Winter Blues? Get your PDs On!

March 1, 2017 BY Gina Ossanna, CCC-SLP

So, it’s been a long winter.  And we’re still in the thick of it.  But we’re Oregonians! Rather than pine away for Hawaiian beaches or Palm Spring sunshine, we got our PD on at two events last month – movie night, and our annual winter retreat.

At movie night, we watched and discussed Paper Tigers, a profound documentary about an alternative high school in western Washington.  It hit home for those of us who work with at-risk youth, regardless of their age.  This is an excellent film for educators and professionals, and is worth checking out.

movie night

Val and Kirsty enjoying pizza, a movie, and great discussion at the Clinic

Then we embraced the cozy at our annual Winter Retreat.  Everyone brought their slippers and settled in for a day of PD, hot tea, and fresh baked cookies.

Winter 2017 Todd

Todd Bausch addresses Equity and Inclusion

We started out the morning with our guest speaker Todd Bauch, Associate Director of Operations and Student Development at Portland State University, who gave a presentation on Equity and Inclusion.  Think outside the box for when you think of “inclusion” – it goes beyond mainstreaming in the general ed classroom. Takeaways: how micro-aggressions and stereotypes affect how we interact with others, and how the me/you/us/them paradigm impacts our perceptions of self and others.

winter roundtables

THFers sharing knowledge at one of several afternoon roundtables

After lunch, we continued our tradition from last year of Roundtable short sessions, which included teletherapy, AAC, literacy/book units and the Hello app, and were facilitated by some of our very own clinicians.

To top it off, we raffled off fleece blankets, flameless candles, cozy socks and the like, fitting in perfectly with our Press Play theme. Suddenly, spring break doesn’t feel so far away. And now we have our cozy socks to keep us warm in the meantime.