"GO SOX!"by Geoff

It was a great game yesterday. There were lots of fans at the game and it looked like they all had fun out there. We got to see fireworks every time they hit a home run. We were very lucky that someone special made us "GO SOX" signs for all of us to hold up. We tried to get on TV, but we didn't. My favorite part was when they won the game. -Geoff

Take me out to the Ball Game

REMINDER: There will be NO MCC on April 29th.

Coffee and Conversation

Dear EDS,

You are invited to join us for "Coffee and Conversation"

May 7, 2009

from 9 am to 9:30 am

in the SOAR kitchen

We will share our information about Retirement with you.

From, The Seniors of SOAR

Letter Writing Campaign

Pioneer Center will be undertaking a letter writing campaign to our state legislators, addressing several bills pending in the legislature. These bills are intended to give community agencies much needed revenue; one requires prompt payment from the state, making long payment delays a thing of the past.

Please join us in rooms B & C in P. West on Monday, April 27 from 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. where letters will be awaiting your signature. If you would prefer to write a personal letter, feel free to do so and bring in on Monday. These letters will be hand delivered to Springfield on Advocacy Day, Wednesday, April 29 by Lorraine, Jeff Kurth and Dan Haligas.

EDS WILL recycle pop cans!

Listen up everyone in EDS!

We have noticed that some people have been tossing their soda cans in the garbage.

They should be RECYCLED!

We learned today that....

It takes about 400 years for aluminum to break down naturally. That Coke can you just drank from will probably still look about the same in another century or two.

So in honor of Earth Day (and so that Mother Nature won't be mad at us), make a promise to always recycle soda cans.

Learning about Relationships

In Class We have been learning about how you shouldn't date your co-workers but you still have to work with them at work and we still have to be nice to them.
To help us learn about this we used a picture of a bulls eye and talked about the different kinds of relationships we should have at work and which ones we shouldn't.
The center of the bulls eye is yourself and the people in your own household.
As you go further out on the circle you have your close friends, then the next circle would be people like your teachers and co-workers.
The outside circle are people you don't know, strangers.

I learned how relationships with people can be very different.

By: Rob

I am looking for a job

I am currently trying to find a job. I would like to work at a Bakery.
I like Bakeries that have sugar free stuff.
My friends will be so proud of me when I get a job.
I will have a party.


By: Nichole

Communication Class

In Communication class we have been learning how to get along with other people.

Not fighting, working things out for yourself, and if that doesnt work you tell you boss and they can help you.

This information has helped me out a lot and I learned from it.

This will help me out in the future.

Thanks to Rachel and Britt for teaching me these things.

Brittany

Spring Campus Classes

On Wednesday morning, clients will have the opportunity to sign up for a class of interest. Don't worry, those who are not here on Wednesday can sign-up early with staff!

The classes to choose from this quarter are:

Art-Bells and Casio-Bugs-Comedy Club-Computer (Yahoo)-Cooking-Daily News Cast-Exercise Class-Fun in the Sun-Games Club-Gardening -Health-Mens Group-Music Appreciation-Photography 2-Power Walkers-Snack Attack-Stretch and Breathe-Warehouse Skills-Weird Science-Painting-Classic Cinema-Let's Talk About It

Snack Attack by Jessica

Working at the Snack Attack is alot of fun. I like selling treats. And I like to do the cashier at the snack attack. And I also like to earn a little extra spending money.

By: Jessica

Chicago Hockey!

LET'S GO HAWKS!

The Chicago Black Hawks are doing a good job.

We are excited to be in the playoff.

Some of us will be wearing Jerseys and Hawks colors to support our favorite team.

I'm going to wear my Jersey on the 22nd, and Rachel is TOO!

LET'S GO HAWKS!

by: Brian

Karate on May 2nd by Tony and Kim

On May 2 I am going to be in a tourament at marlow high school in lake in the hills.

Rachel is going to come and video tape me doing karate so we can watch the video at mcc on the big screen.

I would like my EDS friends to come to karate on saturday.

I hope you can come and watch me do karate on sat let me know.

Can you guys come ?

Lunch & a Movie by Geoff and Kevin

During lunch EDS gets to watch part of a moive.
It is my day to bring in a movie from my apartment that I brought.
Today the movie is Herbie Fully Loaded.
I hope that everyone will enjoy the movie.

Sports Day by Melissa, Wayne & Terrie

Sunday, we went to SPORTS DAY!

It was in Woodstock with all the Pioneer Group homes.

We all exercised before we played the games.

Our favorites were basketball, kickball, and soccer.

It was fun, and we liked it.

We are happy that Rachel crashed the party.

She ran basketball drills and was very loud.

She wanted to win everthing.

Wayne won a plastic snake.

We hope to do it again soon.

Jon and Rachel party by Deserea & Claire

To our co-workers Jon and Rachel....

We are happy to see you graduate and good luck to together.

We will miss you.

Please stay in touch with us and come vist us when you chance.

We will have a party on May 1st and we will bring cake to mcc

Big party!!!

Hostile Workplace by Anna, DeeDee & Grant

be kind to your co-workers don't be mean to your co-workers. because it's is bad news it like mean girls. being friendly is the best policy made kindess is better then being a jerk to your co-worker. calling people names is bad hanging out with wrong kind of people is not the best thing to do spending rumors is bad because it will hurt the co-worker feeling it will there would made them feel sad or mad the co-worker who are spending the rumor about them the co- worker will not show up to pioneer center olny more or work olny more people are being mean to them not being nice to them olny more the boss will not be happy about people who are spending rumor about the co- worker

Happy Vacation Britt!!!

Britt, We hope you enjoy your vacation and your time at San Francisco!

Take lots of photos and maybe bring back a couple of souvenirs!

We'll see back to work on Tuesday the 21st! All of us in EDS!

Dear Family and Friends of Pioneer Center Artists,

It’s been a while, but the artists from Pioneer Center will have an opportunity to exhibit their pictures on Saturday, April 18th at the Starline Gallery and Studios in Harvard as part of the 2nd annual ART TRAIN event and art exhibit.

It is a cultural event which the Northwest Area Arts Council has organized to expose people to the arts in Crystal Lake, Woodstock, and Harvard. Although the events happen along the train line and give train riders an opportunity to get off the train at different locations to view art, one does not have to use the train to view art at any of the locations.

Enclosed is a card describing events at the various train stops. The card shows Harvard as the last stop. This part of the event runs from 5pm -9:30 pm. There will be a show in the main gallery space, and all artist studios will be open to show work during the event. The Pioneer Center artists’ pictures will hang in Tom Cubr’s studio at the Starline building. Refreshments and music begin at 7pm, so that may be the best time to arrive for a fuller experience.

This show will be at the same site where we exhibited for the Fall Equinox show in 2007. The address is 306 Front St., Harvard . IL 60033. If you are on Ayer St. in downtown Harvard, Front St. is the first street before the railroad tracks. The gallery is about 2 blocks west on Front St.

Apologies for the lateness of this note. Information was slow in coming out, and I didn’t want to get people’s hopes up if I wasn’t certain of information regarding the event.

Hope to see some of you there!

http://www.naac4art.org/arttrain2008.html

Any questions, please call Tom at (815) 759-7092.

Cerebral Palsy Speech Recognition Study

Make Some Money($$) for Just Talking
Dyarthric Speech Recognition Study
Has any one ever paid you for just talking? Well here is your opportunity! We are looking for adults (18 years or older) with Cerebral Palsy who have mild to severe dysarthric speech for an automatic speech recognition study. The long term goal is to build a practical system for text entry into computer systems for people with dysarthric speech. In order to achieve this goal we need speech samples of dysarthric speech. We are particularly interested in people who live in Illinois, Western Indiana and Southern Wisconsin. The study will last between 1-2 hours and consist of reading words presented one at a time on a computer screen. Potential participants must be at least 18 years old, have good vision to be able to read from a computer screen and be able to read at or above the 3rd grade level. Participants will be compensated for their participation and travel mileage. If you have dysarthric speech and are potentially interested in participating in the study, please visit the following web site and fill out an interest form or contact Professor Mark Hasegawa-Johnson, Ph.D. the Principal Investigator of the project.

http://asr.cita.uiuc.edu
Professor Mark Hasegawa-Johnson, Ph.D.Beckman Institute University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign405 N MathewsUrbana, Illinois 61801Phone: (800) 494-8165

ATIA AT Video YouTube Contest

Announcing ATIA's AT Video YouTube Contest: Broadcast Assistive Technology

www.atia.org/youtubecontest

Technology - The Great EqualizerWe hear that all the time! But it certainly holds true for persons with a disability who are looking for the same opportunities in life as everyone else.

Here's a chance to show the world what is possible through assistive technology! Create a Video Celebrating Ability Using Assistive Technology: The Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) (http://www.atia.org/%29 is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2009. As part of the celebrations ATIA is hosting an AT video contest on the popular YouTube web site. ATIA invites you to create a short video that presents an inspiring story about how assistive technology has helped to change the life of an individual with a disability and helped to empower them to change their world.

Let your creativity flow! Feel free to use music, humor, or other formats to help celebrate the products designed to remove barriers for persons with disabilities.

Prizes are being awarded based on "most viewed" video criteria: Grand Prize - trip to the ATIA 2009 Chicago Conference (October 28-31, 2009) including travel and hotel expenses. Sub-Category winners receive $400 gift certificate (American Express or Visa). Runners up receive complimentary registration to ATIA 2009 Chicago or ATIA 2010 Orlando (January 27-30, 2010).ATIA YOUTUBE CONTEST SUB-CATEGORIES - enter for one or multiple sub-categories AACVideos in this category should demonstrate the use of augmentative and alternative communications (AAC) technology to enhance the lives of individuals with speech and communications challenges - whether it is at home, at school, at work or at play and for all ages.Blind/Low VisionVideos in this category should demonstrate the use of assistive technology to enhance the lives of individuals who are blind or visually impaired - whether it is at home, at school, at work or at play and for all ages.Deaf/Hard of HearingVideos in this category should demonstrate the use of assistive technology to enhance the lives of individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing - whether it is at home, at school, at work or at play and for all ages.Education: These videos can relate the perspective of the child's experience, the teacher's or the family's.
Early ChildhoodVideos in this category should demonstrate the use of assistive technology for children who are pre-Kindergarten.
Elementary SchoolVideos in this category should demonstrate the use of assistive technology for children in an Elementary School environment or at this age level.
Middle SchoolVideos in this category should demonstrate the use of assistive technology for children in a Middle School environment or at this age level.
High SchoolVideos in this category should demonstrate the use of assistive technology for children in a High School environment or at this age level.
Post Secondary SchoolVideos in this category should demonstrate the use of assistive technology for young adults in a Post Secondary School environment or at this age level.
Physical Access/MobilityVideos in this category should demonstrate the use of assistive technology providing access to computers for individuals with physical impairments - whether it is at home, at school, at work or at play and for all ages.

Congratulations Bret!

Bret, we are all so happy for you. We all strive for this same goal that you have achieved in such a short amount of time! Though you will be missed, we know that this is for the best, for we cannot stay in EDS forever. I feel both happy and upset at the same time; it's a weird feeling. In the end, though, I'll get over it and I'll move on, because that's what EDS is all about. You have clearly demonstrated that you can do this, so I know that everything's going to work out just fine. You are truly an inspiration everywhere.


Sincerely


Your friends at EDS