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.

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.

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

 

 

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

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

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

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.