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Author: Jessica Leone
Highlights
A Month of Appreciation
Life in a pandemic has not been easy for anyone, but the month of May is giving us many opportunities to reach deep and find the appreciation and the thanks that keeps us moving forward in a positive direction. This month has reminded us to celebrate the many people who aide us, who help us grow and encourage our personal development. Throughout this month we have celebrated weeks dedicated to the celebration of our nurses and our teachers. Most recently we took the day to celebrate our mothers and the women in our lives who inspire us and encourage our development on the most personal of levels. At IMAGE we welcome the opportunity to show our appreciation to the mothers, the professionals, the amazing people who provide support in our day to day lives. We hope that you will take some time this month to show your appreciation to those who have dedicated their lives to service if you have not yet already. From all of us at The IMAGE Center, from our students and staff, we say THANK YOU!
Peer Mentor Spotlight
Accepting Applications for Summer Peer Mentors!
- Do you like helping others?
- Do you like being creative?
- Does leading group activities sound fun to you?
- Have you attended at least one IMAGE Connect program for teens and young adults with successful participation?
- Are you ready to step into a leadership role?
If you answered yes to all of these questions you may be ready to apply to become a Peer Mentor!
We are presently accepting applications for summer peer mentors for our twice monthly in-person Connect Program summer session on Tuesday evenings! More details to come.
If you would like to be considered for a role in peer mentorship this summer click here to apply.
Upcoming Events
The Connect Program
Remaining Spring Sessions (Virtual) June 1st & 15th
The Connect Program is a program that empowers teens and young adults with disabilities to step outside of their comfort zone, make connections with their community, build social experiences and recognize and achieve skills needed for increased independence in adulthood.
These skills include money management, time management, social and communication skills, personal hygiene, meal planning and decision making skills just to name a few.
Coming soon: in-person summer session! Spaces will be limited!
Contact jleone@imagemd.org learn more. Register here
PreETS Self Awareness and Self Advocacy Training Program
Monday and Wednesday sessions available. Email jleone@imagemd.org for additional registration information.
The Self Awareness & Self Advocacy Training program through DORS is a five week program utilizing curriculum designed to empower teens with disabilities to explore areas of self awareness and promote the importance of self advocacy to enhance the overall independence and vocational opportunity of each student. During this program students will work with professional staff from The IMAGE Center to begin to engage in curriculum addressing Self Awareness & Advocacy, Disclosing Disability, Rights, Future Outlook, Transition Outlook and Utilizing Resources.
Contact jleone@imagemd.org learn more.
Support Youth Programs at The IMAGE Center
We need your support! IMAGE Connect is a program that empowers teens and young adults with disabilities to step outside of their comfort zone, make connections with their community, build social experiences and recognize and achieve skills needed for increased independence in adulthood.
Now more than ever, your support can make a difference!
The IMAGE Center is a 501 (c)(3) organization – donations to which are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. A copy of our current financial statement is available upon request by calling our office at 410-982-6311.
Connect with The IMAGE Center
Call 410-982-6311
Categories
May: Student of the Month Clark Bayer
PreETS Self Awareness and Self Advocacy Training with The IMAGE Center
Clark Bayer was one of our first students to take on our PreETS training program at IMAGE when the program went virtual due to COVID.
Clark is a highly intelligent young man and was always a joy to have in class. It is unique and uplifting to work with a student as motivated and as passionate as he is.
Clark has clear goals for himself and a plan as to how he will achieve those goals. Clark has an interest in engineering projects, which became a great way to showcase his strengths throughout his PreETS training sessions.
Clark also has quite a bit of volunteer and on the job experience, which helped make the PreETS training sessions relatable and realistic for him.
When asked what he learned during the training, Clark stated, “I’ve learned about the laws. I thought the laws were interesting, and how recent they are. It makes you think about history. People with disabilities can live the same as anyone else. It’s not perfect, but it’s definitely better than it used to be.”
We hope to see Clark in the future participating in other programs at IMAGE where he can volunteer and share his skills in a mentorship role.
Program Support Specialist Amanda Taylor said “It was wonderful to get to know him as an individual and recognize his potential, which is abundant! We look forward to seeing the wonderful things he will accomplish in his life”!
Learning about how to speak up for yourself and the laws behind disability services is very useful and rather interesting. Often we interact with these services without learning specifically what laws back them, so to learn about the laws in specific shows which ones you can use to help you.
~Clark Bayer, PreETS Student
Virtual Learning Done Different
At The IMAGE Center we have taken pride in our ability to continue program learning for our teens and young adults despite the COVID pandemic. While the world remains unsure we know that the most important thing is to continue to provide opportunities for growth and learning for our young people. Our virtual learning experiences are designed utilizing short bursts of curriculum correlated with interactive activities and break out sessions to keep students connected, engaged and learning. While we know that the world has had enough virtual learning we think it’s more important now than ever to ensure our families that we will continue to work to find the balance between safety and sanity in the learning of our teen and young adult communities. We invite you to learn more about our virtual programs and how we are making virtual learning different.
Peer Mentor Spotlight
Rebecca Parker
A long time participant in IMAGE Teen and Young Adult programs Rebecca Parker became a natural fit as our first ever Connect Teen Mentor. Rebecca is kind and patient and knows first hand the benefit of working closely with peers. Here is what Rebecca had to say about being a Connect Teen Mentor.
My first time at the Image center was in 2016. I just graduated high school. The Connect Program was meeting at 510 Johnny’s. I knew two people there. Then in the summer we went golfing and did other outings. I rejoined them in the summer of 2017. I have been with IMAGE for about 4 years, almost 5 years now. My favorite memory at IMAGE is Golfing and doing yoga in the Connect Program. I realized I knew someone in the program since preschool, which was awesome and we reconnected. I like being a Peer Mentor because I love to help people and I love to make new friends. Peer mentorship is important because being a leader is a great example. I think peer mentorship helps teens with disabilities because I went through the program myself and know first hand. Teens can keep on doing the program and one day might become a peer mentor too.
Rebecca Parker
Upcoming Events
The Connect Program
- April 6th & 20th
- May 4th & 18th
- June 1st & 15th
The Connect Program is a program that empowers teens and young adults with disabilities to step outside of their comfort zone, make connections with their community, build social experiences and recognize and achieve skills needed for increased independence in adulthood. These skills include money management, time management, social and communication skills, personal hygiene, meal planning and decision making skills just to name a few.
Contact jleone@imagemd.org learn more.
Register here
PreETS Self Awareness and Self Advocacy Training Program
Monday and Wednesday sessions available. Email for additional registration information.
The Self Awareness & Self Advocacy Training program through DORS is a five week program utilizing curriculum designed to empower teens with disabilities to explore areas of self awareness and promote the importance of self advocacy to enhance the overall independence and vocational opportunity of each student. During this program students will work with professional staff from The IMAGE Center to begin to engage in curriculum addressing Self Awareness & Advocacy, Disclosing Disability, Rights, Future Outlook, Transition Outlook and Utilizing Resources.
Contact jleone@imagemd.org learn more.