Mentone Special Ed. Dept. Receives Donation For Therapeutic Horseback Riding
MENTONE — The 2018 year looks promising for the Mentone Special Education Department. The board approved a $500 donation from Rob and Patti Newman of Newman Construction to the Mentone Special Education Department Monday night at Mentone.
Cathy Olson, primary special education teacher at Mentone Elementary, has worked to create a unique opportunity for her special needs students.
About three years ago, Olson stumbled across Magical Meadows, a therapeutic horseback riding facility in Warsaw for youth and adults with physical and developmental disabilities. According to Olson, “[Magical Meadows’] primary thing is that they do horseback riding with veterans that have PTSD. They also work with students in the area of special education — primarily students with autism and students with emotional disabilities.”
After having taken one of her students, she saw remarkable accomplishments after just one day. After just one session, the student knew the horse’s name as well as the commands. “I was clearly amazed by this student,” informed Olson.
Since then, Olson has taken the students she works with special needs to the facility for a half day session. The group attends typically five times a year and relies on the donation to go. “Hopefully, we can squeeze in a couple more sessions this year with this donation, but it’s just a great facility and program for my kids to participate in,” explained Olson.
Olson couldn’t be more grateful for the donation as she explained the first year for the program as they “raised money on (their) own to go (by selling) things at the school (and) baked items.” However, the Newmans understand the challenges special education programs face and were ready to help. “We have a daughter who teaches special ed. in Peru so special education programs are near and dear to our heart,” said Patti Newman.
Along with the approval of the Newmans’ donation, Tippecanoe Valley School Board approved the $23,078,984 budget for 2018.
The general fund was finalized for $15,513,353 with zero tax levy. Valley set aside a $1,920,580 budget for transportation with around a $1.5 million tax levy as well as $294,000 for bus replacements with a $352,424 tax levy. The remaining $2,531,724 was approved for capital with a $2,434,415 tax levy.
Valley Schools finalized with a total of $7,225,334 in tax levy and a 1.6168 tax rate.
In other news:
- The school board listened to a presentation on student tracker which will help the school track a student’s progress during and after high school.
- Akron Unit A project looks to be around 90 percent completed and should be done by the end of the year as scheduled.
- The board approved $87,730 in grants for a walking trail, $15,000 grant for playground equipment at Mentone Elementary and Burket and $10,000 grant for TVHS and TVMS Library upgrades.
- Beaver Dam Preschool was spotlighted and thanked Valley for its partnership over the years.