BRIDGES Fundraises at Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza
Last week, the BRIDGES program collaborated with the Cypress Bay High School Best Buddies Club and National Honors Society for a fundraiser at Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza. The fundraiser had an amazing turnout and was very successful in raising money. Everyone had a blast and got to eat some delicious food, too!
The BRIDGES program, Best Buddies, and the Honor Society raised funds by having people state that they were at Anthony’s for the fundraiser, and for each bill, Anthony’s would give 20%. The BRIDGES students were able to collaborate with the other two clubs to come up with the event and plan it. The students also came up with fliers to pass out and post on social media so that they could advertise their fundraiser. This led to quite a nice turnout!
Some of the HDS Foundation’s staff went out to support them. Carla was able to bring her family to help fundraise, and Meagan and Anthony also helped fundraise by buying some great food. Dr. Sandy came by to interact with the BRIDGES students and their families. Past BRIDGES students also wanted to support their peers, and so a bunch of them went to Anthony’s and got some yummy pizza. They had a great time getting to see their old peers and had great conversations.
The fundraiser had lots of support from the school, HDS Foundation, and peers, making a great turnout! The students are so proud of the event and themselves for helping put it together. Thank you to everyone who came out to support, and thanks to Anthony’s Coal Fire Pizza for your continuous support!
BRIDGES End of the Year Dinner
This month, the BRIDGES students had a fun-filled End of the Year Dinner. It was an enjoyable occasion where all of the students came in their best cocktail attire: cute dresses, and button down shirt and slacks. The venue was decorated with blue table cloths, colorful balloons, and fun wall decals. There was a musician who provided the entertainment for the night, and a photo booth, which was a favorite among the students.
During dinner, the students had great conversations and talked about how nice the venue was and how glad they were to get together for the end of the year. The teachers also put together a great slideshow for the students, showcasing all of their Social and Personal Skills Class Activities. The students loved the trip down memory lane and reminisced together on each of the activities as the pictures came up.
After dinner, there was a delicious cake that everyone fully enjoyed. Once the cake had been devoured, the students all donned funky hats, masks, glasses, boas, and leis to take fun pictures at the photo booth. Everyone wanted to take pictures with the fun props, and the photo booth was a hit.
This has been another very successful year partnering with Cypress Bay High School to continue the BRIDGES program, and we thank all of the teachers for coming up with exciting and beneficial Class Activities. We can’t wait for another great year of the BRIDGES program!
BRIDGES Takes a Trip to Channel 10
On Thursday, May 4th, the BRIDGES students went on a field trip to visit the Channel 10 newsroom. Everyone was very excited to visit the newsroom and learn all about working in journalism. The students had a great time and even got to try out some of the cool newsroom equipment.
When they first got to the newsroom, they spoke to a few newscasters and some of the behind the scenes workers to find out the things they do to make the news run. They learned all about what it takes to be a newscaster and even got to go into the filming room and stand behind the desks with the Channel 10 anchors. The group took pictures behind the desk and with the anchors, and they found it cool to be where the news was filmed.
One of the group’s favorite parts was getting to see and even try out the green screen. The students got to see how on the TV screen there was a backdrop, but in reality, there was just a green wall. The students got to see themselves on TV with the green screen backdrop, and even help green pieces of paper in front of themselves so that parts of them disappeared into the background. The filming crew taught them all about how the green screen worked, some “TV magic.”
The students also got to go into the room where the executives, producers, and directors work from behind the scenes to make sure that accurate news is put out in the best way possible. They also learned about the jobs of audio engineers and broadcast technicians, who make sure we can see and hear the news, as well as the news writers and editors who create the stories we hear and see.
The Channel 10 tour was both exciting and informative, and the students had loads of questions for all the Channel 10 workers. Thank you so much to Channel 10 for the amazing tour and the information about bringing news to the people, the BRIDGES students loved the experience!
Survivor: Visions Edition XXIV Conference
This year marked the 24th VISIONS Conference and Transition Institute, held at the Sirata Beach Resort and Conference Center in St. Pete. Many organizations, instructors, schools, and leaders came together to learn and be informed about transitioning outside of high school, strategies, and programs to support students with disabilities. This conference aimed to give students what they need to “survive” and thrive in college, their career, and their community.
The first day consisted of the opening session, vendor displays, an inclusive postsecondary update and the President’s Reception luncheon. HDS Foundation was one of the many that showcased their organization. They had great giveaways such as cell phone pocket, privacy camera protectors. Many of the attendees stopped by and learned more about the foundation and their mission. The HDS Foundation staff also went around and met different vendors and networked. It was very nice for the staff to build a connection and relate the information learned with others in community. The rest of the weekend consisted of a variety of sessions and keynote speakers. Many of the key speakers shared their story and struggles with their disabilities and what helped them be successful. Their story was very inspirational and gave insight to the audience of what can be done. The founder Cristina Miranda Gilson’s daughter, Kate had the opportunity to speak on behalf of UNF in a panel about college housing, and share her experience with others. This was such a great opportunity for everyone to get a testimonial of the UNF programs.
The HDS Foundation had an incredible time at the conference, and learned so much from everyone who was in attendance. The staff were very excited to share the information with the rest of the of the foundation. Thank you to the Division on Career Development and Transition’s Council for Exceptional Children and the Florida Department of Education for such a fun and informational conference, and we hope to be back next year!
HDS Foundation on “Here’s Help” Radio Show
The HDS Foundation relies on different allies of communication and networking to inform people about our programs and our mission here in South Florida and beyond. We recently had the opportunity to reach out over the airwaves, on the Here’s Help Radio Show, an innovative public access radio talk show that focuses on relevant and pressing issues in the community, specifically Miami-Dade and Broward County. The radio show and its hosts, Rixys Alfonso, Community activist and CEO of CauseMo Marketing, and Ron Hersey, a radio veteran, welcomed the HDS Foundation’s Founder, Cristina Miranda Gilson, on their talk show to speak about the foundation.
Cristina shared the inspiration that led her to start the Foundation, as well her experience in the affordable housing and tech industry, and how that has resulted in the success of the Foundation in providing different opportunities and resources for career transition, gainful employment, and independent living. She also touches on the struggles that a parent with a child on the autism spectrum experiences and how they, and others, can help to assist these young adults in achieving their goals in their personal and professional lives.
Check out our very own and learn about what we’re doing in this informative and eye-opening interview below!
Here's Help 1
Here's Help 2
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