Jamming with junk

Posted on February 6, 2014 by dlevine

Matheny student Ryan O’Connor makes music with a bottle, held by Zach Green as personal care assistant Mulu Yihune looks on.

“Welcome to the amazing Junk Jam show!” Zach Green, one of three musicians who make up the Junk Jam Band, welcomed Matheny students to a high energy, interactive and enlightening performance of music created by homemade instruments. The idea is to entertain while delivering messages about recycling, environmental consciousness and social accountability. “We’re trying to inspire everyone to take care of the planet,” Green said.

The band members produced drums out of tires and buckets, and Green played a “milk jugaphone,” a reed instrument made out of a milk bottle. The Matheny students not only enjoyed the concert, they got a chance to try out some of the instruments as well. The Junk Jam members get their motivation from a quote by Victor Hugo, prominently displayed on the band’s website. It reads: “Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.”

Matheny student James Wild plays on a drum made out of a bucket.

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Business has a bright future

Posted on February 4, 2014 by dlevine

Claire Scott and the display of DVDs she helped collect for the Second Chance Shop.

Claire Scott, a junior at West Morris Mendham High School in Mendham, NJ, who wants to major in business when she goes to college, has already shown that she has a flair for capitalism. Scott, who is active in her high school’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter, spearheaded a drive to collect DVDs that could then be sold at the Second Chance Shop, a thrift shop in Gladstone, NJ, run by The Friends of Matheny to raise funds for the students and patients at Matheny.

Scott first heard about Matheny from a fellow Mendham resident, Kathleen Mangliado, who teaches in the Randolph Township Schools. Her DVD project was coordinated through Brenda DeRogatis, the teacher at West Morris Mendham responsible for FBLA.

Since September, Scott has volunteered on Saturdays at the Second Chance Shop and will take a break at the end of February so that she can run track. She has enjoyed working at the shop and particularly likes it when some of the DVDs that she helped collect are sold. Although she has never been to Matheny, Scott hopes to bring members of the girls’ track team to visit this spring.

The Friends of Matheny has raised more than $3 million for the students and patients at Matheny since the auxiliary group’s formation in 1983. The Second Chance Shop is located adjacent to the Gladstone United Methodist Church on Jackson Avenue in Gladstone. The shop is open Mondays from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesday thru Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m; and Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Donations of items in good condition are accepted on Mondays only.

 

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Special birthday

Posted on January 30, 2014 by dlevine

Jack O’Connor, second from right, presents a $700 check to his brother Ryan. Others pictured are, from left: Matheny School principal Sean Murphy, student Jacob Rolaf, teaching assistant Kristin Barone, Ryan and Jack, student Sara Hoffman and her nurse Nancy Winder.

When Jack O’Connor turned 12, he decided to use his birthday to help the Matheny School, where his younger brother Ryan is a student. So, he told his friends at the Immaculate Conception School in Annandale, NJ, to give him money that he would, in turn, donate to Matheny. His friends came through, and Jack visited Matheny recently to present a check for $700.

Ten-year-old Ryan, who was born with a very rare chromosome deletion, has been a student at Matheny for 7 ½ years. His mother Debbie says Matheny is “a safe environment made up of amazing people who give everything so that our children have a life that, as a parent of a special needs child, I never would have thought possible.”

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Souper Sunday

Posted on January 28, 2014 by dlevine

Rick St.Pierre, right, presents a check for $2,100 last year to Sandy Josephson, left, Matheny director of marketing and public relations, and Steve Proctor, Matheny president.

For the third year, the Verve Bistro in Somerville, NJ, has selected Matheny as the recipient of funds raised in connection with its annual Mardi Gras celebration. This year, however, there is an added twist: On Sunday, March 2, two days before Fat Tuesday on March 4, Verve will hold a Gumbo Cookout. This will add a day to the celebration, which begins on Thursday night, February 27.

A portion of the proceeds from the five-day event, including funds raised from the auctioning of Mardi Gras masks, will go to Matheny. Many of the masks on display will be made by Matheny staff members, students and patients. However, anyone can contribute masks. Just drop them off at Verve, at 18 Main St., by February 19.

Last year, Verve donated $2,100 to Matheny. Since opening in the late 1990s, Verve owner Rick St. Pierre has given back to the community. He was named Somerville’s Citizen of the Year in 2011 and was given the Somerset County Business Partnership’s Economic Vitality Award in 2008.

To make reservations during the Mardi Gras celebration between February 27 and March 4, call (908) 707-8655 and be sure to mention Matheny.

Some of last year’s masks.

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On target

Posted on January 23, 2014 by dlevine

John McGarity tries to aim a beanbag with his feet, assisted by Cindy LaBar, Matheny director of physical therapy.

“It was a fun day. It was hard using my feet to shoot the beanbag in the target. It would have been much easier if I could have used my hands.” That was the reaction of John McGarity, a student at the Central Elementary School in Great Meadows, NJ, when he experienced what it’s like for children with disabilities to participate in a game or sport. He was one of several students at the Warren County school who played a variety of adapted sports with students from the Matheny School.

The objective of the visit was to promote interaction between the two groups of students, making it possible for them to compete in sports as peers. It seemed to work. “I enjoyed visiting with the children from the Matheny School,” McGarity said. “I would like it if they would come back for another visit.”

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School choice program

Posted on January 21, 2014 by dlevine

Music class at the Matheny School.

The Matheny School is hosting a program on “School Choice” from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 29. The event, for parents and educators, will feature a presentation on “Parental Rights in Special Education” by Andrew D. Linenberg of Hinkle, Fingles & Prior, P.C., Attorneys at Law. There will also be opportunities for networking and information about an upcoming conference on transition and two new special education scholarships being offered by the Alliance of Private Special Education Schools of North Jersey.

Educators and/or parents interested in attending should call (908) 234-0011, ext. 234, or email mathenyschool@matheny.org by January 27.

Matheny student works on his math skills.

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Musical connection

Posted on January 16, 2014 by dlevine

From left, Anna Spencer, Bryan Zhu, Trisha Kaundiya and Rahil Shah.

When Trisha Kaundinya and three of her friends at Bridgewater-Raritan, NJ, High School formed a string quartet, the idea was to get together every week or so to socialize and practice playing music. But Kaundinya’s father is part of a group from the investment banking firm Goldman Sachs that regularly volunteers at Matheny, helping to spruce up the grounds. “He acquainted me with the special needs of the children,” said Trisha, “and informed me that many, if not most, of them are quite capable of learning and appreciating the fine arts.”

So Kaundinya and her friends recently performed for the students and patients at Matheny and “had a wonderful experience playing,” she said. “We could sense the acknowledgement from several children. Clearly they were engaged, and we felt that they connected with us through music. We walked away with a sense of satisfaction and developed an inner urge to do more. We would love to play again in a spring concert.”

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True teammates

Posted on January 14, 2014 by dlevine

Shane, left, and Josh Szott.

The students and patients at Matheny look forward to the annual visit by the varsity basketball team of the Delbarton School, an independent Roman Catholic learning center in Morristown for young men in grades 7–12. But this year brought a special twist. Delbarton basketball player Josh Szott was able to compete along with his brother Shane, a student at Matheny. Josh and Shane are the sons of David and Andrea Szott of Morristown, NJ.

The physical education and recreation therapy departments at Matheny created an assortment of basketball games designed to level the playing field, and the Delbarton players either competed against the Matheny players or helped them compete against each other. They also tossed T-shirts into the audience in the Robert Schonhorn Arts Center and displayed some of the skills they use against their regular opponents.

The event is always a huge success and, besides being fun, helps the Matheny students and patients improve their physical, emotional, cognitive and social well-being.

Delbarton player Drew Douglas with Matheny student Vraj Desai.

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Visit from Skanska

Posted on January 9, 2014 by dlevine

Skanska employees, from left, Lisa Mancuso, Robert Duncan and Kim DeRocco.

Who needs Santa when you can have Skanska instead? During the recent holiday season, employees from Skanska USA’s Parsippany, NJ, office made their annual visit to Matheny to drop off toys collected in the company’s toy drive. Sweden-based Skanska is one of the world’s leading construction groups. This is the fourth year that Skanska employees have visited Matheny during the holiday season.

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Matheny carolers

Posted on January 7, 2014 by dlevine

Bottom row, from left: Pito Walton of Peapack; Frances and Charlotte Steele of Bedminster; Bella Walton, Peapack. Top row, from left: Jane Steele; Betsy Walton; Joan Millard of Toms River, NJ; Ali Millard and Lily Steele of Bedminster; and Mrs. Orr, visiting from Florida. (Also caroling, but not pictured, were Susan, Emma, Ellie and Ryan Palmer of Oldwick).

Jane Steele of Bedminster, NJ, and Betsy Walton of Peapack, NJ, and their families have been visiting Matheny’s students and patients on a regular basis for years. Several years ago, they decided to sing Christmas carols during one of their weekly visits.

“We invited friends to join us,” recalls Steele, “and got a very large turnout. Each year the same friends are excited to return and sing. It is a wonderful reminder of the true meaning of Christmas. One year we brought a very large homemade gingerbread house and the children dipped the hard candies in the gooey icing and stuck them on the house. They loved it!”

The majority of Matheny students and patients are full-time residents, and volunteers are welcome days, evenings and weekends. For more information about volunteering, call (908) 234-0011, ext. 282.

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