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April Poserina Final Presentation
- 1. Community Disability Awareness Night And Movie Screening Friday, March 19th 7:00 pm Amber Beliz, Kathy Murphy, April Poserina, Amanda Ross & Judi Scapecchi
- 2. Personal Demographics Amber Beliz anbeliz@knights.ucf.edu Kathy Murphy jasonmurphy3@aol.com
- 3. Personal Demographics April Poserina april0418@gmail.com Amanda Ross afross@knights.ucf.edu Judi Scapecchi scapecchi@knights.ucf.edu
- 5. Introduction to the Setting
- 6. Introduction to the Setting
- 8. Demographics
- 10. Reflections
Editor's Notes
- Amber: My name is Amber Beliz and I am entering my senior year as an Elementary Education major at the University of Central Florida. I substitute-teach for Seminole County and spend a lot of time in schools. I have always wanted to teach, and can’t wait to have my own classroom!Kathy:My name is Kathleen Murphy and I am an Elementary Education major at the University of Central Florida. I have two children who both attend Wekiva Elementary. I work as a dividend in both of there classes. I am very excited about entering my senior year at UCF! I am not picky about which grade I will be teaching after I graduate. I really just cannot wait to start my career.
- April: Hi my name is April Poserina. I am a mother of four children and entering my senior at UCF majoring in Elementary Education. I have always wanted to be a teacher but after being a teacher’s aide in Kindergarten several years ago, it reinforced my desire to be a teacher. I would like to teach K-2 grade but I am open to teaching any grade. I would like to work in Seminole County. When I am not at school, I like to spend time with my children. Judi:Hi, my mane is Judi Scapecchi. I am a senior at the University of Central Florida seeking my degree in Elementary Education. I am a mother of four and have always been active in my children’s lives. I am a register member of both Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. I am a true advocate for community service and volunteer with several organizations. I look forward to finishing my degree and helping students learn.Amanda:My name is Amanda Ross, I am twenty-one and a student at the University of Central Florida. I am majoring in Elementary Education because I have always wanted to be a teacher. I can not wait to start my first internship this coming fall to begin creating a positive learning environment for students. I just love going to school and I want all my students to have the same desire to gain knowledge that I do.
- Going into this project I was confused as to the definition of service learning. In prior classes, volunteering as a dividend was also referred to as service learning. After reviewing the modules on the Teachers in Action website I realized that service learning was not just volunteering but actually making a significant difference through my individual actions. The “Understanding Differences” module made me think about specific ways that I have interacted with individuals with disabilities. I started to wonder had I spoken to the person with a disability differently or acted differently than I normally would. I realized that the disability did not define the person and that the person with the disability might feel like I was talking down to them if I had. During the “Understanding Differences” module my group had watched the trailer for “Shooting Beauty: Everyone Deserves a Shot”, we were all curious about this film. The trailer seemed to encompass everything discussed in the “Understanding Differences” module. We saw people with significant disabilities sharing emotions, being communicated with the same as other individuals, and interacting in a major photography project. We felt that not only could we increase our own individual awareness about the capabilities of a person with a disability but also increase others as well. We felt that our awareness night should also benefit an organization in the community that serves people with special needs. We chose the United Cerebral Palsy Centers of Central Florida.
- Once we decided to hold the movie screening then we needed to identify who we would target as our audience. Who did we think would benefit from seeing this film? Of course our families, but then who do you invite? As we brainstormed we soon realized that his film really needed to be seen by everyone in the community. So we invited family and friends, scouting friends, classmates, preschool teachers, college professors, church members and neighbors. We also posted fliers on community bulletin boards across the area. Once we decided everyone could benefit from the awareness gained by watching this film it seemed like we were inviting the world.
- We decided to host the event at Markham Woods Presbyterian Church. The facility has a great meeting hall with tables which could easily seat 200 people, an overhead projector and large film screen. The hall also had a kitchen accessible which worked great for us since we wanted to serve beverages and hold a bake sale during the movie screening.
- After we decided on our venue,We met with a UCP representative to discuss the project and gain insight as to the needs of the center as well as to ask her to speak at the event.We made a flier for the event and included information about UCP and the bake sale we were having. We also included a list of physical items that people could bring to the event .As a group, we met at the event location and each of us was assigned specific tasks to do in order to have the event run smoothly.We purchased various items for the event.We made hand outs showing articles about the movie as well as information about the UCP centers and what they offer.Each member of our team baked several items to bring to the event.As a group, we invited as many people as we could and also reached out to businesses asking for donations.On March 19, 2010, we held our event at the Markham Woods Presbyterian Church.We raised $190.00 in cash for the UCP centers as well as many physical items.On March 30, 2010, we traveled to the UCP center in Lake Mary to deliver the physical items we received and to meet the students that benefited from this event.
- The demographics of the audience at our movie event was a diverse cross section of the community. We had 72 guests young and old, church members, scouts, teachers, friends and family. I was really amazed at how well the film was received by the audience, even the small children remained seated for the entire film. The whole audience really connected to the film, laughing, crying and making personal connections and realizations about their own stereotypes. After the film a church member said that the film was really eye opening, that he had always thought hta because their bodies were cripples, so were their minds. A preschool director thanked us so much and sad that this movie was so fantastic she asked us if it was for asale because she feels that every one of her preschool teachers needs to see it. A college student stated that he was surprised at how high functioning disabled people can be and what characters they were with overwhelming personalities. There was also a young 13 year old Boy Scout who shared with us his personal experience at a resident camp for disabled children with his disabled cousin. He was able to connect his experience there with the movie and how people with disabilities are still just people. I believe that our movie night was a huge success in starting the conversation for people to look at their own feelings about disabilities.
- The United Cerebral Palsy Centers of Central Florida serves over 2400 children at 7 locations throughout the area. They provide services for children with all types of special needs including cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, autism, speech delays, developmental delays and vision and hearing impairments. The UCP of Central Florida takes an “early intervention” approach striving to help children at a young age including a wide variety of services like music and speech therapy, family services and more. This early intervention approach provides support and therapy that allows children to grow and become self-sufficient, independent members of society.
- Amber: This project began as a simple school assignment but grew into something so much more. The desire to increase awareness became contagious and spread quickly. I was so overwhelmed and moved to see how many people our group affected. It was amazing to see that the people I thought came to the event just for me, left with something for themselves: a new sense of understanding, knowledge, and acceptance. More than anything, I’m glad we brought the community together to help the UCP centers and the children and families they serve. Kathy: I have gained so much knowledge about people living with Cerebral Palsy during this project. The movie Shooting Beauty allowed me to see first hand that the disability did not control the persons ability. I was so pleased that not only my own personal awareness was increased but all of the other people who had the opportunity to attend our event. I was really impressed by all the contributions that the audience donated during the screening. I am glad the students at the UCP will benefit from these donations. April: This project helped me understand that people with disabilities are not that different then we are. Watching the movie Shooting Beauty and seeing the reaction of our guests who viewed the movie really touched me. I also felt a great satisfaction in knowing that the effort that we made in organizing this event benefited many children at UCP and may have changed people’s perception about people with disabilities. Judi:I was worried going into this project because I felt uneasy and uncomfortable about the subject matter. During the project and watching the reactions of the community helped me to overcome my own fears. My level of education about disabled people has defiantly changed. I have learned that there is not a special way to interact or treat disabled persons; you just treat them with the same respect and dignity that use toward everyone. When we went to the UCP to deliver the donations I had a positive interaction with one of the students. It was a small step, but a big step in changing my actions and reactions to persons with disabilities.Amanda:I was really surprised that so many people were interested in coming to our movie screening of “Shooting Beauty.” I was nervous that people would not respond to the movie, but I was truly shocked that the audience laughed and connected to the film in a real way. Viewing the movie helped me to overcome my own feelings of sympathy toward individuals with disabilities, they are independent complete persons, and deserve respect and opportunities just like everyone else.Amber: This project has truly been a journey for me. It started as a small