CM ’ S SUMMER LIFT PROGRAM RAISED APPROXIMATELY $ 500 FOR FOOD BANK WITH ANNUAL CAR WASH
anon-Mac CANON-MAC SCHOOL DISTRICT NEWS
Canon-McMillan ’ s Summer Program LIFT stands for Learning Is Fun Together . LIFT is a summer program that is offered to students with special needs . LIFT has at least ten student volunteers from Canonsburg Middle School and Canon-McMillan High School every year who generously donate a part of their summer vacation to provide vital assistance to the kids in the program . Special Education Coordinator Mr . Chuey notes ,
“ This is ‘ win-win ’ for everyone , as the LIFT campers have student mentors , and the volunteers have the opportunity to truly make a difference in a young person ’ s life . Some of our volunteers are with us year after year , and have even returned as paid staff .”
At LIFT , there are five classrooms composed of students from elementary , intermediate and middle school students within Canon-McMillan . The students receive a variety of related services from various providers which allows for continuity of services . There is an Occupational Therapist that works with the children twice a week on fine motor skills , as well as a Speech Therapist that visits the classroom twice a week to maintain skills through fun activities . Rounding out the group of specialists is a weekly visit by a music therapist and ( in a typical academic year ) a physical therapist .
One summer morning in July the students in this program hosted a car wash that raised approximately $ 500 for the Canonsburg Food Bank . There is no set organization that receives the donation ... however , there are some places that are near and dear to LIFT . This year , they donated to the Food Bank because Special Education Coordinator Mr . Chuey currently is a volunteer with that organization and saw an ongoing need for food and nutritional support in the CMSD area . In prior years , the recipients of the donation included Autism Connection of PA .
Many of the students that participated in this program have various degrees of special needs so there were many staff members on hand to assist in the process ( as pictured with Behavior Specialist Mrs . Sara Cambotti helping student Doneal Marsette .) Each LIFT classroom participated in this program ( approximately 35 students total ) and worked in
36 CANON-MAC shifts with a few cars per class . This activity taught a life skill that the LIFT students can learn from -- the kids not only learned how to wash cars , but they learned how to work cooperatively as part of a team , practiced taking turns , and learned to start and complete an activity . When the children were in the classroom setting , their instruction also
built on the same skills as well as academic skills .
Each week that LIFT was held , there were special activities to try to expose the kids to a variety of opportunities . This year , the students went to Malone ’ s Flower Shop in Canonsburg to make a floral arrangement . They also had a beautification project at South Central Elementary where they learned how to landscape with mulch ( pictured on the cover .) Students participated in a Walk-a-Thon around the stadium and took a trip to a local horse farm to ride horses . The students also played in the creek at Mingo Park , toured Oglebay Zoo and concluded the program with a Picnic and awards assembly . This is the 12th year that the car wash occurred and Director of Special Education Becky Lieb was impressed with this year ’ s turnout .