Byesville Rotary hears about special education at Rolling Hills

Pictured: Brian Raach, Special Education coordinator at Rolling Hills Schools and Chuck Fair, Byesville Rotary President. 

Brian Raach, Special Education coordinator at Rolling Hills Schools, spoke to club members about his passion for working with special education students. He began to appreciate the difference that can be made in the lives of students with special education needs early in his life. His mother and father were both teachers who worked with students with learning disabilities.

Raach explained that state laws require schools to intervene when students are struggling to learn successfully. There are numerous reasons that can cause a student to have difficulties including physical, developmental, or medical disabilities. The specific type of disability must be identified either by testing or by a medical diagnosis. Once a student is identified with a learning disability, a team of educators will make the final decision about the student’s need for intervention.

Raach pointed out that an Individualized Education Program known as an IEP will be developed for each student. Each IEP includes interventions to help the student reach his/her potential. The interventions can be quite simple. Simply changing a student’s seat location in the classroom can result in a better learning environment for the student by reducing distractions such as activity outside of a window. A teacher can try a different teaching technique or try placing the student in a smaller group.

“As often as possible, each student with a learning disability will be mainstreamed into the general classroom,” Raach stated.

Raach said that he is proud of a new program Rolling Hills has recently initiated in partnership with the Guernsey County Board of Developmental Disabilities. The new program, Colt Hoops, is a co-ed, student only basketball team for students with learning disabilities. The Rolling Hills team plays against the Cambridge team on Sundays. The opportunity to play sports teaches learning disabled students discipline, teamwork and improves physical skills.

Connect with Byesville Rotary at: www.Byesvillerotary.blogspot.com or https://www.facebook.com/pages/Byesville-Rotary/256548047818283. The club meets 7:30 am, Tuesday at the Stop Nine Senior Center at 60313 (GPS use 60299) Southgate Road, Byesville. Walk-ins are welcome at the club’s meeting.

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