Summer 2014 Newsletter

From the Heart
Where we see your children with our hearts
and address their needs with our minds.
2013 - 2014
Lionheart Helps Build A Life
A
2014 Joan Brady
lexandra was one of the first children who
started at Lionheart in 2000. The vision was to
fill a need for Alexandra and others who literally
‘fell through the cracks’; where public schools were too
big, too insensitive and too overwhelming.
At Lionheart, Alexandra has been given a sense of
belonging, a sense that no matter what challenges
she faces, she could be successful. The teachers and
therapists recognized her strengths while working
through her challenges. She acquired the confidence
to relate and communicate, to problem solve, to think
for herself and to recognize what makes her happy and
successful. Her ability to relate to others led to real
friendships at Lionheart.
From years of hippotherapy that led to her riding
abilities, she developed equestrian skills that now
allow her to work and assist with hippotherapy and
farm duties as a vocation. As she graduates this year,
Alexandra exemplifies the impact that the school is
making on the lives of their students and families.
The Power of Partnerships
GRILLING & GRIDIRON – SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2014
O L D R O S W E L L S T R E E T I N H I S T O R I C D O W N T O W N A L P H A R E T TA
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50 40
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M
ark your calendars for
the 2nd Annual Grilling
& Gridiron, to be held
Saturday, September 13, 2014.
Tickets and sponsorships may be
purchased online at
www.thelionheartschool.com/support.
Please contact Mary Ulich at 770-7724555 or mulich@thelionheartschool.
com to find out how to sponsor or grill!
The Inaugural Grilling & Gridiron
Tailgate Party held last September
in historic downtown Alpharetta
raised funds to support the mission of
GRILLING
NG&GRIDIRON
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Lionheart. Over 700 attendees enjoyed
a fabulous grill tasting sponsored by
Harry’s Farmers Market while following
the UGA vs. USC game on the big
screen. Eighteen community groups
and restaurant grillers provided a great
variety of delicious samples from their
grills.
Students from The Lionheart School
practiced job skills selling water, soda
and their LionheARTisans work.
Service dogs and dogs-in-training from
Lionheart also attended with their
trained handlers.
T e c h n o l o g y I n n o vat i o n A t L i o n h e a rt
O
ur partnerships with companies and
researchers around the country allow
The Lionheart School to stay at the
forefront of educational technology. Technology
is used to supplement learning, while engaging
and motivating our students. Students at
Lionheart are part of the digital world and we
view the use of technology as a strategy to help
with connections, creativity and collaboration.
This year, teachers and students benefitted
from training and technology provided by
PowerUpEDU. Interactive Whiteboards, with
higher definition graphics and “touch” features
enable students with visual or motor challenges
to use the board more easily. Easy access to
the network of teacher created materials gives
our students the best tools and learning avenues
available.
Students at Lionheart participated in studies
this year conducted by researchers to investigate
interactive computing and its impact on learning
and engagement for students with special needs.
Projects with Agata Rozga, Research Scientist
in the School of Interactive Computing at
Georgia Institute of Technology; and Arpita
Bhattacharya, a Masters student in the Human
Computer Interaction program at Georgia Tech
continued, with our students “test driving” the
technologies that Georgia Tech is exploring and
creating. Students especially like the motion
sensing Kinect camera that is being used!
Micah Eckhardt (Ph.D. Candidate) from the
Affective Computing Group at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab visited
Lionheart to test an application that he has
developed for education. Micah worked with
our students and teachers to understand how
interactive media can be best used for learning.
Micah’s technical expertise combined with our
teachers’ knowledge of how our students learn
made for some magical moments using an
emerging technology.
Technology is just
a tool. In terms of
getting the kids
working together
and motivating
them, the teacher
is most important.
- B I L L G AT E S
If a child can’t
learn the way
we teach,
maybe we
should teach
the way they
learn.
– IGNACIO ESTRADA
The LionheARTisans Cottage Opens
Lionheart Gardens Continues to Grow
In May, The LionheARTisans Cottage had its grand opening in the
cottage at Alpharetta Presbyterian Church. The church graciously
donated the space where the school first started. Students will use
the space as a work room and showroom.
The LionheARTisans Cottage is a program providing older
students at The Lionheart School the experience of a small business
environment combining academic and job skills. The goal of the
program is to utilize and repurpose donated & available materials to
create marketable items. All proceeds go directly to The Lionheart
School.
The Lionheart Gardens continues to grow with support
from volunteers and the community. With the help of
Leadership North Fulton’s Six4Kids, we built raised beds
at the Lionheart Gardens property. A grant from the
Whole Kids Foundation provided five raised beds on
school property allowing the students to maintain them
during the school year. Other corporate and community
groups have generously volunteered many hours in
helping plant and maintain the gardens.
During the school year, the students set up and man
a garden stand on Thursdays selling their latest produce.
Over the summer, The Lionheart Gardens supplies their
local organic produce to area restaurants, including
Table and Main, Osteria Mattone, Opulent, and Cakes
and Ale. If you visit any of the restaurants, please thank
them for supporting Lionheart! Our produce is also
distributed through the Turnip Truck, a wholesaler who
takes fresh local produce to other area restaurants. Our
farm manager, Katherine Kennedy, was named Zagats 30
under 30 in Atlanta’s food industry.
Dogwood Forest & Lionheart: ‘Unique Chemistry’
The Lionheart School was recnetly featured in The Huffington Post. Here is the entire article.
Program Sparks Beautiful, ‘Unique Chemistry’ Between
Students With Autism And Elderly
Students with autism in Alpharetta, Georgia, are forming unique friendships with the elderly
through a very special program.The Lionheart School provides a specialized learning environment
for students, including a vocational program that brings their older students who have autism
together with senior citizens in a win-win of friendship and real-world training.
Every Tuesday, the students look forward to going to the Dogwood Forest Retirement
Community where they help out.“We began slowly at first, delivering the mail and playing
recreational games,” Heather Wagner, a director at the Lionheart School, told The Huffington Post
in an email. “From there we added on, setting the tables for the meals, playing word games and
singing songs with the residents in the memory care unit.”
The activities help to prepare the students for life outside of the school system by providing them
with useful skills, but they also bring together two seemingly very different groups of people.
Victoria McBride, head of therapeutic services at the school, explained, via email, that social
interactions and language processing can be difficult for both students in the school and seniors
at the retirement center. Because of this, the pace of conversation and social interaction between
the students and the residents can be slower, which allows both parties to engage and interact with
more confidence.
“There is a unique chemistry that I observe between our students and the residents,” Wagner told
HuffPost. “I have observed our students encouraging the residents during group games, helping our
students recall words when they are in the memory care unit, and it provides an opportunity for
our children to demonstrate their abilities in a less stressful environment.”
But it’s not only the students who benefit. “It just means a lot to have people come to see us.”
YMCA Partnership
The YMCA in Alpharetta is providing an
opportunity for students in the Lionheart for Life
program to develop valuable job skills. Each week
the students are at the YMCA working at the
front desk, in the office, cleaning equipment and
greeting guests.
This summer, Vance, an 18-year-old Lionheart
student began a regular volunteer shift using skills
he had learned during the school year. Vance can
be found at the front desk of the YMCA, working
alongside other YMCA volunteers every Saturday.
His duties include greeting YMCA members,
collecting and returning membership cards, and
answering basic questions. Working at the YMCA
has given Vance, as well as the other students, great
pride and confidence.
Three weeks...
That’s how long it took in January 2014 to reach
the $58 million cap on this scholarship program that
allows Georgia taxpayers to re-allocate a portion of
their state income tax liability to scholarships at the
independent school of their choice. Seventy-one
people selected The Lionheart School for their tax reallocation. Because of their generosity and fast action
in November, December and January, Lionheart was
fortunate to be the recipient of $213,770 in funds
that we will be able to designate towards scholarships
for our students who need them. Our families
who receive scholarships are so grateful. Often, a
scholarship makes the difference between whether their
child can attend Lionheart or not.
GOAL estimates that it will only take three days to
reach the cap in 2015.
Please reserve your spot now for your 2015 tax reallocation at www.goalscholarship.org or contact Mary
Ulich at [email protected]. If you have
any questions contact Mary at 770.772.4555.
DONORS
The Lionheart School thanks the following individuals,
companies, foundations, and groups who have supported
Lionheart during the 2013-14 year.
Active For Life Chiroporactic
Mrs. Margarita Adams
Allstate Foundation
Alpharetta Presbyterian Church
Ms. Sandy Althomsons in honor
of Miss Graciella Lotharius
Mr. Leo Arsenault
Atlanta Track Club
Mr. & Mrs. Greg Averbuch in honor
of Ms. Diane Smith
Ms. Doris Baker in memory of Ms. Carolyn Beattie
Mrs. Wendy Bandrowski
Mr. & Mrs. David Batson
Ms. Lucy Beattie in memory of Ms. Carolyn Beattie
Mr. & Mrs. John W. Bender
Ms. Barbra Berger Dr. Sharon Berger, Roswell Eye Clinic
Mrs. Laure Biehl
Mr. & Mrs. Burt Bradley
Brewer Family Foundation
Mr. & Mrs. Tee Bridges
Mr. & Mrs. Michael Burke
Mr. Alex Cann
Ms. Joy Capps
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Carrington
Ms. Lynn Chandler
Mr. & Mrs. Patrick Cheek
Choate Construction
Ms. Anne Cunningham
Mr. & Mrs. Andy Currie
Mr. & Mrs. Donald Davis
The DCTH Charitable Fund,
Mr. Chris Yaros
Ms. Susan Dennis
Mr. & Mrs. Brian Dixon in memory
of Gracie Dulin
Kirk Driskell, Power Realty Partners
Mr. & Mrs. Kelly Dummer
Dunwoody Womens Club
Mr. & Mrs. Daniel Eagen
Mr. & Mrs. Mike Eckard
Mr. Arthur Edge
Mr. & Mrs. Robert Ellis in honor
of Eric Dummer
Envoy Mortgage
Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth Fahey
Mr. & Mrs. Gerald Fitzgerald
Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Ford in memory
of Mrs. Marianne Seaman
The John & Mary Franklin
Foundation
Mr. & Mrs. Neal Freeman
Mrs. Allison Gilmore in honor
of Mark Dukes and Darryl Pitts
Mr. & Mrs. Jeff Gregor
Ms. Alice Harris
The Luther & Susie Harrison
Foundation
Harry’s Farmers Market
Mr. & Mrs. Bill Hawks
Mr. & Mrs. Curt Holton
Mr. & Mrs. Mark Inman
Mr. & Mrs. Hardie Jackson
Dr. Jim Jose
Mr. & Mrs. Mark Juliano
Mr. James Kemp
Mr. Chris Kemp
Ms. Kati Keyes
Mr. & Mrs. Michael King
Mr. Ted Kirk
Knights of Columbus
Mr. & Mrs. Doug Kremer
Ms. Fran Lambe in honor
of Mr. Jeff Sprinkle
The Forrest & Frances Lattner Foundation
Ms. Leslie-Anne Levy
Mr. David Litten
Mr. & Mrs. JC Lotharius
Mrs. Anita Mapes
Mrs. Billi Marcus
Marshall & Powell Charitable Trust
Mr. & Mrs. Kevin McBride
Mr. Allen McDaniel
Mr. and Mrs. Richard C. Miller in
memory of Evelyn Anderson
Morgan & DiSalvo, P.C.
Mr. & Mrs. Jeffrey Morris
Mr. Keith Munsch
Mrs. Gail Nearing
North Georgia Replacement Windows
Mr. Don Olmstead
Mr. & Mrs. Steven Pappas
Mr. & Mrs. Robert C. Patton
Mr. & Mrs. Jeff Peller
Dr. Judith Perry
Mr. & Mrs.Gary Poore
Mr. & Mrs. Jim Potts
Mr. & Mrs.Fred Pratt, Jr.
Mrs. Marilyn R. Rekart
Mr. & Mrs.Ed Rice
The Rich Foundation
Mr. & Mrs. Ryan Ridgway
Ms. Sarah Riegelhaupt
Rotary Club of Alpharetta
Salesforce.com Foundation
Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Scordino
Mr. Doug Self in honor of Ms. Dina Woodruff
Mr. Christopher Sherman in honor
of Mrs. Elizabeth Dulin
Ms. Jessica Sibley
Mr. & Mrs. Brett Silverman in honor
of Mr. Bobby Dulin
Sis & Moons
Mr. & Mrs.Scott Sizemore
Ms. Diane Smith
Somerset Foundation
Mr. Michael Spafford &
Ms. Catherine Botticelli
Dr. & Mrs. Pat Spafford in memory
of Marianne Seaman
Mr. & Mrs. Jeff Sponsler
Mr. & Mrs. Jerrill Sprinkle
Mr. & Mrs. Jeff Sprinkle
Ms. Martha Stephenson
Ms. Margaret Sullivan in memory
of Ms. Carolyn Beattie
Mr. & Mrs. Randall Tanner
Target
Mrs. Mary Thomas in memory of
Mr. & Mrs. Charles A. Thomas
and Mr. & Mrs. Raymond T. Jones
Ms. Alice Thompson
The Philip & Irene Toll Gage
Foundation
Mr. & Mrs. Allan Tucci
UB4ME Apparel
Mr. & Mrs. Robert Ulich
Mr. & Mrs. George Wagner
WalMart
Watkins Christian Foundation
Mr. & Mrs. James Weinberg in honor
of Mr. Larry Miller, Mrs. Margie Lynch,
Mr. Dale Hoepf
Mr. & Mrs. Mark West
The Westerstroms Charitable Trust
Mr. Clay White
Whole Kids Foundation
Every effort was made to accurately include
every donor. We sincerely regret any errors or
ommissions.
Save The Date - Auction 2015 – January 31, 2015
H
eart&Soul
1 4 t h A n n ua l L i o n h e a r t A u c t i o n
AUCTION SPONSORS
Spirit
Mr. & Mrs. Drew Klepchick
Hope
Mr. & Mrs. Mark Collins
Neonatology Associates of Atlanta
Mr. & Mrs. Tom Opie
Courage
Mr. & Mrs. Danny Brown
Choate Construction
Mr. & Mrs. Jason Cummins
Mr. & Mrs. Bern Mapes
Mr. & Mrs. Jeff Peller & Mr. &
Mrs. Mark Inman
Ms. Robin Scott
Sherlocks Wine Merchant
Dr. & Mrs. Pat Spafford
Mr. & Mrs. Jeff Sponsler
Mr. and Mrs. Jerrill Sprinkle
Heart
John Hancock Real Estate
Mr. & Mrs. JC Lotharius
UPS
Patron
Mr. & Mrs. Michael Burke
Dr. Lisa Hasty & Dr. Andy Smith
Dr. & Mrs. Stuart Jacobson
KeyWorth Bank
Northside Hospital
Mr. & Mrs. Robert Patton
Mr. & Mrs. Danny Ward
Friend
Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Bell
Mr. & Mrs. Gary Bivins
Mr. & Mrs. Ed Deck
Mr. & Mrs. Neal Freeman
Mr. & Mrs. Marc Lefar
Livin’ Large
Mr. & Mrs. Mark Phillips
Dr. & Mrs. Chris Sholota
Mr. & Mrs. Bob Sprinkle
Mr. & Mrs. Jeff Sprinkle
Mr. & Mrs. Mark St. Amour
Mr. & Mrs. Robert Ulich
Mr. & Mrs. Lamar Wakefield
L i o n h e a r t
A u c t i o n
2 0 1 4
NON-PROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
MARIETTA, GEORGIA
PERMIT NO. 7
225 Roswell Street
Alpharetta, GA 30009
770.772.4555
www.thelionheartschool.com
Lionheart Establishes Junior Board
L
ionheart is excited to announce that a Junior Board has been established
to help with fundraising, raising awareness, and bringing new ideas
to the future growth of The Lionheart School! Junior board members
have visited the school, and had two workdays with corporate and community
partners at Lionheart Gardens. The Junior Board will also be helping with the
2nd Annual Grilling and Gridiron event on September 13th, 2014.
Our New Junior Board
• Claire Bovat
Intercontinental Hotels
• Ashley Cheek
The Lionheart School
•Patrick Cheek
RouteMatch Software
• Mandi Davis
Windham Brannon Financial Group
• Greg Gaughan
GrandBridge Real Estate Capital
• Lindsay Murray
Carla Toro and Mandi Davis with Lionheart
Google, Inc.; YouTube
students Connor and Hampton at Lionheart
• Katya Spafford
Gardens.
The Lionheart School
• Allie Sprinkle
Credit Suisse
• Carla Toro
North American Properties
Greg Gaughan, Patrick Cheek and Allie Sprinkle receive
“training” on handling the puppies in the LionPaws program
from students Reese & Max.
Ashley Cheek, Lindsay Murray and Claire Bovat with Lionheart
students Reese & Alexandra.