Maggie's Garden at Mission High

Maggie roses in the box. Note tag.

We planted the Maggie roses at Mission High last Friday. The plot we were given is in an internal courtyard that could be an absolutely fantastic place. It's a bit overgrown and not very well managed, but that will change. In the space of a little over an hour our group transformed two rows and planted the roses and had lunch. it was a great day, best told in pictures.

Mr. C", an aide in Maggie's class (and someone she adored) made all the arrangements and explained what we were to do. We were to clear these two beds but leave a few flowers for color.

Before

Mr. C showing us what to do.

So everyone just got to work

 

It didn't take long to clear with all that help. Then we could prepare to plant

Joe Bender (Teacher Joe) and Nurse Janice

Steve digging the hole

Ms. Laura planting the rose

Time to water

Tyre approving the plaque

Steve setting the plaque

plaque in place

Posing for pictures, Grandma Carmel, Steve Eddie and Me (Tim had to work)

father son American Gothic

Food for everyone!

after. bed is clear, roses planted, and watered and straw in place

Now Maggie's garden can take off and add more lovely color to the courtyard. Hopefully more groups will adopt a little part of that courtyard and the transformation will be wonderful. Mission High is in the banana belt of San Francisco - the best weather in the city. The courtyard is protected from the wind, so it is really ideal.

Eva, Duane, Cesar, Rosa and Janice standing in front of  Maggie's bulletin board

I have to thank everyone at Mission High, and especially the staff of room 223, Miss Rosa, Mr. C., Eva, Duane and Nurse Janice for making this happen. (And Nurse Yasmine who is not in the picture) These people gave Maggie a great year in school and a wonderful sendoff. Her teachers and staff from earlier years, Ms. Taylor, Ms. Derkash and Mr. G (Garrido) and all the paras who helped her get so far and do so well.  Thanks also to Mr. Guthertz,  Joe Bender, Mark Erickson, Ms. Laura, Theresa and everyone else who made this garden day possible.

Most of all, thanks to the students, special ed and others who made Maggie want to come to school everyday. You were her peeps.

I will miss Mission High but will always appreciate Maggie's time there.

yes, Virginia, Santa Claus is everywhere

There have been a number of Santa and Santa like sightings this week. It seems the spirit of giving is alive and well. So I have to agree with the old quote "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

Maggie and I just returned home from school. It is the last day before the two week break for the Holidays. Like every other classroom in America the day ended with a party. I'm not sure how many of these other parties were dance parties featuring mostly wheelchair users, though. It was hilarious and the kids had a great time. Teacher Joe, who was Maggie's middle school teacher,  took Maggie out of her chair and danced around the room with her. Maggie loved it.

Earlier in the week the class took the streetcar out to the Stonestown shopping mall to shop and check out all the decorations. In past years they've headed downtown to Union Square, but the weather was questionable and the mall was warm and dry. I didn't join them on that trip, but I know Maggie cam home from school very tired that day, and that is a good indicator that she spent a lot of energy jumping and laughing.

Maggie's friend Juan found something that caught his eye at one of the kiosks in the mall. It was a remote control helicopter. He was looking at it carefully. The kids were gathering for a photo with Santa and the kiosk was right near Santa's hangout. Juan went with everyone else to get the picture taken but returned to the Kiosk afterward. Mr David, (the same guy who wore the horse shirt in yesterday's post) helped Juan count out his money in the hopes of buying the helicopter. Juan did not have enough money to buy it, the gadget cost $35. David was explaining to Juan that it cost more money than Juan had. Obviously, Juan was disappointed.

That's when it happened The Christmas spirit, the kindness of strangers, whatever you want to call it. The guy in the kiosk simply gave the helicopter to Juan. A $35 toy was just handed over. Juan went from disappointed to over the moon. What a nice thing to do. That vendor absolutely made Juan's Christmas by doing that. I wonder if he knows what a big deal that was.

Perhaps catching some of that spirit, Santa Claus himself was very accommodating to the class. He let everyone in to take a picture together. Maggie, who claims not to believe, was convinced Santa was the real deal when she was allowed to touch his beard.

Maggie will miss her friends over the Christmas Break, This is her social circle and, without them she gets very bored. I can see why, they are a good looking group.

Robert, Maggie Santa, Juan and Tyre 

On behalf of these amazing kids and the amazing people who teach them and help them and love them, I wish you all the best Holiday season and I hope you too find Santa Claus everywhere you look.

Out and About

Maggie finished summer school on Friday. That means I have to find some way to keep her entertained every day for the next month. The nurse still comes in the afternoon, but generally, Maggie stays at home when the nurse is here. Therefore, I need to find activities and outings for the mornings or Maggie will not get out at all.

It really doesn't matter what we do, it's just breaking up the monotony of the day. We will have some fun outings and some not so fun. Some days we are meeting up with her former (sob) teacher to go for a walk and keep Maggie sharp for her transition to high school. (fun) Some of those days will be taken up with medical appointments.(not fun) Today is both. Maggie has some tests at the hospital late this afternoon. We had already planned a walk with Teacher Joe at noon and we are staying that course. Maggie has to go without food all day before getting anesthesia, so keeping her entertained is VERY important today.

Yesterday we had a different kind of outing. I offered to take my aunt to Trader Joes. Maggie loves to shop and I figured that would be fun for her and get the shopping done at the same time. That means a ride downtown, interacting with my aunt and spending time in Trader Joes with its music and brightly colored signs. This particular Trader Joes is near Fisherman’s Wharf, so there are lots of interesting people around too.

You may recall my aunt recently moved home from the assisted living facility. Despite the move, she still needs assistance. She is still regaining strength and her walking is still shaky. Of course SHE doesn’t think she needs assistance, which makes things more difficult. It wasn’t until I awoke on Tuesday morning, perhaps three hours before the scheduled trip that I realized I could not do all of this alone. How could I get her through the grocery store while pushing Maggie’s chair and pulling the basket. I would not have any way to assist her; both arms would be engaged. I called her to see if we were still on and was very relieved when, before I could even say a word, she suggested she bring her walker. Yes! That is an excellent idea.

When we arrived at the store, she considered leaving the walker in the car and relying on the store basket. Noooo. Let’s go with Plan A. I parked in a handicapped spot – never in my life feeling more justified in using it. In fact, I could have honestly taken two and felt ok about that. The wheelchair lift needs some repairs – things that are supposed to work automatically currently require manual control. It’s no big deal but it probably takes and extra minute or so to get out of the car. I was running around the car to release the wheelchair lock and wondered if Auntie was swaying or if that was my imagination. Thank God for that walker.

As you would expect, the handicapped parking spot is very close to the entrance. However, it is even closer to the exit. Hence, that was the door for her. I had to go through the entrance with Maggie and open the exit doors so she could enter. I am still not sure why. She went up and down the aisles of the store, albeit slowly, but she would not walk the five steps to the entrance.
We shopped. People gawked. But really, who could blame them. We were a sight. The older woman with the walker, the middle-aged woman pulling the basket and pushing the wheelchair, stopping ever 30 seconds or so to suction the child in the chair, and Maggie, who was quietly taking the whole scene in.

For some reason a line from “You’ve Got Mail” played in my head. Tom Hanks, a 40-year-old man, is in Meg Ryan’s bookstore with two young children who turn out to be his uncle and his sister. He tries to explain this to Meg Ryan’s’ character and in pure Tom Hanks fashion sums up the situation with a toss of the head and a smile and a clever statement. That statement also summed up our situation today.

We Are … An American family.

Teacher Joe

It takes a special kind of person to be a special ed teacher, especially in a huge district like San Francisco. They work a little magic with very little in the way of resources. San Francisco may be a little better than many places because of the diversity of the population, the willingness to try new things and the proximity to so many good colleges to attract the best and brightest teachers. On the other hand, it may be a lot worse because of the size of the district, and the breadth of issues that arise because we have such a diverse population. Multiple languages and cultures, learning styles, parental support, etc. Also, money problems abound here and everywhere (Especially in California) and teachers are asked to do more and more on their own dime. Maggie has been fortunate enough to have teachers willing to take that step for their students.
Teacher Joe is her current teacher and he is a cool guy. He is kind and gentle and he keeps expectations high for his students. Since his students are generally the most severely disabled, that is a bit unusual. But guess what? High expectations translate into high achievement. Teacher Joe, like Teachers Emily and Sheila before him, have pushed Maggie to do things I never thought possible.
Joe is the kind of guy that doesn’t change his plans to spend the long Labor Day weekend visiting his mother in law on the Gulf Coast even though Hurricane Gustav is bearing down. He goes anyway so they can keep her company during the long and scary storm. His flight home was cancelled and he missed school for a couple of days but returned safe and sound yesterday.
He is the kind of guy that plays the straight man to Maggie so she can tell jokes at the school talent show using her talker. Her former teacher Emily did the same thing. You don’t know how huge that is. Participating in the talent show – or any other school function – makes Maggie a true member of that school community. Maggie attends a typical big city middle school, but her classroom and school day are anything but typical. It would be easy to stay isolated and protected from the throng of typical students, but it wouldn’t be any fun, so Teacher Joe keeps them active in many school activities. The classroom is a busy place with therapists, nurses, and all types of teachers in and out all the time. It can be exhausting for everyone (especially Maggie, pictured with Joe). But Joe greets everyone with a smile and insists that adults conduct their business quietly so as not to disturb the learning that goes on.

Today is Teacher Joe’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Joe. We want to wish you a great day and another great year. Thanks for all you do for Maggie and all the kids.