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mciu connection www.mciu.org january 22 2010 s staff know one of the mciu s primary goals is to provide services that are responsive to the changing needs of school districts one of the fastest growing service needs is behavior management consultation which offers school districts resources and training to develop positive behavior support programming in compliance with federal and state regulations this year the mciu employs six full-time behavior management specialists who provide consultation program recommendations and professional development for school personnel the behavior management consultants of the mciu are highly qualified and experienced educators with expertise in applied behavior analysis aba they are instrumental in completing functional behavior assessments for districts and work closely with teachers and teacher assistants to develop positive behavior support plans for individual students bms staff have been a key factor in supporting spring-ford and lower merion school district in expanding their autism programs the staff are also certified instructors in nonviolent crisis intervention and safety care training they facilitate professional development opportunities for teachers and paraeducators per request currently bms offers consultative services to the following school districts lower merion spring-ford cheltenham north penn upper perkiomen and pottstown spring-ford continued page 2 the bi-weekly newsletter of the montgomery county intermediate unit a behavior management services expanding i using the emergency chair lift the mciu s behavior management specialists from left to right sitting michelle tobash and samantha levy standing shante forrest and carl craft are working with six school districts to help implement best practices in behavior management to assure student success n case of emergency mciu staff should be aware that there is an evacuation chair available to assist mobility impaired persons with navigating the stairs in the administrative building over the next couple of months the safety committee will be providing trainings to departments to raise awareness of the emergency equipment and how to use it the chair is designed to transport a person weighing less than 200 pounds with the aid of just one person and a person weighing over 200 pounds with the help of two people the chair is located at the top of the stairwell next to conference rooms b3/b4 which leads to the lobby when the fire alarm is triggered for emergencies the elevators automatically become inoperable requiring a disabled person to use a stairwell to exit the building the chair is relatively simple to use first the disabled person must be strapped in to the chair around the waist and legs sometimes the head may need to be restrained as well the staff members then engages a treaded track that allows the chair to roll down the stairs by slightly tipping and pushing the chair it will enter the stairwell at an angle allowing the staff member to safely roll the person down the stairs if two staff members are assisting someone weighing over 200 pounds one person gets in front of the chair to help the chair move more slowly down the stairs when the rail is not engaged the chair lift operates just like a wheelchair the safety committee members practiced using the chair lift at their monthly meeting in january finding it quick and easy to use pictured bottom cathy taylor was easily able to transport test case sheldon wedemeyer with the help of steve beck top picture keith henley and joe harrington help strap ernie melcher into the chair if staff has any questions they are encouraged to contact a member of the committee which includes perry baer linda bean debbie conaway john connell keith henley sandy edling joe harrington ernie melcher nancy myers giuseppe serrao cathy taylor anita watson sheldon wedemeyer and steve beck montgomery county safety officer.

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january 22 2010 mciu connection page 2 celebrating national school counseling week he week of february 1-5 be sure to thank the mciu counselors for their dedication and hard work with the students teachers and families we serve the nonpublic school services division currently employs 15 counselors who are assigned to various nonpublic schools cathleen belfield donna carmean eileen ford tom hehmeyer jeanne holt-brabson maria mcdermott john mcgranaghan margaret mchugh jane pigott susan robinson thomas schillow mary sheets amy winheld thomas wuerstle and katherine young the services the counselors provide are varied depending on the needs of the schools they are assigned to serve overall we are focused on the mission of the school the priority topics are varied ranging from bullying to learning differences it is not a one size fits all said peg mchugh a counselor assigned to elementary and secondary schools behavior management continued t the bi-weekly newsletter of the mciu connection montgomery county intermediate unit 1605 w main street norristown pa 19403 610-539-8550 executive director/ceo asst executive director director of human resources chief financial officer director of management services director of communications dr jerry w shiveley jane w mansuy stan h wisler kristen rawlings contact kristen rawlings krawlings@mciu.org or 610-755-9313 questions comments story ideas pictured with donna carmean on right peg said this year the counselors convened a crisis team to assist one of the school s faculty students and parents during a crisis situation we provide educationalbased grief support groups for groups and individuals as well as assess ongoing needs the counselors also provide support for children of divorced parents or students dealing with other loss or dramatic changes in their personal lives peg said other service needs this past year have included counseling about family stress from the ailing economy and working with the school staff to create a healthy safe school climate which helps students feel more connected and invested in school and each other the counselors teach healthy coping skills while providing hope and encouragement to their students and their families peg said at the high school level the counselors are also assisting the staff and students more with college and career planning peg said the work the counselors do is very important and rewarding none of us would be doing this if it weren t for the great reward of helping kids mciu snapshots this december the communications division worked with the other mciu divisions to complete and distribute the first mciu guide to services this guide provides descriptions and associated costs for the more than 200 services offered by the mciu for the 2010-2011 school year this is the first time that all services from the nine divisions have been compiled in one document staff who are interested in viewing a copy of the guide may contact kristen rawlings at krawlings@micu.org area school district uses carl craft one of the mciu s specialists four days a week and specialist michelle tobash one day a week despite budgetary restrictions we have seen the need to increase this service it is so valuable because of the high number of students needing these services it is critical support for students who are on the spectrum or exhibiting behavioral difficulties in order for us to maintain them in their home district said dan currie elementary supervisor of special education for spring-ford area school district currie said the students benefit from the individual and group social skill sessions that the carl and michelle provide the mciu staff also consult with both the regular education and special education teachers to ensure that the students carry the skills over to the classroom providing consistency and communication with the teachers is extremely critical [the staff is an extra layer of support directly for the students as well as a resource for the staff carl also assists the district in completing functional behavior assessments as part of the evaluation process his expertise is necessary to pull together a comprehensive assessment and create a positive behavior support plan currie said the bms staff said they especially enjoy working closely with parents and school teams in addition to creating the positive behavior support plans with the school team bms staff monitor the students progress in the classroom and help make adjustments as needed it is so rewarding to see the students succeed and how proud they are as they make progress said samantha levy bms shante forrest bms said she values being able to provide the on-site consultation and professional development for general and special educators to enhance classroom management skills training teams to utilize skills that make students successful is the best part of this job shante said.

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