Almost five years ago, parents of special needs children in Voorhees were given an extra voice in the school district.
SPEAK, Special needs Parents, Educators and Kids of Voorhees, began more than three years ago when a group of parents wanted to add their thoughts to the conversation in the school district.
One of the goals in establishing the group, SPEAK Chairwoman Juliana Maffei said, was to raise special needs awareness in the school district and community.
SPEAK is about to celebrate its third-annual Abilities Awareness Week across the district’s schools and throughout the community.
The week kicks off on March 3 with an original theatrical musical production by the SPEAK Arts program, a regional creative and performing arts program for children with disabilities. Students will put on a show called “The History of the Olympics: The Quest for Gold,” on March 3 at 6 p.m. The show will be held at Signal Hill Elementary School. Tickets are $8.
Congregation Beth El will also participate in Abilities Awareness Week by hosting a Saturday morning religious service geared toward students with special needs. The service will be held on March 3 at 10:15 a.m.
The Voorhees elementary and middle schools are planning events during the week of March 5 by offering age-appropriate information about special needs inclusion.
Middle school students will get to experience first-hand what it’s like to live with a disability. Students may perform tasks with assigned disabilities to see what it is like to live as a child with disabilities.
At the high school level, students at Eastern Regional will hear from local parents of children with special needs and will have the opportunity to share their own experiences and ask questions.
On March 7, St. Andrew’s Roman Catholic Church will honor Abilities Awareness Week by offering up intentions at morning Mass.
Abilities Awareness week will culminate with SPEAK’s first gala, which will be held on March 9 at the Mansion on Main Street. The event begins at 7 p.m. and will include live music, food and drink, dancing, raffles and awards. Tickets are $75 and can be purchased at www.southje rseyspeak.org.
“We’re excited about the gala. Guests can expect to have a lot of fun,” Maffei said. “It’s a really special event. The ability to go out and dance and celebrate is not necessarily related to special needs families. So we’re getting a double dose of fun.”
Maffei said she hopes to see students, families and residents get involved with all of the Abilities Awareness Week events coming up.
“It’s important, this concept of everyone having a place at the table,” Maffei said. “Everyone contributes to our community in a special way. The culture in
our town enriches the community.”
