On Saturday, October 14th, 2017, the Millis SEPAC (Special Education Advisory Council) held a “Meet and Greet” event in the parking lot of the Millis Police Department. The goal of the event was to give children in Millis’ special needs community a chance to become familiar with first responders in their town, including Millis Police officers and Millis Firefighters and EMT’s.
Kelsey Guindon, who co-chairs SEPAC with Audra Noonan, conceived the event.
“It stems from my daughter Jamie, she’s a sophomore in a special needs class, and there were a couple instances where she needed an ambulance,” says Guindon, who says Jamie is very familiar with local police and fire officials thanks to her teacher at the high school, who has taken pains to familiarize the students with the men and women in uniform. She set the event up with Chief Chris Soffayer and Officer Dale Bickford, of the Millis Police Department.
‘It’s very important for kids, not just for special needs kids, to become familiar with police and fire. If Jamie needs to be taken by ambulance, she’s comfortable, a little less stressful,” says Guindon.
The event included the ability to climb right into some of the vehicles which had lights flashing. Despite some morning rain, Noonan says, “We had a pretty steady turnout. The Millis Police and Fire are definitely willing to work on different events with us. They really like the idea of getting the community engaged and involved.” Noonan says Chief Soffayer actually suggested that SEPAC actually have a table at an upcoming Halloween touch-a-truck event planned for the end of October.
The two co-chairs of the Millis SEPAC point out that they would like to hold more events to get word out about their group.
“It’s really starting up,” says Noonan, who says the group, which is required by law, had become adversarial with the school department in the past. “This time around, we’re really working well with the Pupil Personnel Services Department,” says Noonan. “Last year, there were some budget cuts around the school behaviorists, and they definitely impacted children with disabilities in the system.” The SEPAC, she says, was able to work with the school department to get some items back into the budget.
“When you have a group of parents, if you can make the case, Millis has listened,” says Noonan. “If they’re willing to listen that’s to their benefit and that’s to ours as well. We told the parents in our first meeting, it’s our SEPAC, and it’s only as good as we make it.”
The group has launched a website, and they’re currently working with the Millis Public Library to create an area in the library for special education resources.
The website states that the SEPAC is comprised of individuals involved in, or concerned with, the education of students with disabilities. Membership is open to parents of students with disabilities, teachers, administrators, individuals with disabilities, and members of the community. To determine if the Millis SEPAC is a right fit for you, visit www.millissepac.org.
Issue Date:
November, 2017
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