April 2015 TRAIL Newsletter - Flagler County Public Schools

TRAIL NEWS
APRIL 20, 2015
Hello everyone! Can you believe there are only six full weeks left until summer vacation!?! It feels as
though the year just started! Here is a recap of some of the great things we’ve done over the last month
and what’s coming up between now and the end of the school year:

Our trip to Fort Matanzas before Spring Break was fantastic! The weather was beautiful and we
all enjoyed a fun and educational day exploring two of Florida’s important historical sites.
 From April 7-10 our very own Jill Kulwicki attended the Council for Exceptional Children’s
National Convention and Expo in San Diego, CA, where she presented two workshops to
teachers and administrators from all over the country to explain and teach the LCE curriculum
that we use here at the TRAIL . Way to go, Mrs. Jill!
 On Friday, April 10th, Deputy Cooper, ITMS School Resource Officer, gave an informative
presentation to our young adults about knowing the law and making good choices. This is
especially important for our TRAIL participants as they need to understand that they are adults
in the eyes of the law and that errors in judgment could result in long term consequences.
 Following Deputy Cooper’s presentation, we were treated to an awesome pizza lunch by Flagler
County Special Olympics and the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office to thank us for participating in
their Special Olympics Torch Run fundraising efforts.
 As always, we continued our services to the community by working at Flagler Humane Society,
Palm Coast Community Church, Grace Food Pantry, Access Flagler First, and the Community
Garden as well as our vocational training sites at Publix, BTES Extended Day Program, ITMS and
BTES cafeterias, BTES media center, and BES VPK.
 In the TRAIL classroom we have begun learning some basic ASL signs as we feel all of us could
benefit from an understanding of this important communication skill. You might want to ask
your young person to demonstrate the signs for “yes, no, please, thank you, sorry, help, work,
and more.”
 We also have several exciting trips coming up before the end of the year:
o Next Friday, April 24th, we are going to a job fair at the Flagler campus of Daytona State
College.
o On Wednesday, May 13th, we are going to Education Day at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in
Daytona Beach to learn about the various jobs we’ll see there.
o And on Tuesday, May 19th, we’ll be visiting TAFFI Medical, a large home medical supply
distribution center, for a tour and to see the work being done there.
(Luckily these trips occur on different days of the week, which will allow all of our participants to attend
at least one of them)
 Of course, the best news of the month is that two more of our participants secured paid
employment!!!!!
 The Flagler County Schools calendar has early dismissal scheduled for the last two days of
school, June 3rd and 4th. We will be sending home additional information regarding the TRAIL
Program’s plans and scheduling for the last week of the school year.


And finally, we’d like to thank you and your TRAIL participant for being more conscientious
about calling the TRAIL and FCPT when he or she is going to be absent. Seeing our participants
practice this adult skill is evidence that they are growing and maturing into the independent
individuals we expect them to become. Just a reminder though, the call to Transportation must
be made a minimum of one hour before the scheduled pick-up time, or it will be considered a
“no show.” Two “no shows” can result in a two week suspension from the bus or an $8 fee to
get back on. (This information has been shared with the group several times.)
As always, we welcome your questions, comments and feedback.
Best Regards,
Dr. Kimberli Halliday
Jill Kulwicki
hallidayk@flaglerschools.com
Donna Harkins
kulwickij@flaglerschools.com
Anthony Burroughs
Marty Thacker
burroughsa@flaglerschools.com
thackerd@flaglerschools.com
harkinsd@flaglerschools.com
Tara Umpenhour
umpenhourt1@flaglerschools.com