A bittersweet revelation this year. The wonderful Ginny will be departing from the program after this year. She successfully applied to the U of O Speech Pathology Masters Program and will be moving to the next stage of her life. We wish you luck on your journey, Ginny!

This school year, the BCTN was once more awarded grants by the Bethel Education Foundation. We are very thankful to be better able to provide opportunities for our students to practice daily living skills. Our grants this year were: The Community is our Classroom, and Culinary Arts Program

For Spring Term 2024, We have been excited to welcome a student teacher from the University of Oregon! Not only can we provide a learning opportunity to prospective teachers, but our staff can learn new ways of teaching and supporting students. Chris has been working in transition for several years in the Portland area.  He has been a great resource in getting students connected with outside agencies! Glad to have you, Chris!

"Delicious Discoveries" 

The Delicious Discoveries project allows the BCTN program to have cooking opportunities with the students.  The class would consist of direct teaching and hands-on learning to support students with communication, teamwork and social skills while working together to plan, shop and prepare a variety of meals.

"Uplifting Spirits"  

Our hope is that by providing the students opportunities within the school day to participate in community leisure activities it will increase their overall student wellness such as: Sense of freedom, independence, and autonomy.  As well as increase positive personal relationships and student attendance.  Ideally these activities would support them in having a more positive outlook on life and give them additional purpose to come to school and to enjoy life just a little bit more!

In the beginning of 2023-24 school year we had to say goodbye to Natalie. Natalie was an EA with the BCTN program for a little of 1 year. Natalie is a full time student at the University of Oregon in the Masters Program. Natalie would like to be a math teacher and will doing their student teaching at WHS in the mathematic department. Good Luck to you Natalie we will miss you!! 

This past week BCTN welcomed a group of case managers from Lane County Developmental Disability Service (LCDDS). They came to learn about our program, meet students, and tell students and their support systems about the services available through the county.

We also completed the MEGI (Motivational Enhancement Group Intervention). MEGI is a 10 week class taught by a trained Transition Education Facilitator, that is funded by Oregon Vocational Rehabilitation. This year it was taught by Josh Barbour who is the Transition Network Facilitator for Lane, Linn, Benton, and Lincoln counties. The class focuses on assisting students in exploring employment dreams, goals, challenges, and abilities. Students are able to share their MEGI Path presentation in their IEP Meeting and with outside agencies such as job developers, Personal Support Workers (PSW), and LCDDS or Brokerages.  The MEGI Path presentation is a great way for students to advocate for themselves and to support other crucial transition support workers in getting to know them a little bit easier.  

What a great way for the BCTN students to enjoy the last day of school before spring break 2023.  BCTN used a portion of our student wellness grant funding from the Bethel Education Foundation to take students on a class trip to Round1. This included bowling, games, and ice cream.  Check this video out to see all of the fun and smiles that students and staff shared.  

Natalie has been with the BCTN program for the 2022/2023 school year. as an Educational Assistant.  Natalie has been an integral part of supporting individual student needs and ensuring a smooth flow of schedules and with technology. We are so proud of Natalie for continuing her education by working towards their masters degree in education!  Natalie will start the UOTeach MEd program in June of 2023.  Way to go Natalie!

For Winter and Spring term of 2023 we are excited to welcome a student teacher from the University of Oregon! Student teaching is a great way both to train new teachers and bring new ideas into our program. Oliver has been teaching classes on social skills and community safety.  BCTN has had the privilege of Oliver completing their practicum hours with our program. Thank you Oliver you are going to be an excellent teacher!

https://eugeneweekly.com/2021/09/23/spencer-coleman/

At BCTN the students and the staff have the privilege of getting to work closely with eachother.  We typically have students at BCTN for 3 years and that gives them time to truly build connections with each other and the staff.  Ronda was an EA with the BCTN program from 2016 - 2019.  We made this video to recognize all that she has done for the program.  Best of luck to you Ronda in this new chapter of your life!