MCPS Special Education Family Resource Fair is a success at Blair

On Saturday, May 11, Blair hosted the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Office of Special Education Family Resource Fair, aiming to educate families of children with special needs on the resources provided by MCPS and the community. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. the Blair hallways were filled with tables offering resources to families, workshops for parents, and activities for kids of all ages. 

All down the busy Blair Boulevard, departments from MCPS and other organizations raised awareness of their services, ranging from accessible sports opportunities to mental health resources. Distributing pamphlets and talking to parents, the community members behind the tables  were occupied all day, engaging with the community and offering students the opportunity to participate in accessible sports, theater, and other activities. 

In several Blair classrooms, workshops took place from 10:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., where parents had the opportunity to learn more about different mental and emotional health resources offered by MCPS to students with special needs. Two workshops focused on different details of Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), with one addressing the sometimes tough transition for students with IEPs as they move from middle school to high school. 

In room 146, Readability, an organization dedicated to making reading more accessible to kids with special needs, hosted their own multi-sensory storytimes for students at the fair. Contacted by MCPS to be featured in the fair, the organization was founded by two students at Winston Churchill High School, and creates engaging and interactive storybooks for neurodivergent students. Readability’s student-made books feature heartwarming stories, such as “The Clever Crab” which include the use of different props to aid the storytelling and engage the reader’s five senses. 

Sophia Campbell, the founder and president of Readability, explained that she created the organization to foster a love for reading in other students, influenced by books she remembered from her time growing up. “I was kind of inspired by the cardboard books that had pop ups in them from my childhood, and I thought about how that could be created in a more hands-on and neurodivergent-friendly manner,” Campbell said.

Along with storytimes, Blair’s gym hosted several fun activities for students, including a moon bounce, a DJ, crafts, a tattoo artist, and a balloon artist. As students followed their parents throughout the Blair hallways, they toted their balloon animals and snacked on cotton candy. Food trucks parked outside also drew a small crowd. 

At 1 p.m. students and parents filed out of Blair having learned valuable information while also having fun.