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President's Message
Welcome to the new “virtual school year”! Did we ever think that would be the welcome back for the new school year? It is now our reality whether we like it or not. When faced with difficult or overwhelming barriers, we find ourselves making adjustments and holistic changes to make it through the new environment. CEO has made the adjustments and at this time restructured our instructional models to make “virtual or distance learning” a vital part of our infrastructure. School districts and ACCES-VR are all in the midst of working through the impact of the pandemic as are the professionals who work with them. Simultaneously, the world is trying to adjust to this what I reluctant to call our “new normal”.
One of my deepest concerns is that at the end of this “new normal,” the norm returns. People with disabilities are again relegated to the back of the line for employment opportunities. In order to effectively address this, CEO staff have been working diligently in developing new employment opportunities for the people we serve. In July and August during the one of the most difficult times I have seen for jobs, we made ten placements. This was because of commitment and effort. The pandemic has impacted our physical presence in different situations but not our ability to rethink and reinvent our ability to assist the people we serve.
During the last six months we have restructured our curriculum, “Career Services for People In and Beyond Special Education” to adjust to the capacity to use virtual services. We constituted our entire web based interface for reports, and better tracking of community based work site activities and IEP goals. We have redesigned our use of virtual services to accommodate our students and adults in ACCES.
In this year of conflict and change, I am urging our staff, the eligible voters of people we serve and all of you to vote and have your voices heard in this coming election year. Through conflict comes confluence and hopefully after the chaos of this past year can come a new day that will enable all of us to return to the lives we lived.
Nicholas A. Villani
