By Tanna M. Friday
Editor
TRUSSVILLE — This week, the Trussville City Schools are holding special events at schools across Trussville to celebrate their dynamic, diverse accessible and equitable learning during Inclusive Schools Week. In education, inclusion refers to the a model where special needs students spend most or all of their time with general education needs students.
Alabama Governor, Kay Ivey, signed a proclamation designating Dec. 3-7, 2018, as Inclusive Schools Week in Alabama. The proclamation states, “The State of Alabama is committed to educating students in inclusive schools and classrooms, ones that are welcoming and that are capable of educating all children.”
The week long celebration provides an opportunity for educators, students and families to discuss what can be done to ensure schools continue to improve their ability to educate children successfully. It acknowledges their commitment in making schools more inclusive, thereby contributing to the development of a more inclusive society. It also offers an opportunity for engagement about inclusive education and plans for the future.
“To honor the Governor’s proclamation, Trussville City Schools will participate in Inclusive Schools Week this week,” TCS Superintendent Dr. Pattie Neill said. “Each school will celebrate the progress that schools have made in providing a supportive education to diverse student populations where teaching is responsive to the students’ abilities and interests.”
This year, the theme of Inclusive Schools Week is a Kaleidoscope of Friends, which the Inclusive Schools Network illustrates that “education takes on a beautiful shape when all children belong and are valued as contributing members of the school community.”
“If you look into a kaleidoscope, you see an infinite array of patterns of brilliant light created by repeated reflection,” said Ginger Eaves, TCS Exceptional Education Department Head. “When we look at education and how it is applied here at HTMS, it takes on a beautiful shape when all children belong and are valued as contributing members of the school community.
“This is the vision of inclusive education within our school; it drives decisions, actions and core beliefs. When looking at this week, we are spotlighting a few of the ways that we apply this vision to Inclusive Schools Week.”
Some activities students are participating in at Hewitt-Trussville Middle School this week include sharing quotes about kindness, creating puzzle pieces to show all children fit into the puzzle, and a live illustration of HTMS’s kaleidoscope of students.
“When you include all children, truly something beautiful can be created,” Eaves said.