The Sacramento County Office of Education's (SCOE) MOVE Project was honored by the Sacramento County Board of Education at its January 17 meeting. The MOVE Project has earned special recognition as an innovative program that helps children and adults with physical disabilities learn and gain mobility.
SCOE's MOVE Project (Mobility Opportunities Via Education), is the recipient of a Golden Bell Award from the California School Boards Association (CSBA). The MOVE Project is a research-based program shown to improve functional mobility skills and empower children and adults with severe physical disabilities to better direct their own lives.
"The MOVE Project greatly helps those involved move closer and closer toward independence and it helps them better direct their lives," said David W. Gordon, Sacramento County Superintendent of Schools. "We at the County Office are proud to be a part of this program."
Four school sites within SCOE's Special Education Program serve as Model Sites for the MOVE International Program. MOVE International is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping children and adults with disabilities. The MOVE Curriculum was developed in response to a growing concern that students with severe, multiple and profound disabilities in the public schools were not learning or utilizing critical mobility skills needed to benefit fully from their educational programs.
"We have a truly dedicated and trained staff implementing this innovative and successful curriculum for students with severe disabilities," said Dr. Robin Pierson, Assistant Superintendent for Special Education. "Our staff makes a difference each day by encouraging, teaching and motivating students."
SCOE's Special Education Department has presented the award at the CSBA conference in San Diego on December 3, 2011.
The CSBA Golden Bell Awards program promotes excellence in education by recognizing outstanding programs in school districts and county offices of education throughout California. The goal of this awards program is to contribute to the development and evaluation of curriculum, instruction, and support services.
This is the fourth Golden Bell Award won by a SCOE program. In 2010, LINKS, a career technical education program that tailors needed services to individual students, received the award. In 2008, SCOE's ROP Manufacturing Technology-Welding program, at the now-closed Carson Creek Jr./Sr. High School within the former Sacramento County Boys Ranch, received the prestigious honor. In 1999, the Outreach Construction Technology Program was also recognized by the California School Boards Association with a Golden Bell Award.