Woodland Elementary celebrates Autism Awareness Month

On World Autism Awareness Day, companies and organizations around the world shined bright blue lights in honor of the millions of individuals and families affected by autism. Iconic landmarks including the Empire State Building, the China Millennium Monument, the Great Sphinx and 30 Rockefeller Center all lit up the night sky in support of the event, Light It Up Blue, organized by Autism Speaks. Students and staff at Woodland Elementary in Avondale School District supported the effort by dressing in blue to demonstrate that they too want to shine a light on issues facing families touched by autism.

“Our Woodland students are so supportive of their classmates who have autism,” said Avondale teacher Brittany Bootka. “Not only did most of them wear blue that day, but all of our students participated in our Puzzle Project – an activity structured to build differences awareness. It was fun to do and it’s a great strategy for teachers to start the conversation with their students about differences in people.”

The Puzzle Project, an initiative of the national organization, Autism Speaks, provides a visual tool for teachers as a way to demonstrate that though each puzzle piece is different, when all of the pieces come together as a whole, something wonderful is created. “It makes the idea tangible for even our youngest students that differences are a good thing,” added Bootka.

In addition to Light It Up Blue and The Puzzle Project, Woodland Elementary is also a Bridge Buddies school. Bridge Buddies pairs typically developing peers with children on the autism spectrum. The peer acts as a tutor and mentor for the child with autism - talking to them, playing with them, and providing academic support where appropriate. The strategy is one that works to create opportunities for natural interactions between children with autism and their peers, encouraging incidental learning about social behaviors.

Woodland Elementary has 50 Bridge Buddies – many of whom have researched and developed Power Point presentations on the topic of autism to present to their classmates. Following the last Buddy presentation, the school will release 400 blue balloons as their own version of Light It Up Blue. The balloon launch is made possible through a generous donation made by Chris Collins of Planet Kids in Clarkston who is supplying all of the helium for the balloons.

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