Spotlight

As part of Autism Acceptance Month, Myers Elementary hosted an autism acceptance event Tuesday that gave students the opportunity to understand what it is like for students with autism to function in the world with hands-on, interactive stations focused on communication and sensory needs. A secondary goal was for neurotypical students to learn how to better engage with their neurodivergent peers.

Some students with autism may have a hard time with communication. Many use devices like an iPad or sign language to help them communicate. They may also have a high sensitivity to sensory things like loud noises or materials on clothing, which makes focusing difficult.

Following a program featuring district administration, students engaged with two communication stations and two sensory stations to learn what it’s like to live with autism. The communication stations illustrate for neurotypical students how difficult it can be to communicate as a person with autism, either by using an electronic device or sign language. The sensory stations show what it’s like to try to focus as a student with autism.
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It may be a day off from school Monday, but many in the Cheltenham School District will be treating it as a “Day On” in honor of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. All seven CSD schools will be engaged in MLK activities focused on helping those less fortunate or in need of a boost.

Cheltenham Elementary: Collecting and assembling care kits for the unhoused to be given to Covenant House and Project Home. CES Gymnasium, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Glenside Elementary: Creating “Birthday Parties in a Bag” for children at the Woodstock Family Center. GES Cafeteria, 9 - 11 a.m.

Myers Elementary: In support of St. Christopher Children's Hospital Center for the Urban Child, Myers Elementary will be collecting care package items for infants and children, and making cards of well-wishes for inpatient children. MES Gymnasium, 9 - 11 a.m.

Wyncote Elementary: Packing “Birthday Boxes” and making birthday decorations. In honor of Dr. King, birthday boxes will be donated to local food banks. WES Cafetorium, 10 - 11:30 a.m.

Elkins Park School: Making breakfast bags for the unhoused. EP Cafeteria, 10 a.m. - noon.

Cedarbrook M.S./Cheltenham H.S. - Writing letters to the troops; creating cards for Cradles to Crayons, packing kindness cups for the unhoused, and collecting toiletries for Fostering Hope Philly NE. CBK Learning Commons, 9-11 a.m.

Cheltenham H.S. - CHS Students will be able to earn points for their annual Blue and Gold competition by donating toiletry items to Fostering Hope Philly NE. Students are divided by last name into Blue (A-K) and Gold (L-Z) teams, and the team that donates the most items by January 17 earns points!
 

Myers fourth graders in Christine Decker, Olivia Sanderson and Jazmin Hayes-Postell’s classrooms got messy last week with a hands-on digestion experiment. Materials for the experiment included a banana and crackers to represent food, orange juice for stomach acid, water for saliva, a Ziploc bag to represent the stomach, a metal tray to represent the body, stockings for the small intestine, plastic and paper cups, and scissors. The objective of the experiment was for students to understand that the human body needs to break down food in order to absorb the nutrients it needs.

To begin, students put the banana and crushed crackers in the ziploc bag to demonstrate chewing (mechanical digestion). Then they introduced stomach acid and saliva by adding their orange juice and water in small increments to the Ziploc bag (chemical digestion). They then mimicked the action of the stomach by squeezing the bag to mix the contents. 

Next, ​t​he students transferred the food into the small intestine using the plastic cup as a funnel. As they squeezed the food through the stocking, all the “nutrients” needed for growth and energy flowed into the metal tray. Anything left in the stocking represented what the body could not digest. When the “waste” solidified, students transferred it into the paper cup with a small hole at the bottom to represent the large intestine. They used the other paper cup to push the waste through the small hole, which mimicked the act of expelling waste.
 

Representatives from Myers' PBIS Team attended the annual PA PBIS Conference in Hershey. In addition to learning new ideas in the various seminars, the Myers team was honored with its official Tier II recognition badge to add to its banner in recognition of advanced level of interventions and supports for students. Myers has been celebrated by the official PBIS network as a Tier I School with fidelity for four years in a row, and is currently serving as a model school by mentoring another local district in PBIS practices.