SHD Reun 312 - Shodair Children's Hospital

Shodair
Roundup
Education Department
Update
At Shodair Children's Hospital, our goal is to
provide each child with an education that takes into
consideration the factors that resulted in his or her
admission to our facility. School at Shodair is
accredited by the Northwest Association of Accredited
Schools; many people are surprised to learn that we
offer instruction year-round at the hospital. This
allows students an opportunity to work in academic
areas as needed to make up missed credits. Our
students receive recreation and music therapy, as
well as visits twice monthly by therapy dogs.
One way we try to enhance our curriculum is by
bringing speakers to the hospital to interact with our
patients. The Helena community has been very
generous in sharing its expertise, from R.E.A.D. dogs
to representatives of cultural observances like Black
History Month and Irish History Month.
Many of these enriching opportunities are arranged by
Shodair Librarian Margie McNellis, working closely
with the hospital's education and ancillary therapies
staff. Margie says, “Each presentation has brought
to life a history or activity that has helped our children
develop another view of the world and all the
potential that is theirs waiting to be developed. They
come away from the presentations with a sense of
awe: 'I didn't know that!' and now they do!”
Special thanks to presenters who have given of
their time and expertise to Shodair's kids!
Dr. Mark Ibsen from
Helena (shown here with
Jilly) and his team of sled
dogs visited Shodair on
February 10th. The kids
enjoyed hearing about his
preparations for Race to
the Sky and meeting the
sled dogs.
In our last issue of Reunion, we announced
that generous grants from the Paddock Foundation
and the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation
enabled us to purchase four SMARTBoards for our
classrooms.
Recently,
wall-mounted
computers were
installed, allowing
our teachers to
begin training on
how to use the
new technology
with Shodair's
students. Our
education staff
has been using the
SMARTBoards to integrate lesson plans and
use them with existing software and the Internet.
Jennifer Marold, a teacher in one of the
Glacier (adolescent) Unit classrooms,
watches as information for a history
report is accessed using a SMARTBoard.
Students can use a wireless keyboard and a mouse,
or a touch screen. Shodair Director of Education
Pep Jewell says, “Activities like science labs are now
available to our students. Previously, they were
unavailable to them, as some of the materials required
can be used by patients to self-harm. SMARTBoards
are making a world of difference for our students.”
On January 23, June
Warner from Shodair's
Genetics Lab gave a
presentation on Chinese
writing to the kids on
To learn more about Shodair's Education
the hospital's Glacier
Department, call (406) 444-7564 or visit
(Adolescent) Unit. The
us on-line at shodair.org.
day marked the start of
Chinese New Year and
the Year of the Dragon.
18 Reunion