"Please come back next year!! What a great opportunity for me to be here."
- HH, Certified Physiologist
Love! Love! Love! It was a Very informative presentation, not overwhelming . Love the interactive part with the students. It made them think of the challenges kids with Down syndrome face everyday.
- Janice Lougheed (TA & Parent)
Barb Drummond presented an informative and inspiring presentation to the teachers, students and parents at our school before her son started.
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Her presentation opened the lines of communication between the school, students and the Drummond family.
Parents educating the staff about who their child is and what he can do is valuable.
Meeting with staff, students and parents alleviates some of the anxiety that they may feel and lets them know that they can ask questions and work as a team. Working together helps make a community that can support each other.
The Drummond family has worked very hard to make sure that there is a community of support that surrounds their son and the people that work with him.
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- Audrey Senft
-Inclusive Education Intervention Coordinator
The stars speak for themselves. Thanks, Barb!
-Harold (Participant)
"I loved how you gave us examples and stories from both a parent and educator point of view! I feel like I really got to know Clark and was relatable the way you presented the info!"
- Winnipeg Educator
Barb did very well! The presentation was easy to follow, pics and videos were engaging and Barb's stories were wonderful!
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- Roné B. Principal, École Bunnatyne
I found her very easy to hold my attention. I think using her personal experience was amazing.
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- Inclusion Worker, Winnipeg
I had the privilege of listening to Barb at the Canadian Down Syndrome Conference in Banff this past May. She was professional, funny, knowledgeable - she gave us tools to implement right away! It was like she was having a conversation with us! Barb is a must see speaker!
- KB- Parent (Ontario)
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I had the privilege of teaching Clark Drummond in his Grade 5 year (2015-16) at Good Shepherd School in Peace River, Alberta.
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It is very important to create an accepting and inclusive environment for all students. Barb Drummond visited the classroom in September, 2015, to instruct on Down Syndrome and what to expect from Clark. Students experienced talking like a DS student by having a marshmallow in their mouth and then attempting to form words. They also had to try and pick up a marshmallow while wearing mittens. Barb presented each child with a beautiful tapestry bag containing a polished rock. She explained that just as each rock is unique and has its own special properties - so do children. This “education” set the stage for Clark’s entry into Grade 5 and the immediate understanding, care and patience shown him by his peers.
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Clark loved to wear costumes to school with his favorite being Spiderman. His friends immediately started calling him “the 5B superhero”. They rallied around him, protected him, cared for him, taught him and most of all, learned from him. Truthfully though, they saw him as just another boy – a student who is unique – just like them.
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Clark’s Grade 5 year was filled with experiences. He laughed along with videos, put his arms around his buddies at assembly, and had reading time with his Kindergarten buddy. He played tricks on his classmates by hiding their shoes before school, played with stacking cups at recess, and always had treasures in his school bag to show and share. Clark decorated Christmas cookies, crafted a C square for the class friendship quilt and played air guitar at one of the 5B assemblies. He graduated from the DARE program, enjoyed everything in relation to Christmas, demonstrated his downhill skiing ability and created amazing patterns with blocks during math.
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He participated, along with his friends, in World Down Syndrome Day by wearing colored socks and having a sock hop with the Kindergarten buddies. He designed and decorated a Halloween pumpkin, enjoyed wearing a very large blue hat on Hat Day and printed his name on our class rock. He could sense sadness in a person and would often just show up at a classmate’s desk with a warm cookie from his baking class or a Pringle’s chip from his private stash.
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The impact of Barb Drummond’s September presentation prepared Clark’s classmates to understand his unique and special qualities. He truly was our superhero.
- Donna Brennan - Educator