Latham Centers. . . Prader-Willi Syndrome and Beyond

Monday, March 15, 2010

Passion Plunge a Huge Success!

A group of hearty Latham employees went through with their pledge. Many called them crazy... some begged them not to do it, but they went against all common sense and dove into the Atlantic ocean on a winter's day.

The four Plungers have been fundraising for the Children’s Special Olympics program the last couple of months and participated in one of Massachusetts Special Olympics Passion Plunges. A huge thank you to Children’s employees Jamie Mersch, Shannon Long and Kristen Schmidt for all of their fundraising efforts and for the courage to jump into the water. Thank you also to Kristen’s husband Bill who joined our team just for the fun of it.

Through their efforts, Latham was able to raise about $2500 for this year’s Special Olympics program, which, for many students, is their favorite part of Latham. A majority of the donations were small denominations from many, many individuals in the Latham community. Latham is a strong community that is incredibly supportive of the children here on campus. Thanks to everyone who participated, whether by donating or diving, helping to make this the most successful fundraiser yet.

"If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins."
~Benjamin Franklin

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Would You Know What To Do?

Recently, a former colleague wrote to me about an experience she had in her current job. At first, I thought this was just a “hi, how are you” e-mail from an old friend but it turned out to be a wonderful and poignant reminder of how important learning CPR and First Aid really is...

"A woman and her husband, father & child stopped by the desk of this person. There was a dish of candy on it and the woman took a piece but then started choking. When asked by the former staff if she was OK, her panic was clear and she shook her head NO! The training this staff had received years ago kicked in and with the skill she had developed in annual CPR classes, she was able to help the woman to begin breathing again. Her closing comment to me was “I didn’t have to think about what to do, it all just fell into place.”

A life saved, a family tragedy averted. Have you taken the time to learn CPR/FirstAid? Would you be the person in the right place at the right time? I strongly encourage all of you to find the time to take a CPR/First Aid class. The American Red Cross, The American Heart Association as well as other community resources offer classes all over the country. Do it soon, it could save a life!

"Precaution is better than cure."
~Edward Coke

Monday, March 1, 2010

Latham's Snow Tubing Adventure

Over Winter Vacation, many of our students enjoyed an active day of tubing at Nashoba Valley.

"Living at risk is jumping off the cliff and building your wings on the way down."
~Ray Bradbury

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Latham Continues to Go Green!

The Maintenance Department has continued making strides in our recent effort to transform Latham Centers into an environmentally friendly campus. Our latest challenge has been to implement neutral cleaning products that keep both our students and fragile Cape Cod ecosystem safe. New products are planned to be introduced to housekeeping in the coming weeks that will continue to maintain our campus’s cleanliness while allowing Latham to establish a campus free of chemicals.

In other news, the Latham Centers Maintenance Class has completed the first of three steps in the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protections “Green Team” program. Aptly named the Latham Centers “CAN-Do’s” the girls and maintenance staff pledged their commitment to reducing waste, preventing pollution and slow climate change, earning enough credit to gain the “Planet Protectors” title. Our next goal is to create more ways to be green on campus and attain the next level of “Conservation Coyotes”. Stay tuned for more details on how our CAN-Do’s are doing!

"The earth is what we all have in common"
~Wendell Barry

Monday, February 22, 2010

Student's Rock Wall Climbing Adventure

Here are pictures of our students rock wall climbing over Winter Vacation. This was a new experience for most of them.

"Don't live down to expectations. Go out there and do something remarkable."
~Wendy Wasserstein

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Meet Our Financial Department

My name is Patricia (Pat) Hallahan and I am the Director of Finance. When last we spoke I shared some facts about finances at Latham Centers. I would like to share some other facts about Latham Center’s clients and students.

Did you know that Latham Centers Inc has clients and students as far away as France? Yes, Latham Center’s adult program has a young man from France. In addition, we have students from Alaska, Virginia, Connecticut, New York, New Hampshire and Vermont. You may ask why. It is because the best place for a PWS student or adult is Latham Centers. This brings in much needed funds to Massachusetts by way of the employees that we hire and the state taxes they pay. Not to mention monies they spend on living. Latham Centers is the largest employer on the lower Cape. We have over 200 employees who work here and most live on the Cape helping the local economy. We are glad to do our part.

Hi, my name is Beverly and I work in the Business Office with Jean and Lula. Our office overlooks the campus and one of the fun aspects of working at Latham is watching the students play outdoors. In the summer with the windows open, we can hear them singing along with their Ipods. Another fun aspect is attending graduation ceremonies where many of our talented students sing, dance or play an instrument. The students also put on various shows during the year where their talents are showcased. We are impressed that these students care enough about others to have a bake sale to raise money for Special Olympics and recently collected canned goods for a local food pantry.

"Teamwork divides the task and multiplies the success. "
~Author Unknown

Friday, February 12, 2010

Racepoint Food Drive

On January 28th several Racepoint students delivered over 90 cans of food to the Harwich Family Pantry thanks to your generosity and sense of community. Pantry staff was thankful and it was a meaningful experience for students.

Interested Student Council and Racepoint members will continue with monthly drives, the next on February 24th. Drop off spots will be the same;
Chris Coffin’s office and Missy Adle’s office and remember canned goods only with no tabs.

"We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men."
~Herman Melville

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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Latham Hawks Have a Ball

On Saturday, the Latham Hawks basketball team traveled to Stonehill College to participate in the assessment round of the Special Olympics basketball tournament. A total of fourteen students made the trip and all of the athletes got plenty of playing time. Although the team lost both of its games, there was fun for everyone involved. The team will be back to practice on Friday and is getting prepared for the Final Games in March. Go Hawks!!

"Sport is a preserver of health."
~Hippocrates

Monday, February 8, 2010

Self Advocacy and the Legislative Process

On Tuesday, January 26th I had the pleasure of accompanying two of our PWS adults to the State House in Boston to participate in a legislative lobbying event in an effort to educate our state representatives and senators of the negative impact state budget cuts will have on their quality of life.

It was a perfectly sunny morning as Dianne, Wanda, Cindy Loring (Residential Supervisor), and I drove over the Sagamore Bridge bound for Boston. After driving the maze of one way streets on Beacon Hill we were able to find a parking space not far from our destination, and proceeded to walk through the Boston Common to the State House. Arriving with time to spare, we decided to do a little “sightseeing” inside the State House were we all learned a little bit about it and our state’s history.

When it was time for the event to begin we found ourselves some comfortable seats and each picked out a catered “box lunch” to enjoy while we listened to the various speakers talk about the need for our state legislators to be sensitive to the well being of our disabled citizens when making difficult budget decisions.

After the formal program ended, the four of us set out to visit the offices of some of our state representatives and senators from Cape Cod. We were able to speak briefly with Representative Cleon Turner, and Representative Perry’s senior aide, as well as legislative aides from Senator Murray’s and O’Leary’s offices. As part of our visit we left each of them one of our Latham 2010 desktop calendars as a gift.

On our way back to the parking garage we again walked through the Boston Common, stopping briefly to watch the ice skaters on the “Frog Pond”. Of course no trip off Cape would be complete without stopping at Dunkin Donuts for a hot beverage, and not to disappoint, we all enjoyed our coffees (yes, they were mediums with skim milk and one Splenda) as we headed down Route 3 back to God’s country.

In conclusion, it must be said that I couldn’t have been prouder of our Latham “ambassadors” who conducted themselves in the most cooperative and polite manner, and as I told them at the conclusion of our adventure, that I look forward to making it an annual event.

Mike Marchese
Director of Adult Services

"Perhaps nobody has changed the course of history as much as the historians."
~Franklin P. Jones

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Latham Boys Nashoba Valley Tubing Outing

This past Saturday, some of the Latham boys went on a snow tubing adventure at Nashoba Valley. All around this was a highly enjoyable trip and a day that will be long remembered!

"Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius."
~Pietro Aretino

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