: Celebrating Our Voices!
Pleasant Ridge Middle School $2,400.00
Author: Kelly Utley
Although all writing processes mention the role of publishing, students
are rarely given the opportunity to share their work with the community.
Our goal is to enrich student creativity, promote writing skills, increase
self-awareness and enhance self-esteem by providing PRMS students an
opportunity to share their creative writing and artwork in a school-wide
magazine. Students interested in the publishing process will also have an
opportunity to work on the magazine design and layout monthly.
“You’d be surprised that we got submissions from all different
kinds of kids at our school. Hopefully kids will have a new
respect for the poets and artists in our community.”
Katie Flessas, 8th grade student editor