Southern Tier Independence Center

STIC will be closed today, 12/17, due to the snowstorm. STIC’s Community Habilitation (in person) services are also cancelled. Thank you and stay safe! STIC will be closed today, 12/17, due to the snowstorm. STIC’s Community Habilitation (in person) services are also cancelled. Thank you and stay safe!

STIC’s Community Habilitation (in person) services will be cancelled for this evening, 12/16, beginning at 4:30pm due to the weather. Thank you and stay safe! STIC’s Community Habilitation (in person) services will be cancelled for this evening, 12/16, beginning at 4:30pm due to the weather. Thank you and stay safe!

Happy Thanksgiving! We hope you have a wonderful day celebrating all there is to be thankful for.

THE SOUTHERN TIER SPECIAL ED TASK FORCE PRESENTS: ART, MUSIC, AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION: ENGAGING STUDENTS IN SPECIAL EDUCATION DURING THE PANDEMIC Like all students, students with disabilities love and respond to classes in art, music, and physical education. As the weather turns colder, teachers and families will need indoor activities to engage our students, especially those experiencing virtual instruction. Join us for an evening program with three related arts teachers, as ...they share their ideas for working with students with disabilities during the pandemic. FEATURING: Melissa Restuccia, the Vestal K-12 Art Department Chair, has 27 years of teaching art, including 24 years in rural and suburban public schools, working with all students and needs. She also paints and teaches privately from her home studio, Gray Cat Restoration. A wife, parent of young adults, and breast cancer warrior, Melissa is passionate about teaching and sharing knowledge of art to help others achieve balance in life activities. Virginia Sears had 7 years of experience as one-woman show in music at an elementary school in Cambridge, Maryland before coming to New York. Since 2016, she has been at Johnson City Pri-mary and Intermediate School teaching elementary general music and 5th grade chorus. Theresa McKinney teaches physical education (PE) and has coached multiple sports at the college, high school, middle school, and elementary levels. Prior to moving locally, she taught in the Bronx. She has spent the last 24 years in the Union-Endicott CSD. She has earned the Union-Endicott Founders Day Award and 2016 NYS AHPERD South-Central Award, and has served as the instructor at Tiger Ventures, a small class immersion program. She is passionate about helping students' value physical activity, understanding importance of caring for their bodies and minds, and making positive and lasting connections with them. Registration: https://forms.gle/5SBRwCV6bL2vSerk8 Where: Virtual Webinar When: November 18, 2020 Registration: https://forms.gle/5SBRwCV6bL2vSerk8 Program: 6:00-7:30 PM Have Questions or Need An Accommodation? Contact Sue Ruff at: 607-724-2111 [email protected] www.nyspecialedtaskforce.org

For your bravery, hard work, and dedication to our country. We thank you, Veterans!

Thank you doesn’t seem to define our gratitude for all of the meaningful work DSPs perform each and every day!! Happy DSP Appreciation week!!

The Parent Member training will provide the background and tools necessary for a parent member to be an effective member of CPSE/ CSE meetings, and to assist in building an effective relationship between parents and other members of the Committee. During this training Special Education procedures and regulations will be reviewed and discussed. Tuesday, August 11 Tuesday, August 18 Tuesday, August 25... *participants must be present for all sessions to receive certificate Time: 2:00pm 3:30pm each session Where: Zoom (link will be sent after registration) Register at: https:// www.eventbrite.com/e/parent- member-training-tickets- 115202678312 Questions? Contact the FACE Center at: [email protected]

Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. We've come a long way, but we still have a ways to go. https://youtu.be/wWOuMtA8r44

History will not be kind to us. So you have a moral obligation, a mission and a mandate, to speak up, speak out and get in good trouble. You can do it. You must do it. Not just for yourselves but for generations yet unborn. These words will live on, rallying people to the cause of justice, equality and freedom, but sadly, the man who said them, Representative John Lewis, has passed, leaving all of us to try to walk in his shoes. He was an amazing human being. He fought for ...the rights of all people, not just African-Americans, and he did it with fervor and deep commitment, and with the heartfelt belief that America could become the dream that the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. imagined. An icon of civil rights, he risked his life to achieve equality, participating in the freedom marches, taking the blows of police batons, being beaten by a crowd of white people at the order of the Alabama governor, spilling his blood for the just society he envisioned the US could be. He was a strong supporter of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and vehemently protested when Congress tried to amend the law to compromise those hard-won rights. We join African-Americans and all of our nation in mourning this hero and champion of people’s rights. He was a man of character, honor, integrity, love and kindness, a combination of traits hard to come by in these troubled times. His legacy of courage, strength, endurance and perseverance will live on, urging future activists to stand up and be heard, to get into good trouble.

Happy 4th of July!

The Board of Directors and employees of Southern Tier Independence Center (STIC) condemn the acts of violence perpetrated by some police officers against African Americans and other people of color across this country. No human being should ever have to feel that they are without value, nor should they be treated as such. Our constitution promises equal rights and opportunities to all Americans, sadly a promise that has not been kept for people of color. It is time for all hu...man beings, no matter what race, ethnicity, gender, religion, etc., to express our outrage at and intolerance for the unequal treatment of African Americans, and to do what we can to end the racism that is poisoning our society. We can all fight back in our own way. We can join the peaceful protesters, or write letters to our government representatives demanding substantive action, and we can all exercise our right to vote! Black lives most certainly do matter, and we need to ensure that the law and our society never forget that. All too many times the scenes such as the one pictured in the video of Mr. Floyd’s death have occurred. No one can any longer deny the reality that our neighbors of color face every day, a terrible, unjust, reality where they have to fear going for a jog, or even driving to the store. There is no room for racism in a truly democratic and free society, and STIC stands in solidarity with all who fight discrimination, racism and hate. Sadly, systemic institutional racism won’t end overnight, but it will never end if each one of us doesn’t do his or her part to bring about the necessary changes to our attitudes, beliefs, laws, and public policies. We are all responsible! Helen Keller said it best when she wrote in 1916, Let all lovers of justice unite, let us stand together and fight every custom, every law, every institution that breeds, or masks violence and prejudice, and permits one class to prosper at the cost of the well-being and happiness of another class. Take Care and Stay Safe

Need to borrow or return TRAID equipment? In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, we are moving to an appointment-only curbside system to reduce the number of people who need to come into the STIC building.... To enquire about available equipment or to set up an appointment, please call (607) 724-2111 ex. 244 or e-mail [email protected] See more

Happy Memorial Day!

Hello Everyone! The FACE Center is offering a free parent training on making the transition from CPSE to CSE. Date: 5/27/20... Time: 3pm Registration is required through [email protected] Participants will receive a zoom link in their confirmation.

A huge thank you to Worldwide Sport Supply for bringing our community together for such a good cause during these trying times. They have created the "Community Tee Project", a limited time t-shirt sale to serve as a relief effort for small businesses and organizations in our area. T-shirts are $19 and $10 of every shirt will go directly to the business/organization it represents. Below is a link to our t-shirt which will also bring you to their project page. Take care and stay safe! https://broometees.itemorder.com/product/14269771

Our very own Executive Director, Maria Dibble