Holy Cross Hall

520 S. Bennighof Ave. Evansville, IN 47714

Phone (812)402-6700
www.meoforkids.com
www.meoidol.com Volume 20, Issue 1
August 2017

All Shine at MEO Tri-State Idol

By Trisha Hannon Smith, Message assistant editor

The theme of the 8th annual Marian Edu-
cation Outreach Tri-State Idol, So All
Will Shine, was befitting the talent per-
forming and the underlying purpose of
the event held at St. Marys Manor in
Evansville on March 4. Five acts sparkled
while performing hits ranging in genre
from Pop to Broadway, record crowds
bid on silent and live auction items, all
while supporting the cause of enhancing
learning for every student in the Evans-
Fund-an-Item Dollars at Work ville Diocesan schools.
By Beverly Williamson, MEO Director We are better because of the program-
ming and the work of MEO, Father
On July 27, 2017, I met with Jamie Broeker, Brandi Coomes, Kacie Whitely Alex Zenthoefer, pastor at Annunciation
and Amy Maxheimer to listen to their ideas to design and develop the Multi- Parish in Evansville, told the crowd dur-
Sensory Lab for the Life Skills Program at Holy Spirit School. The enthusiasm ing his testimonial with Jamie Broeker,
Special Education Teacher at Annuncia-
and excitement these teachers demonstrated in planning the project was conta-
gious. Martha Pitt was there to get their opinions about agenda topics for the
upcoming Parents Meetings, and we were both overjoyed at the meaningful
way that the $11,600 generated at the 2016 MEO Tri-State IDOL Fund-an-
Item Auction was being put to work for kids with special needs!
The teachers were discussing Aromatherapy, Crash Mats, Texture Boards,
Weighted Blankets, Sensory Tables, Calming Sensory Projector, Sound Ma-
tion School Holy Spirit Campus. Their
programming and resources bring diver-
sity in education that gives a greater rich-
ness and depth to our work in Catholic
education.
Sharing her students experiences with
2017 Tri-State Idol Winners: Nolan Durcholz and Molly Church
emotion in her voice, Broeker told of
her complete awe thinking of all the sophomore Julia Knight received second
obstacles her students have overcome. place, followed by third place winners
Small steps have led to shining moments Ellie Durcholz and Grace Poole of Reitz
for her students.
Memorial High School. Mount Vernon
High School junior Jackson Elaman and
And of course, shining brightest were
Reitz Memorial High School senior Col-
the performers themselves. At the end of
ton Colbert also gave outstanding per-
the evening, Reitz Memorial High
formances. Additional performers in-
School students Molly Church and No-
cluded former contestants and winners
lan Durcholz were announced as this
Stasia Reisinger, Sullivan Cox and Me-
years winners. Mater Dei High School
ghan Gallagher.
The Manor on St. Vincents campus
appeared to be the perfect venue. This
years IDOL Gala attracted the largest
crowd in its eight year history!

Save the Date

Sensory Lab Planning Committee
chines and enlarging existing space. They were conducting research on their
technology devices as they planned. The teachers explained to us how important this environment was to their students. They told us that the
kids would now have the opportunity and the place to relax and reset calming interactions with their surroundings. for the 2018
Multi-sensory Labs improve the development of thought, intelligence and social skills. They offer students with cognitive disabilities and other
challenging learning and social issues an opportunity to enjoy and control their learning experiences. They will bridge barriers of learning limi-
MEO Tri-State
tation and focus issues and more. Idol!
The IDOL Fund an Item Auction donors made this wonderful project possible for the students who learn differently. They have opened a
whole new world for these kids and contributed to an amazing initiative that helps to bring a better overall self-image in an environment that Saturday April 7
encourages progress in learning. St. Vincent's Manor
2017 Tri-State Idol Performers: Meghan Gallagher, Nolan Durcholz, Molly Church, Sullivan Cox,
Julia Knight, Stasia Reisinger, Ellie Durcholz and Grace Poole (not pictured, Colton Colbert)
What Can MEO Do
By Beverly Williamson, MEO Director
This question is constantly on the minds of MEO Board members: What can we do to support
the education of students with special needs in our Catholic schools? MEO has researched and
found that innovative teaching strategies are an important component for success in assistive tech-
MEO Annual Board Retreat
By Mike David, Vice President, MEO Board of Directors
nology implementation; so, grant applications have been submitted for technology projects incor-
porating intensive teacher training. In the past 18 months, we have been fortunate to receive On June 10th, sixteen members of the An inspiring edition of MEO Tri State Advocacy
grants for Corpus Christi, Mater Dei and Memorial, and professional development has been an MEO Board of Directors met for their Idol. Begin to engage stakeholders in an effort to
integral component. Corpus Christi Teacher Training annual board retreat. The purpose of the understand the feasibility of establishing a pro-
Completion of an MEO-sponsored Special
Corpus Christis project was awarded as a three-year Pilot providing 1:1 technology device to students needing additional academic support. retreat was to review the previous years gram in a West Side elementary school similar
Education Survey by the dioceses school princi-
This project, with a major emphasis on professional development, is designed to guide teachers to align technology with the specific needs of accomplishments and to establish MEOs to the special education program at Annuncia-
pals.
the students and to routinely assess and document progress of student learning. priorities for the coming year. tion Parish on the East Side.
With these accomplishments as a back-
The focus of the Mater Dei/Memorial project was to obtain devices and text-to-speech test-taking After an opening prayer and introduc- Support Annunciation/Holy Spirit
drop, the board started plotting the or-
apps, so that students in the resource programs could have tests read to them by computers. This tions, which included welcoming new Develop a way to measure the efficacy of the
ganizations course for the coming year,
method of test taking is important because computer generated test-taking apps will be the protocol board member Beth Muehlbauer, Board sensory lab that is being constructed at Holy
using the three main pillars of our mis-
for students after graduation from high school. Training for teachers to integrate software into the President Kim Kinnamann reviewed the Spirit School. (Funding for the Sensory Lab
sion as our guideposts:
curriculum will be on-going. organizations accomplishments over the came from the annual Fund an Item auction
last twelve months. Highlights included: Advocate for special needs children in the at this years Tri State Idol).
The over-reaching goal of these two projects is to promote excitement in learning accompanied with Catholic school system.
improvement of independence and self-esteem for students who struggle academically. With docu- The kick-off of a technology pilot at Corpus Innovate and Incubate
mentation of success, the hope will be to duplicate similar projects in other schools in the Diocese. Christi School. Fundraise for the Annunciation/Holy Spirit As a way to continue the organizations support
Mater Dei and Memorial Teacher Training
program. of the MEO-sponsored Technology Pilot at
A priority of MEO for the next three to five years is to provide Innovative and Incubation projects for students with special needs in our Cath- A very successful Annual Giving Campaign.
Corpus Christi, explore ways to underwrite the
olic schools. These two projects fit that description. They combine professional development with acquisition of technology devices and soft- Innovate and incubate new Programs in
Being awarded several meaningful grants in professional development of the teachers who are
ware, and they are nurturing, ongoing and cultivate the process for new growth in student learning and future project implementation. support of differentiated instruction.
support of our mission. administering this important program.
What can MEO do to support the education of students with special needs in our Catholic schools? We will never stop searching for answers to that question. After several hours of discussion, it was
Partnering with Annunciation Parish to Create the framework for an after-school tutor-
decided that MEO would focus its ener-
sponsor a booth at the Fall Festival. ing program and understand the funding that
gies on the following activities over the
Special Education Survey Receiving two meaningful bequests from the next twelve months:
would be needed to launch this initiative.

By Trent Engbers, Ph.D. estates of MEO supporters.

With collaboration from the Catholic
Schools Office, Marian Educational Out-
reach (MEO) conducted a Diocesan
wide special education survey in the 25 of
the 26 schools. The data collected painted
a picture of tremendous progress accom-
panied by persistent challenges in serving
this population.
Currently there are 7360 students en-
rolled in Diocesan schools. In 25 of these
schools, 808 students have been identi-
fied with unique learning needs. This is a
significant increase from 432 students
identified in 2012 and 286 students iden-
tified in 2005. In diagnoses, attention
deficit and hyperactivity disorders and
specific learning disabilities are slightly
behind speech and language impairments.
Diocesan schools continue to make a
significant investment in staffing to sup-
port special education. Currently there
are 45 educators serving student with
special needs employed in the schools
which is a 300% increase over the
amount employed in 2005. While distri-
bution of these faculty members is not
equal across diocese, the percentage is
1.34 per school, and the overwhelming
majority of teachers are certified in spe-
cial education.
The most common designs for service
delivery are 1) resource programs to
support students with coursework and
make accommodations for general edu-
cation classes and 2) mainstreamed clas-
ses with some students receiving a modi-
fied curriculum. Some schools address
student with more profound diagnoses
by providing more individualized ser-
vices in self-contained classrooms.
This is the third special education survey
Tech It Easy
By Bart Burke, Technology Integration and Curriculum Specialist at Westside Catholic School
MEO has conducted since 2005. This
important data is used to set program
Local students from Evansville area Diocesan schools participated in the 2017 "Tech it Easy" technology
priorities for future years. After school
enrichment program, sponsored by Marian Educational Outreach.
tutoring, teacher pedagogical training
and support for assistive technology The two-day camp was held on June 12-13 at the Reitz Memorial High School Media Center. Activities this
dominated the list of areas that school year included the creation of a photo/text editing
administrators requested support for in project, Stop Motion videos, and an introduction to
2016. Google Classroom. On day two of the camp, stu-
dents were divided into groups and completed three
During the recent MEO Board Retreat,
different stations set up throughout the media cen-
these priorities listed by school adminis-
ter. The activity consisted of virtual field trips
trators were instrumental in developing
through Google Expedition, Hour of Code program-
strategic plans for our organizations
ming apps, and a Lego Storyboard creator. With the
long and short terms goals to better
support of MEO, these students will have gained
serve students with unique learning
knowledge about assistive technology at "Tech it Easy"
needs in our Catholic schools.
that has prepare them for their current school year!