Message From The Superintendent - May 2022

Greetings! 

We hope everyone is doing well! Here are the updates.   

Since January, we have had only one person test positive for the coronavirus and that just happened at the end of April.

Work has begun on repairing Brady Lake Park to be ready for our Special Olympic athletes. Islerscaping, out of Windham, has finished the three new Bocce courts. Hopefully, the soccer goals will be in next week, and we will be ready for the Special Olympic Sports to begin. We will also add a sign that has Brady Lake Park as the home of the Portage DD Special Olympic Athletes.   

Portage DD is in the process of adding an electronic sign at Happy Day School Services. Adding the electronic sign to the front of the building will allow everyone to know about upcoming events.   

Applications are still being accepted for the Portage Trailblazer camp. We fund Akron Rotary camp to provide this opportunity for all Portage DD eligible campers aged 6 to 21. This camp is free, and you can sign up at: www.gotcamp.org/rotary-camp-day-camp-programs  

Buckeye Residential Solutions LLC is working with us to get a youth respite center/home started in Portage County. We are targeting a June 1st start date for this new program to start. Thank you, Buckeye! 

We also have our youth social recreation program for kids ages 12 to 17 that are eligible for services at Portage DD. We fund this through Unified Resources Recreation (URR). The social recreation program just started at the end of February. For more information, call the URR office at 330.297.0078 or email Ashleigh Lawrence at alawrence@fcsohio.org. Thank you, Ashleigh! 

Thank you to everyone who supported the DD Awareness/Pride rally on April 1st in front of the Ravenna Courthouse! It was an excellent turnout despite the very windy/cold day.    

April 16th, we had our 31st Annual Portage County Special Olympics Bowling Invitational at Spins Bowl in Kent. Thank you to Colleen Brown for her dedication to making Special Olympics a priority! Also, thank you to Tim Torch and Michelle Dolensky for assisting!  

Director Hauck from the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities stopped by on April 21st. Thank you to Director Hauck for hearing some of our concerns and Portage DD’s new initiatives and existing programs. We had a great discussion.   

We are currently working with the local school districts on planning for the 22-23 school year. We will continue to Provide SEL (Social Emotional Learning) classes, Building Independence for transition students, CPI (Crisis Prevention Institute) training, professional development, and facility usage (Pool, gym, and life skills area). We also plan on having a Lending library for all school districts to utilize.  

It will have adaptive equipment, sensory-related needs, and assistive technology. The list of items continues to grow to help support the districts.   

We also wanted to continue to thank the providers, families, Portage DD staff, and people in the community who help make lives better for the people we serve. Thank you!  

Thank you again for your continued support. We are incredibly grateful for all the families, providers, staff, community, and people we serve! Portage DD will continue to strive to meet and exceed your expectations.  

WE ARE HERE FOR YOU.

Sincerely,

John Vennetti