Page 14 - Flathead Beacon // 10.19.16

NEWS
CITY BEAT
WHITEFISH
City to Accept Bids to Remove Depot Park Building
The City of White sh will accept bids to purchase and remove the o ce build- ing in Depot Park at 510 Railway Street.
The bidding will open Dec. 8 and the building on the southwest corner of the park will be available for reloca- tion or demolition in early to mid-April 2017. There are no minimum bids on the building and bidders must state pay- ment and closing dates. The city is seek- ing a prompt payment and may take into account promptness o ered by each bid- der in determining the highest and best bid, according to city o cials.
White sh’s Depot Park master plan
FLATHEAD
County Receives Grant for Jail Expansion Plans
Earlier this year, Flathead County applied for a grant from the state Depart- ment of Commerce to help mitigate some of the expenses the county will incur as it continues to look at options for build- ing a new jail and expanding the current
calls for removing all existing structures within the park. The pond at Depot Park was recently removed to make way for green space.
Bidders can obtain further infor- mation and bid proposal forms and packets from the White sh City Man- ager at the above address or by calling 406-863-2406.
KALISPELL
FVCC President Receives National Community College Award
Flathead Valley Community College President Jane Karas is the recipient of the 2016 Marie Y. Martin Chief Executive Award from the Association of Commu- nity College Trustees (ACCT).
facility.
On Oct. 4, the county learned it had
received a $40,000 grant for the prepara- tion of a preliminary architectural report to evaluate the county’s adult detention facility and its expansion options.
The Community Development Block Grant planning award comes through the Montana Department of Commerce’s
Karas was chosen for the award from a pool of ve nalists from community col- leges around the nation. She received the award at ACCT’s 47th Annual Leadership Congress in New Orleans on Oct. 7.
The Marie Y. Martin Chief Executive Award recognizes the most distinguished community college president in the coun- try. Earlier this year, Karas received ACCT’s Chief Executive Award for the Western Region, making her a contender for the national award.
The award is named in honor of Marie Y. Martin, who served as director of the Community College Unit, U.S. O ce of Education and as a chief executive in the Los Angeles Community District. Karas was selected for the award based upon
Community Development Division.
The Flathead County Detention Cen- ter was originally built to house around 60 inmates, but now regularly holds more than 100 people. The jail rosters
has topped out at more than 120 people. With the Flathead County Attor- ney’s O ce vacating the second oor of the Justice Center to move to the newly
her initiation of innovative programs at FVCC, her work to maximize opportuni- ties for FVCC students to be successful and her advocacy and service on behalf of two-year colleges in Montana and across the nation.
“Dr. Karas has guided our institu- tion through its most dramatic period of growth and academic innovation,” FVCC Board of Trustees Chair Shannon Lund said. “She has worked to meet local work- force needs, including those in advanced manufacturing and healthcare, and has explored a wide range of specialized programs while ensuring that FVCC’s core academic programs are continually enhanced.”
news@ atheadbeacon.com
revamped Historic Jail building, the county commission voted to move for- ward with a project to expand jail space into the prosecutors’ former o ces. The expansion will add 36 beds to the jail, but the county still has long-term plans to build a new facility, and continues to save money from each budget for this purpose.
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NEWS
COUNTY BEAT
Special Olympics Montana Launches Flathead Reservation Pilot Project New tribal outreach director position created to help schools develop ‘Uni ed Champion’ standards
BY CLARE MENZEL OF THE BEACON
After noticing that few students from schools on the Flathead Reservation were participating in statewide Special Olym- pics games, o cials with Special Olympics Montana (SOMT) launched a three-year pilot initiative in early 2016 to improve accessibility and boost attendance.
They created a new tribal outreach director position, hiring Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes member April Charlo in January to help teachers and administrators at the 18 schools in the Polson, Ronan, Charlo, St. Ignatius, and Dixon districts support athletes and develop Special Olympics teams. The pilot project has received support from elected o cials on both sides of the aisle, including U.S. Sens. Steve Daines and Jon Tester, Gov. Steve Bullock, Attorney Gen- eral Tim Fox, and Superintendent of Pub- lic Instruction Denise Juneau.
Some athletes with intellectual dis- abilities from Polson have attended past Montana Special Olympics games, but the pilot project’s particular aim is to help schools introduce Uni ed Cham- pion Schools standards, which integrate students both with and without intellec- tual disabilities on the same team. In a team sport like track and eld, a uni ed
team might include three athletes with intellectual disabilities, and one without. The goal for the pilot project, which has nearly $350,000 of funding through state and national grants, is to help teachers and administrators at 10 schools become Uni ed Champions. To become certi ed as a Special Olympics Uni- ed Champion School, the school must demonstrate youth leadership, inclusive sports and tness activity, and whole-
school involvement.
“What I’m hoping is to reach 10
schools fairly quickly,” Charlo said. “And after that, really help the schools estab- lish sustainability, so when the grant project is completed, the programs are stable and standing strong so they can continue forever ... It’s about bring- ing inclusive activities to students, and opportunities for them to bridge rela- tionships with each other and create friendships.”
Special Olympics Uni ed programs are bene cial for all students, said Kris Kelly, Special Olympics coach and special education teacher at Polson High School, which has a strong existing Special Olym- pics program that already incorporates regular-education students. It’s the clos- est to becoming the rst Uni ed Cham- pion School on the reservation, according
to Charlo. The school has sent students to Special Olympics events for more than eight years, and this academic year, there are eight students in the program from both the high and middle schools.
Kelly has long advocated for inclusion, something she realized the importance of while raising her now-23-year-old daugh- ter, Kiya, who has an intellectual disability.
“I have fought for inclusion since my daughter started in school,” Kelly said. “She was put in a separate classroom and there was no inclusion ... Uni ed says, ‘This (Special Olympics) is okay,’ and that their sport is no di erent. It allows ath- letes to show o to their regular-ed peers, because they don’t have that opportunity very often.”
Special Olympics athletes in Pol- son have a uniform like the other stu- dents, and they are welcomed at school- wide sports events like the pep rally. This inclusion, Kelly said, works to val- idate and legitimize their e orts. It also helps them become valued members of the larger Polson community, which is essential for students who, after gradua- tion, may not pursue higher education or a career.
Participation in Special Olympics athletics, in general, helps special-edu- cation students with exibility, motor
skills, and alertness, and teaches them lifelong sports.
Kelly says she’s also seen a positive response from regular-education stu- dents in her Special Olympics program.
“Almost every single one of them has said the same thing, that it changes their perspective on life,” she said. “(They see) these kids with all these issues, and they’re not complaining that their hair looks crappy or that so-and-so didn’t say hello. You realize that the little things in life are more important. You take those hugs in the hallway.”
And while Kelly says she’s had immense support from her administra- tors, “everything we do is costly,” from traveling to events to purchasing equip- ment, and that running Polson’s high school program demands a signi cant volunteer time commitment, two hurdles the SOMT program hopes to clear in the next three years.
“It doesn’t feel like schools don’t want to do it,” Charlo said of the schools that don’t yet have a Uni ed Special Olympics program. “But if your plate is already full, and you want to do it, how much energy and time is it going to take to gure it out? I’m here to support you through it all the way, 100 percent.”
clare@ atheadbeacon.com
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OCTOBER 19, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM