Lodi charity gives the gift of learning
Children’s Dream Works donates IPADS to special needs class in Stockton
— Julia Morgan Elementary School, located in Stockton, offers a special day class for fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade students with moderate to severe learning disabilities.
The class currently has seven students, and five of them are non-communicative, according to Lindsay Olivas, a long-term substitute teacher. The two who can express themselves, she says, still have short attention spans that can make communicating with their teachers and fellow students difficult.
To help remedy this problem, Children’s Dream Works, a Lodi nonprofit dedicated to helping children and families in need, donated eight new IPADS to the class on Tuesday, after Olivas brought the problem to the attention of Karen Paulsen, a firstgrade teacher who contacted the organization three days prior.
“We are so thrilled, this will help our class immensely. These kids are going to be able to excel. We have a lot of non-verbal students. This is really going to help them. They’re going to be so excited, I have goosebumps,” said Olivas.
Thanks to a $400 gift card also donated by Children’s Dream Works, the IPADS will be loaded up with various learning, sign language and communication applications to help the students communicate their wants and needs to their teachers, as well as learn days of the week, sounds of the alphabet, counting, colors and more.
“It’s a better way for them to learn, they pick up electronics and technology so fast. Touch Chat gives them a voice to speak to us. It’s a little overwhelming, but it’s great for what they are doing for the kids,” said paraeducator Sean Omaye-Byrne.
Katesha Gaines, mother of fourthgrader Lynnae Green, was also excited for the opportunities that the IPADS will afford to her daughter, the only girl in a class full of boys.
“They’ll help my daughter learn how to write her name, how to add. If it wasn’t for this school, she wouldn’t learn anything, but she’s learning how to write, she’s learning colors, she’s making friends. I respect this school so much, I just love it, I love her teachers. She can open up to her teachers and learn. My daughter is very smart, she picks up reading very quickly. I just love this school, period,” said Gaines.
As Children’s Dream Works President Rita Sperling and Vice President Donna Vinita prepared to leave the classroom, Olivas took the time to thank them one last time.
“This is far beyond anything we could have imagined, thank you so much,” said Olivas.
Sperling herself was quite moved at the opportunity to help the class, fulfilling her organization’s goal of serving children’s needs in any way they can.
“It’s an honor and a privilege for us to be able to do this for these children. Everyone needs to communicate, and this gives them a way to do that. Hopefully, it will help them grow in ways that we can’t even see. They can communicate now, and that’s what’s important. In just 72 hours, this group of seven people have this now,” said Sperling.