Tuesday, during the Picayune Municipal Separate School Board meeting, Picayune Kiwanis Club President Tom Milar and Kiwanis Club member Chad Dorn presented a gift that will benefit students with disabilities.
A check in the amount of $2,800 was given to Picayune School District’s Director of Exceptional Education Diane B. Wise, who identifies students with disabilities and provides services through the Individual Disability Education Act.
IDEA ensures that disabled students have free and appropriate public education, Wise said.
“We had a lunch meeting with the directors from Picayune and Pearl River Central school districts and explained that our group is there to help special needs children,” Milar said. “We asked what they needed most.”
With funds raised from their annual pancake breakfast in December and a raffle, the Kiwanis Club was able to help meet the educational needs of the district’s children.
One of the things the directors told Milar they needed most was iPads for education purposes.
“They have a very limited amount,” he said. “There’s not enough for each student. We priced several ourselves and gave Diane Wise the information. We wanted her to make that decision and get what she needed for the students.”
Along with iPads, Wise said she will be purchasing a projection device.
On the iPad, there are a number of different applications designed to help students with disabilities improve not only their academic skills but also communication skills.
“Students can touch a picture to verbalize their feelings and needs, which helps with their self-expression,” Wise said. “There are also applications to help them with their math facts. The students require lots of repetition and instruction broken down into small parts. Being able to touch things improves upon their kinesthetic skills, which helps connect their actions with the brain to retain information. The iPads will provide the sensory activities they need.”
With the projection device, students can walk up, touch the icons and physically work through math problems on the board.
“Each year the Kiwanis Club helps us with Special Olympics,” Wise said. “The kids are thrilled to death every year. They are very, very generous. We are excited that our community embraces us and gives us the support. It’s so wonderful they are helping.”
Learn more about Picayune Kiwanis through Facebook. Anyone interested in membership can contact Milar at 601-273-2131.