“Outstanding Professional in the Arts”

Eileen Murray, greeting Arts Access writer Jenny Durr at Full Circle 2013: Reflections, the 20th anniversary celebration of the Arts Access Program.

Eileen Murray, director of Matheny’s Arts Access Program, will be receiving Morris Arts’ “Outstanding Professional in the Arts” award at the organization’s Celebrate the Arts event on March 27 at the Morris Museum’s Bickford Theatre in Morristown, NJ. Murray is receiving the award because of her “outstanding accomplishments, commitment and contribution to encouraging and fostering the arts in our community.”

Arts Access, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, gives people with disabilities the freedom to create in the visual, literary and performing arts. Murray, a working artist for 30 years, joined the Arts Access staff in 2001. She was named director in 2011.

Morris Arts, located in Morristown, is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1973.  Its mission is to “engage and build community through the arts.”

Every year, Verve, a restaurant and bistro in Somerville, NJ, celebrates Mardi Gras with its special Mardi Gras Carnivale. This year, the “Five Days of Fun” will run from the evening of Thursday, February 27, until “Fat Tuesday,” March 4. There will be music, bidding on Mardi Gras masks, prizes, gaudy decorations, cheap plastic trinkets and Verve’s food specials representing the cuisines of New Orleans, Venice and Brazil.

For the third year in a row, Verve will donate a portion of its Mardi Gras proceeds to Matheny. And the newest addition to the festivities will be a Gumbo Cook-Off on Sunday, March 2, 2–7 p.m. So throw your beads at 18 East Main St. in Somerville! But first, call (908) 707-8655 to make reservations, and be sure to mention Matheny.

Brad King demonstrated the two types of wheelchair securements utilized by Matheny.

Passengers seated in wheelchairs in a moving vehicle are 45 times more likely to be injured in a crash than someone in a regular seat. That’s why the way a wheelchair is secured is critically important. That was the take-home message from a session on wheelchair safety during a School Choice night held by Matheny for families of our students and patients. The session was presented by Brad King, Matheny director of transportation; John Reck, director of assistive technology; and Cindy LaBar, director of physical therapy.

King emphasized that it’s very important that families, bus drivers and operators of bus companies are all properly educated in wheelchair safety. “Every wheelchair,” he said, “should be secured using four wheelchair tie downs, and the individual should be secured with a properly fitting vehicle-mounted lap and shoulder belt.”

Reck pointed out that many injuries of passengers in wheelchairs are not the result of crashes. They are caused by things such as abrupt turning maneuvers or hard braking.

Maria Fischer.

The role of parents in special education cannot be overestimated. That’s the opinion of Maria Fischer, an attorney with Hinkle Fingles & Prior, a law firm that specializes in representing people with disabilities. Speaking at a recent School Choice night at Matheny, Fischer pointed out that parents “do not care about staffing or budgeting problems. They only care about their child’s needs.”

It is mandated, she said, that parents have the right to be at every IEP (individualized education program) meeting. The IEP is a written plan that details a child’s special education program for the year. The IEP is developed at a meeting attended by members of the child study team, the child’s teacher and the parents. The purpose of that meeting is to identify a child’s educational goals as well as the program of services, supports and related service necessary to help a child achieve those goals. Appropriate placement is also determined at IEP meetings.

“Districts cannot exclude you,” Fischer stressed. She added that IEP goals should be, “measurable, objective and specific.” If a district indicates it wants to move a child back from a special placement, Fischer recommended that parents refuse to sign the IEP. “That gives you 15 days,” she added. “And if you invoke a ‘stay put,’ the old placement stays in force while you’re fighting with the district.”

“Parents should not sign the IEP until they are satisfied that it contains everything their child needs to make educational progress,” she added. “If parents don’t agree with the IEP, they should write a letter to the child study team that describes the changes that are desired.”

Peggy Zappulla helps a non-verbal student make choices.

Matheny teacher Margaret “Peggy” Zappulla has been chosen as one of the “Teachers Who Rock” by New Jersey radio stations WDHA 105.5FM and WMTR 1250AM. Zappulla’s nomination was announced by both stations on the morning of January 31, and she will be honored at an awards banquet in April.

Zappulla, “is not your typical teacher,” says Sean Murphy, principal of the Matheny School. “She is always aspiring to reach new heights, and some of her biggest contributions have been on our technology committee where she successfully rolled out initiatives to have assistive switches distributed to every student in the school.”

Another contribution: getting her students to grow a vegetable garden. It started with corn last year and will expand to several other vegetables this coming spring. Last year, the class planted corn seeds outside, made a compost pile and watered the seeds. “You should have seen the look on their faces when the corn had grown about three inches long,” says Zappulla. “Wow.”

Working with students with special needs “is a fulfilling experience,” she adds. “If you have a goal in life, nothing should stop you from achieving it. I have a responsibility to give my students with the encouragement, tools and support to help them reach their goals.”

Matheny student Ryan O’Connor makes music with a bottle, held by Zach Green as personal care assistant Mulu Yihune looks on.

“Welcome to the amazing Junk Jam show!” Zach Green, one of three musicians who make up the Junk Jam Band, welcomed Matheny students to a high energy, interactive and enlightening performance of music created by homemade instruments. The idea is to entertain while delivering messages about recycling, environmental consciousness and social accountability. “We’re trying to inspire everyone to take care of the planet,” Green said.

The band members produced drums out of tires and buckets, and Green played a “milk jugaphone,” a reed instrument made out of a milk bottle. The Matheny students not only enjoyed the concert, they got a chance to try out some of the instruments as well. The Junk Jam members get their motivation from a quote by Victor Hugo, prominently displayed on the band’s website. It reads: “Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.”

Matheny student James Wild plays on a drum made out of a bucket.

Claire Scott and the display of DVDs she helped collect for the Second Chance Shop.

Claire Scott, a junior at West Morris Mendham High School in Mendham, NJ, who wants to major in business when she goes to college, has already shown that she has a flair for capitalism. Scott, who is active in her high school’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter, spearheaded a drive to collect DVDs that could then be sold at the Second Chance Shop, a thrift shop in Gladstone, NJ, run by The Friends of Matheny to raise funds for the students and patients at Matheny.

Scott first heard about Matheny from a fellow Mendham resident, Kathleen Mangliado, who teaches in the Randolph Township Schools. Her DVD project was coordinated through Brenda DeRogatis, the teacher at West Morris Mendham responsible for FBLA.

Since September, Scott has volunteered on Saturdays at the Second Chance Shop and will take a break at the end of February so that she can run track. She has enjoyed working at the shop and particularly likes it when some of the DVDs that she helped collect are sold. Although she has never been to Matheny, Scott hopes to bring members of the girls’ track team to visit this spring.

The Friends of Matheny has raised more than $3 million for the students and patients at Matheny since the auxiliary group’s formation in 1983. The Second Chance Shop is located adjacent to the Gladstone United Methodist Church on Jackson Avenue in Gladstone. The shop is open Mondays from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesday thru Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m; and Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Donations of items in good condition are accepted on Mondays only.

Jack O’Connor, second from right, presents a $700 check to his brother Ryan. Others pictured are, from left: Matheny School principal Sean Murphy, student Jacob Rolaf, teaching assistant Kristin Barone, Ryan and Jack, student Sara Hoffman and her nurse Nancy Winder.

When Jack O’Connor turned 12, he decided to use his birthday to help the Matheny School, where his younger brother Ryan is a student. So, he told his friends at the Immaculate Conception School in Annandale, NJ, to give him money that he would, in turn, donate to Matheny. His friends came through, and Jack visited Matheny recently to present a check for $700.

Ten-year-old Ryan, who was born with a very rare chromosome deletion, has been a student at Matheny for 7 ½ years. His mother Debbie says Matheny is “a safe environment made up of amazing people who give everything so that our children have a life that, as a parent of a special needs child, I never would have thought possible.”

Rick St.Pierre, right, presents a check for $2,100 last year to Sandy Josephson, left, Matheny director of marketing and public relations, and Steve Proctor, Matheny president.

For the third year, the Verve Bistro in Somerville, NJ, has selected Matheny as the recipient of funds raised in connection with its annual Mardi Gras celebration. This year, however, there is an added twist: On Sunday, March 2, two days before Fat Tuesday on March 4, Verve will hold a Gumbo Cookout. This will add a day to the celebration, which begins on Thursday night, February 27.

A portion of the proceeds from the five-day event, including funds raised from the auctioning of Mardi Gras masks, will go to Matheny. Many of the masks on display will be made by Matheny staff members, students and patients. However, anyone can contribute masks. Just drop them off at Verve, at 18 Main St., by February 19.

Last year, Verve donated $2,100 to Matheny. Since opening in the late 1990s, Verve owner Rick St. Pierre has given back to the community. He was named Somerville’s Citizen of the Year in 2011 and was given the Somerset County Business Partnership’s Economic Vitality Award in 2008.

To make reservations during the Mardi Gras celebration between February 27 and March 4, call (908) 707-8655 and be sure to mention Matheny.

Some of last year’s masks.

John McGarity tries to aim a beanbag with his feet, assisted by Cindy LaBar, Matheny director of physical therapy.

“It was a fun day. It was hard using my feet to shoot the beanbag in the target. It would have been much easier if I could have used my hands.” That was the reaction of John McGarity, a student at the Central Elementary School in Great Meadows, NJ, when he experienced what it’s like for children with disabilities to participate in a game or sport. He was one of several students at the Warren County school who played a variety of adapted sports with students from the Matheny School.

The objective of the visit was to promote interaction between the two groups of students, making it possible for them to compete in sports as peers. It seemed to work. “I enjoyed visiting with the children from the Matheny School,” McGarity said. “I would like it if they would come back for another visit.”

Music class at the Matheny School.

The Matheny School is hosting a program on “School Choice” from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 29. The event, for parents and educators, will feature a presentation on “Parental Rights in Special Education” by Andrew D. Linenberg of Hinkle, Fingles & Prior, P.C., Attorneys at Law. There will also be opportunities for networking and information about an upcoming conference on transition and two new special education scholarships being offered by the Alliance of Private Special Education Schools of North Jersey.

Educators and/or parents interested in attending should call (908) 234-0011, ext. 234, or email mathenyschool@matheny.org by January 27.

Matheny student works on his math skills.

From left, Anna Spencer, Bryan Zhu, Trisha Kaundiya and Rahil Shah.

When Trisha Kaundinya and three of her friends at Bridgewater-Raritan, NJ, High School formed a string quartet, the idea was to get together every week or so to socialize and practice playing music. But Kaundinya’s father is part of a group from the investment banking firm Goldman Sachs that regularly volunteers at Matheny, helping to spruce up the grounds. “He acquainted me with the special needs of the children,” said Trisha, “and informed me that many, if not most, of them are quite capable of learning and appreciating the fine arts.”

So Kaundinya and her friends recently performed for the students and patients at Matheny and “had a wonderful experience playing,” she said. “We could sense the acknowledgement from several children. Clearly they were engaged, and we felt that they connected with us through music. We walked away with a sense of satisfaction and developed an inner urge to do more. We would love to play again in a spring concert.”