Ridge Elementary Students Attend Disability Awareness Day
Ridge – Ridge Elementary School students recently participated in a special event to increase their knowledge about disabilities and foster positive attitudes about people living with disabilities.
Coordinated by Ridge Elementary School Counselor Kristen Kopp, Disability Awareness Day provided the students with a unique opportunity to learn compassion and sensitivity when dealing with someone who looks or acts differently.
To provide hands-on activities demonstrating the difficulties and frustrations someone with a disability may experience in their everyday life, 13 workstations were located throughout the gym focusing on different classifications including, learning disabilities, autism, intellectual disabilities, speech/language impairments and visual/hearing impairments.
Members of Longwood High School’s Best Buddies Club volunteered their time and spoke about their own personal experiences with disabilities or the challenges they encounter living with family members with disabilities. Launched in 2016, the Best Buddies High School Club promotes one-on-one friendships between students with intellectual and developmental disabilities and those without a disability, within the school.
“It was incredible to see the connection made between the high school students and our students here at Ridge,” said school counselor Kristen Kopp. “Whether it was during their time sharing personal stories or running an activity table, our elementary students were not only engaged but also heard some very powerful messages.”
Photo: Longwood Central School District | To experience the challenges of a physical disability first-hand, students Taylin Bennett, Andrew Totter, Matthew Valentin and Timothy Jackson place socks on their hands to complete tasks.
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