Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Comfort Room

Some students struggle with sensory overload which leads to a state of severe agitation and anxiety and of course can impact academic success. Aware of this issue and its impact on classroom success, Gillis School Director, Pam Sanders, began to seek a solution. She discovered that research suggests that sensory activities such as rocking in a chair and drawing can combat this issue. Sensory activities help students better comprehend their environment, develop and engage new neural pathways in the brain, increase body awareness, and develop language. Thus, the Comfort Room was born in the Gillis School. To help students find school success, they are now offered a visit to the Comfort Room to help gain composure and to avoid any crisis behavior. Many have already found that this is the one thing that really helps them refocus and we can see this impact in their learning. The room includes an oversized soft chair that rocks, a CD player with head phones, bean bag chairs, journaling and art supplies, yoga mats, nature and relaxation CD’s, scenic posters on the walls, a large comfortable rug, an aromatherapy diffuser kit, and a sound machine. A special thank you to our donors who supplied the necessary items for the Comfort Room.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Transformation

Transformation
We see transformation at Gillis in many ways – through the new found hope of a child who has finally met someone who wants to become his adoptive parent, through the mother who has regained the love and respect of her daughter who she once abused, through the student who can finally finish a chapter book with the help of a caring volunteer and through the many children who leave Gillis after they’ve found the healing they desperately need and an improved path for their future.
Recently we provided our students the opportunity to be the ones providing transformation. The art room needed a fresh look and each student got to be a part of making it happen. They each got to paint a canvas in true artist style; messy! They wore a trash bag and flung paint against the canvas. There were two distinct results…the renewed art room and the unexpected impact on the students.
They walked away with inspiration to make their world look renewed and transformed the want they want…to design and create their own personal masterpiece. Each student has a renewed outlook on themselves and their surroundings. It’s sometimes the unintended outcomes that are the most bittersweet.

Monday, September 30, 2013

Harvesters BackSnack Program


On Friday mornings Gillis students and staff can be found sorting through boxes of food to organize and prepare for the distribution of Harvesters BackSnack program to Day Treatment Students.  Not only does this program allow for the distribution of over 100 meals a month to families in need, but it also provides a space for Gillis students to practice serving one another.

Each week, 25 Gillis students are sent home with a BackSnack backpack full of non-perishable foods to ensure they will have food available throughout the weekend.  Harvesters provides the food and the backpacks, and Gillis Day Treatment employees collect the backpacks, clean them out and pack them with food. Schools distribute the backpacks on Friday to students who bring them back on Monday to start the process again.  Studies by the Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership have shown that as a result of participating in the program students’ absences and tardies decrease, discipline issues decrease, and both social skills and grades improve.

The BackSnack program is a way that the Day Treatment School is able to go above and beyond meeting our students’ and families’ needs in the community outside of the normal school day.  Not only does it help meet a huge need in our community, but it allows opportunities for the development of social responsibility in our students.  Knowing that we are able to assist our families beyond the walls of the school building is extremely important, and I feel this program does just that in a very tangible way.  Please feel free to contact me at 816-508-3590 if you are interested in receiving any more information about the program or would like to donate backpacks to help keep the program running efficiently.

Thanks everyone for all of your support!

Kelly Hughes
 
 

Thursday, August 15, 2013

The Reading Buddies are Back!


Who is excited for school to start?  Well - Volunteer Reading Buddies are - because we have MISSED seeing the kiddos!  The highlight of my week is Wednesday mornings as I race to Gillis to spend time with the kiddos AND spend time with a great group of volunteers who have become dear friends.  We all started with the common interest of helping a Gillis kiddo work on their reading - and what we all experienced instead was a Gillis kiddo teaching us some of life's most valuable lessons- like friendship, true laughter, patience when reading is hard and courage to try.  If you have not had a chance to stop by the Reading Program on Wednesdays at 10am, we would highly encourage you come on by!  It is guaranteed to put a smile on your face because we get to see the kiddos at their best - as their effort with the Reading Program is simply put - AWESOME.  So glad for school to start soon! 

Rhonda Meyer, Gillis Volunteer


Friday, August 2, 2013

A Boy’s Pants Poem from 1974


Back in the 1970’s Gillis used to have house moms who cared for our boys in residence. This poem was written by house mom Frances Strong on May 24, 2974.

 
A Boy’s Pants

He has pockets in his pants;
Sometimes they may have ants.
Usually though, there’s string or screws
Or clay or paper or metal he many use.

There are sometimes plastic pieces,
Ot there may be notes or paper planes.
You may find rocks or sand or board scraps
And don’t leave out sticks and also taps.

Sometimes a bug, or maybe a work
Or a chewed up pencil, or an eraser that’s worn
Or a toy car or ball that’s torn
May be among the treasures that make on squirm

Who could this critter be that
With all these things have such joy?
None other than a little rascal
Called an ordinary boy

Friday, June 28, 2013

June 19, 2013 – A Snapshot of Gillis


As I walked through the parking lot from my car after a meeting off campus today I was surrounded by all the sound and movement going on around me. I could hear peals of joy from the children in the swimming pool and another group of older boys playing basketball.  I could see a group of children assisting our Art/Farm teacher carry mulch to the path that leads to the extensive urban garden the children and staff have created and which we are presenting this weekend as a site on the Urban Farm Tour, sponsored by Cultivate KC. There was another class of students having their lesson out under a big tree. And there was a group of volunteers painting the curbs with bright yellow point. It was truly a collage of enthusiasm and happiness.
I was struck by the feeling that all this activity and all our dedicated staff and volunteers were providing a multitude of normal, healthy and healing experiences for the children we serve here at Gillis every day. Children who, no matter how much trauma and pain they have experienced in their young lives, can still play and work and learn and heal and relate in a positive way to caring adults. I am grateful that we can offer these normalizing and happy experiences to our hurt children because these are the kind of experiences that build resilience and “plant seeds” for healthy growth and that is what we are all about here.

Submitted by Mary Ellen Schaid, Gillis CEO/President

Friday, June 14, 2013

Baby Supply Drive


The North Kansas City Kiwanis group and the Hy-Vee at Englewood and North Oak generously offered to help out the Gillis little ones by offering to do a Baby Supply Drive at Hy-Vee. All Gillis had to do was provide a few volunteers and we were the proud recipients of 145 brand new baby items.

Gillis employee Dusty A. Scheiter, volunteered at the event and had this memorable experience with a generous donor:

“My favorite encounter of the day was a father who came into Hyvee with his 9 year old son and his 2 year old son (age approximations!). He listened to me talk about the baby item drive, took a flyer, and said he would help out. Shortly, his older son ran back out to where I was standing and asked if I had a certain size of diapers I wanted to which I replied that any size will help our babies in need. I was pleasantly surprised when this generous soul had two big boxes of pampers diapers that he had his boys hand to me as they were exiting the store. As I thanked him and his boys for this amazing gift, he looked at me and said "I have been there before and someone was kind enough to help me when I needed it."  I got teary eyed. I don't know this family's story but I was able to see a father pay it forward and show his son's what it means to give to others and to repay kindness that was once shown to them. AMAZING!!” 

Gillis would like to give a special thanks to NKC Kiwanis and Hy-Vee for all you have done for the Gillis children.

Friday, May 31, 2013

KCI Relays 2013


“First call 50 meter dash, first call boys softball throw, second call girls frisbee.” These are the sounds of the 2013 KCI Relays that occurred on May 11th, at Center High School. KCI Relays is a track and field contest for boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 18. The meet was organized with the intention of providing youngsters in residential centers a chance to test their physical and social abilities. Agencies are invited from the greater Kansas City area. Ribbons for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th place finishers are presented to the winners. Team trophies are awarded to the top three finishers in each division. An Outstanding Male and Female Track Performers are also awarded individual trophies for their achievement.

Because of the nature of the children involved, a special effort is made to create numerous opportunities for individual success. For this reason, activities with varying degrees of competitiveness are included. An emphasis on the value of sportsmanship should prevail over that of winning and losing.  This emphasis should be part of the educational process which begins before the actual day of the meet,

The KCI Relays serve a special population and has been carefully and uniquely designed to enhance the potential for socialization experiences.

Staff from the participating agencies plays a significant role in the process as they provide individual support and guidance to help the youngsters deal with the realities of competition. The message conveyed is that the important factor is not winning, but taking part and giving one’s best effort. The boys and girls involved seem to accept this idea, as demonstrated by the absence of behavioral difficulties and the spirit of camaraderie.

The 2013 event was a huge success in many ways. Not only did kids who didn’t have tennis shoes to run in get those through a generous donor, but the Gillis youth fully participated, had a ton of fun and came out as winners!

Submitted by Pam Sanders, Gillis School Director


Monday, May 13, 2013

Graduation


Gillis school staff love this time of year and it's not because they are counting down the remaining days of the school year! It's because of the many high school graduation announcements arriving in the mail. Some include written notes from the graduate reminiscing about their days at Gillis and some include current pictures of young men and women proving that the days really do fly by.

These announcements provide proof that the seeds planted years ago through Gillis programming helped these young men and women find success in public school and ultimately reach graduation. The goal for each child from their very first day in the Gillis Therapeutic Day school is graduation. Teachers and support staff work alongside students to help each one achieve their academic goals, successfully manage their emotions and ultimately continue finding success and making academic progress through graduation.

Gillis is very proud of each student's success while at Gillis and for the years that follow. A few of our long term teaching staff posed for the picture below so we can return it with a congratulations card to each one of our students who is achieving graduation this May.

Congratulations graduates!

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Functional Family Therapy (FFT) Defined

What is FFT? Functional Family Therapy (FFT) is an intervention designed to motivate family members to make positive change, learn new skills for communication, solve problems, and manage conflict and to understand the influence behaviors have on each member of the family. The intervention progresses through three phases: 1) engagement and motivation; 2) behavior change and 3) generalization. Each phase has defined rationales, goals and techniques designed to achieve positive outcomes.

Who is it for? This intervention targets youth aged 13-15 at risk of involvement in the juvenile justice system or first time offenders with the goal to reduce and/or prevent these youth from either entering or progressing through the juvenile justice system living in Jackson County, Missouri. The youth often present with risk factors related to school problems (e.g. truancy, poor grades, and behavior problems), poor self-control, impulsivity, and inadequate social skill development. Within the family, risk factors include lack of parental supervision, significant patterns of family conflict and history of problem behaviors. When families begin their participation in FFT they often have a feeling of hopelessness and are overwhelmed with the challenges of daily living.

How does it help? Families are able to make positive change. For example, one young client was able to return to a traditional school setting after participating in Functional Family Therapy. She had been completing her education online at home as her level of anger made it impossible for her to be successful in the classroom. During the intervention, the mother and daughter learned effective communication skills making it possible to manage conflicts in a constructive manner, practice effective skills for listening and discussing difficult topics and identify coping skills to regulate and manage emotions. Those skills were generalized to the school setting making it possible for her to return to school.

Submitted by Alana Titus, Gillis Clinical Director

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Chalk Truck


Gillis loves art. So much so that even an old Dodge Dakota can become a rolling piece of sculpture. This truck was transformed in collaboration with the Kansas City Art Institute to become a canvas for the kids of Gillis. How? By covering it with chalkboard paint and keeping a big case of colored chalk in the back. Now on sunny days when the kids of Gillis need a break they have chalking parties during art class.

They cover the sidewalks and the truck with drawings and writings, sometimes munching on cookies and drinking lemonade while sitting on the tailgate. The truck, which belongs to the art teacher, is then driven around Kansas City showing off the kid’s art to the whole of midtown. Adults are welcome to chalk to so if you ever feel like volunteering on a nice day come draw with the Gillis kids. We would love to have you.

Submitted by Theo Bunch, Gillis Art Teacher

Friday, February 1, 2013

HAPPENINGS at the GILLIS THERAPEUTIC DAY SCHOOL


Gillis has been a very busy place this school year. We have started new programs and enhanced other existing programs.

The vocational program continues to give our students access to the latest in job research and training. In November students ran the Scholastic Book Fair. They sold more than $400.00 worth of books and came up with different ways to market the book fair for bigger profit next year. Students have gone to job fairs and will be hosting our 2nd Annual Career Fair on February 22, 2013. The program will be run by our students. The students are also creating a cookbook of their favorite foods that they have made in cooking class. They will be selling this cookbook and marketing it during the year. There are many field trips planned for the spring and even more speakers coming to share their knowledge and careers.

The Theatre of the Imagination has joined Gillis this year to teach a class once a week and hold monthly performances. The first play was wonderful and the students thoroughly enjoyed performing it in front of the entire school. There were no shy students that day! I would say that our students were very ready to be the center of attention.

The Music Therapy Program will be running at full steam during the Holiday season…our band will be playing at Armour Oaks in December. They are also collaborating with Theatre of the Imagination to perform a rendition of “The Christmas Carol”. The staff bell choir will perform at the Holiday program on Wednesday, Dec. 19th. In addition, we received a grant to purchase more instruments and sound equipment for music therapy…YEY!

Our teachers have been busy with creative ideas as well. There was a pirate day recently where the students learned all about pirates and then participated in a treasure hunt. Then there was the egg day where students learned about eggs and made different meals from eggs. Our creative teachers are doing so much that I could fill two more pages with creativity; however, I am out of room for this blog. I just want to say thank you to all of our teachers and staff who really take the time to help nurture our students. Our students always know that someone is on their side.

 Submitted By Maria Leeper-Vocational Coordinator at Gillis


Friday, January 18, 2013

VTPR is not short for vituperative…it’s worse. #@*%!!!!

Offensive language, dirty words, deplorable expletives, absolute profanity—even in an era where virtually everyone has heard it all before, in the right context, bad words can still shock you. For instance, I often hear the word  #@*% in movies  and it rarely shocks me. Once I heard a minister say it during a funeral and…wow. I felt truly offended and shocked for the first time in years.
At Gillis, the nature of our client’s lives and backgrounds has led our boys to know some pretty creative profanity combinations. Once I heard a young girl using some pretty raw vocabulary in the school recovery room and no one seemed to be doing anything about it. Later, I asked the care worker with her, “Don’t you do anything about the language?”
H replied “she used to cut herself when she got upset. We think the cussing is good progress.”
Made sense to me.
I might be a special case. There are words in the English language that cause me a much more visceral reaction than the usual expletives. “Sleet” is one of them. As a veteran of decades of Kansas City winters,  I’d much rather hear the foulest cussing and cursing than hear the words “sleet” and “ice storm.”
But “sleet”, utterly offensive as it is, is not the worst word I can think of. There is one word (it’s just an abbreviation, actually) so wholly disturbing that it messes me up for days. When I see come across my desk I start chewing the inside of my lip. My head feels light. I get so angry when I see it I sometimes pound my fist on my keyboard. At the same time I get so depressed that I just want to crawl in a hole.  Nothing tastes good the rest of the afternoon. I walk around with a snarl on my face. I grind my teeth and sweat.  I just can’t stand it.
That word is VTPR. 
As a guy who likes words and is interested in vocabulary, the first time I saw it I thought it meant “vituperative.” Vituperative means “describing abusive language or venomous censure.” I thought for a second it just meant one of our kids was being mean verbally. We can handle that. Unfortunately, the context didn’t work. VTPR meant something far far worse.
We know from our work that almost always, no matter what abuse or neglect a parent might have perpetrated on a child, the child still loves them. That’s actually a very good thing. A lot of “bad” parents are good people that can learn to be nurturing forces that help their children become the most they can be. Sometimes all it takes is some learning and self-forgiveness, or a minor tweak on some depression medications. Sometimes it takes more, but most of the time, whatever has happened to a family, somehow they still love each other and that love can provide the hope necessary to get through the healing ahead.
VTPR kills hope. It destroys a child’s entire sense of self and their world-view; shakes any tenuous grip they have on normalcy and alters their lives forever. VTPR means a kind of loneliness most of us could never imagine.
 VTPR stands for “Voluntary Termination of Parental Rights.”
Let me be clear, we aren’t talking about babies here. With babies it’s different. There are often good reasons for some women or girls to give their babies up for adoption. For many infants, it’s a good choice.
No, we’re talking about a child, maybe 3, maybe 6, maybe 10, who is faced with the knowledge that his mother just doesn’t love him and doesn’t want him anymore. She never wants to see him again. She will never take care of him again. Even true orphans can believe that their parents loved them; most believe that there parents watch over them and love them still, long after their deaths. But for those who were orphaned by choice, there is no such comfort.   
Most children who experience VTPR at an age when they can understand it develop extreme emotional problems stemming from this devastating trauma. Maybe now you can begin to imagine why I find it so offensive.
Fortunately for me, when I see the abbreviation VTPR, it is always in a mitigating context. The very opposite of hearing a minister use profanity at a funeral where the context makes it worse, when I see this foul and dirty word, it is accompanied by something that makes it a tiny little bit less horrible. When I see it, the word Gillis is also on the page.
At Gillis, we’ve dealt with children who have gone through this horrible experience for half a century. We use a combination of the latest and the most time-honored techniques to address such a trauma. In our tool box are complicated processes like cognitive affect enhancement, right along with the simplest and most effective tool we have: love.
Foul as it is, when the word VTPR is accompanied by the word Gillis, it means there is hope.
Maybe the worst thing about the first time I saw the abbreviation VTPR was the feeling of helplessness. “My God,” I thought, “What can I do to help this forsaken child?”
I don’t feel helpless anymore. As an employee of Gillis, I do all I can to help such children everyday. But I’m also a volunteer here sometimes when I’m not working, and maybe most importantly, I’m also a donor.  Writing a check to Gillis makes sure that Gillis will always be here for children suffering the devastating effects of VTPR. It means that I will never have to see those letters attached to a child, without also seeing the word that gives that same child hope: Gillis.     
Submitted by Thom Fox, Gillis Grants Manager

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

WINTER GARDEN


The weather is finally turning cold after a very warm winter and the Gillis Growth Grove is resting. It has had a very busy growing season full of farmers markets and guest speakers, kids, and gardening volunteers. In less than a year Gillis turned an empty plot of land behind the day treatment school into a garden of raised beds and spaces for relaxing and learning. The kids spent every Saturday helping dream up and build the Growth Grove and with their excitement, creative minds and hard working hands Gillis’s plans for the future have only gotten bigger.

We want the Growth Grove to continue to be a very special place for learning and growing. A place where hands on practical life skills like growing food, harvesting, cooking, carpentry, and landscaping are taught right alongside sciences and math. The Growth Grove is a place where experiential learning is celebrated with our students and residents.

The Growth Grove has also been another important space for healing. With the expansion of the Growth Grove to include more outdoor therapy spaces and areas to sit and relax we hope that our clients will find in it a safe space free from past trauma; a place to help them connect with nature and themselves.

So as the cold weather finally arrives and thoughts of maybe a snowy Christmas full of warm fires and snowmen come to mind we would like to thank Kansas City for its support of this new project. Without your donations, volunteerism, and kindness none of this would be possible.  We look forward to seeing you in the season to come, our plates and yours full of fresh veggies, and tasty fruits.

Submitted By Theo Bunch, Gillis Garden and Art Teacher