Marianne Jones

It is a wonderful time for our Center to be able to celebrate all the accomplishments of both our students and Practitioners. We have seven students who will be exiting our program as they have been with us for two years. There are eight students who will be returning next year as second year students. Ten Practitioner 1’s have completed the program and are awaiting their certification, one on site and nine off site. There are also five Practitioner 2’s who have completed all the requirements for certification. We are so proud of the hard work and dedication both on the student’s end and the Practitioner’s end.

They will be recognized at the end of year Recognition Ceremony that will be held at Hart’s Hill Inn, on June 11th, at 6:00pm. As the end of the year wraps up, it is a wonderful time to describe some of the  stories that have recently been shared with us, regarding a few of our students.

One of our students in the fall was not passing her classes in school. She was very introverted and would keep her eyes low and averted upon entering. Her mom recently commented that she is now passing all her subjects and just missed honor roll by a hair. She also smiles upon entering and not only meets the eyes of those she walks beyond but engages in conversation with everyone as well. It is so wonderful to view such an improvement both in academics, but also emotionally/socially.

Another student was a non-reader and recently came out and declared to his grandmother “Grandma, I can now read!” What a moment of delight for all, but especially for the grandmother and child. Words cannot express the emotion that passes in these situations.

Finally, a student we have was doing so well that at his most recent IEP meeting, the school district wanted to remove all services and accommodations. While this was not the best strategy for the student, it was a remarkable improvement for the district to want to withdraw services.

Sarah is a student who was previously written about in Welcome to My World, will be speaking both at the Recognition Ceremony on June 11, but will also be a guest speaker at the Council of Deliberation on June 28th, 2024.

This completes another year here in CNY. We are so incredibly grateful for all who assist in any way to keep us running. It would not be possible without all of our volunteers, board members, or the countless individuals who donate from Sponsor a Child to the dollars for dyslexia, each is so valuable and allows us to make a difference one child at a time. This is expanded upon, by our ability to train teachers and members of the community to work with dyslexic and struggling readers within the community.