Winter/Spring Edition 2025
Sections include:
Upcoming Events
Starlight School News
FANS and Advocacy Calendars
Employed and Empowered Spotlights
Upcoming Events!
Join us for Art Night at Starlight on Tuesday, April 29th from 4 to 6pm in the multipurpose room! Art Night is open to individuals served by the MCBDD (and siblings) of all ages. We will have three different art stations: Flower Power, Abstract, and Landscapes. RSVPs are not required, but are helpful. RSVP to your SSA or Jenna at 740-453-4829.
Join us on Tuesday, May 13th for our Resource Fair at Colony Square Mall from 10am to 2pm. Learn about all the resources available in our community! Free information will be available from local community resources including: transportation, personal care, employment, transition, recreation, technology, health services, and more!
This is a FREE event, open to the public. For more information, contact Jenna or Beth at the MCBDD at 740-453-4829.
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The Guernsey and Muskingum Boards of DD are partnering to create a Family Support & Social Group! The kick-off event will be at Tom's Ice Cream Bowl , located at 532 McIntire Avenue in Zanesville.
Future sessions will be held quarterly and will alternate locations between counties. The goal of the group is to offer social interactions, support from fellow parents, and education on topics selected by the participants.
Happy Messy Play LLC will have several messy and sensory stations for children to interact with in the Tom’s patio area. You may purchase ice cream to enjoy during the event.
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Please let your SSA, EI staff or Jenna Conaway know if you plan to attend - 740-453-4829.
Starlight School News
Letter from the Director
The 2024-2025 school year is almost complete! We have finished up the majority of our spring testing and we are continuing to work on helping those students transitioning from preschool to Kindergarten.
As we finish up the last few weeks of school please remember that due to the number of calamity hours used this winter because of severe weather, we had a schedule change for the last week of school. The last day for students is now Friday, May 23, with an early dismissal one hour earlier than normal days. This means we will begin loading students on buses and in the Parent Pickup line at 2:10pm.
We had a lot of fun over the past few months, even though the weather wasn’t always cooperative. Our Inclusive Candy Cane Hunt went very well, a special thank you to Zanesville City and Franklin Local for joining us for that event. It’s always great to see our kiddos running around with students from other schools and enjoying our beautiful playground. As always, Santa Claus came to visit at Christmas time and all the students received a special gift! Preschool students visited the Ah Ha! Museum in Lancaster and went to Zemba Brothers for their annual spring field trip. The school age students stayed busy going swimming at the YMCA, bowling at Sunrise, and visiting many local restaurants and businesses. With a break in the weather we were able to get our Bridge Project completed this winter and it looks amazing! Sensory education is so important for our students and this project has brought us one step closer to a completed Sensory Trail/Butterfly Garden that I know our students will enjoy.
Lastly, I want to say how proud I am of all of our students and staff as for the first time in several years, Starlight had a school-wide Talent Show! We had both staff and student participation and some of the acts were nothing short of spectacular. We had kiddos who sang and danced, staff who played instruments, we had wall climbers, clay modelers, scooter racers, and many many more. The show was started off with a hilarious rendition of Lunch Lady Land performed by both staff and students and I have to say, I don’t think a single person in the room wasn’t smiling.
As always, I want to thank all of our parents and family members who help get their students to and from school, and continue to support us as we provide educational services for our students. Every school year here at Starlight can be challenging and this year was no exception. That being said, I think we had a great year and I can’t wait to see what the 2025-2026 school year has in store for us. Thanks and have a great summer!
Sincerely
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Brent Brannon
Director of Educational Services
Candy Cane Hunt & Santa
Santa hid candy canes all over the Starlight School playground in December. Thankfully, our students had lots of help finding them. Our friends from Zanesville City Schools and Franklin Local Schools joined us for an Inclusive Candy Cane Hunt.
The students found all the candy canes and even found time to enjoy the playground equipment. Thanks for joining us friends!
We also enjoyed a visit from Santa!
Zemba Visit and Ah Ha Museum
Zemba Brothers invited us out for a visit. They provided opportunities to run the big equipment including a mixer and an excavator, learn about the construction vehicles, and a delicious lunch. We appreciate their kindness and inclusion!
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Preschoolers enjoyed a day exploring the Ah Ha Museum!
Home Depot
As part of our ongoing Family Engagement, we partnered with our local Home Depot to provide events where families can work together to build something. In December, we built a Hot Cocoa Ornament and in April we created Earth Flower Pot Containers to plant basil in. Everyone's favorite part is getting to use those hammers!
Talent Show
We always knew Starlight students and staff were talented, but WOW are they ever! The Starlight Talent Show had everything from dancing, musical instruments, rock climbing, math, and even an amazing Lunch Lady skit!
March for Inclusion
Starlight Students participated in our Annual March for Inclusion to celebrate Developmental Disability Awareness Month. They were joined by many people with disabilities, the County Commissioners, Sheriff's Office, Prosecutor's Offices, and many other organizations.
Bridge Project & Butterflies
Thanks to funding from the Straker Foundation, we have finished our Bridge Project, and are closer than ever to seeing our Sensory Trail and Butterfly Garden complete!
These areas will allow students to engage with nature, provide a calming environment, and encourage their curiosity and exploration.
Students recently enjoyed caring for butterflies and learning all about their lifecycle, before releasing them.
Welcome New Staff!
Starlight welcomed several new staff members recently.
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School Nurse:
Melanie Arnold, RN
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New Classroom Assistants:
Jim Baker
Drew Green
Ronda Stephens
Makenzie Woodburn​
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Transportation Assistant:
Kala McFee
Advocacy and FANS Calendars
Employed and Empowered Spotlight
Meet Mary! Mary began working at Sunrise Bowling Center in the fall of 2024.
She is part of the kitchen staff. Her duties include cleaning tables, packing frozen food, washing dishes, folding towels, sweeping, and vacuuming.
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Mary has found a great team of coworkers at Sunrise Bowling Center. When asked what she likes most about her job Mary shared, “I like to see Teha, Montana and Hollie smile.”
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Her coworker Hollie, said, “Mary is a joy to be around and is a great addition to the team. She is great at building relationships.”
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The MCBDD, Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities, and The Fuse Network worked with Mary to find her job at Sunrise Bowling Center.
Meet Hannah! Hannah has been employed at the Muskingum County Records Department since 2021.
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Hannah’s job duties include organizing files, carrying/carting boxes, shredding papers, and typing. Her coworkers have been impressive by her ability to learn new skills.
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Hannah’s favorite part of her job is working the large shredding machine. She also really enjoys her coworkers and supervisor.
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The MCBDD, Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities, and Fuse Network worked as a team to connect Hannah with the Muskingum Records Office. However, it was Hannah’s skills and personality that landed her the job. Keep up the good work Hannah!
Fall 2024 Edition
Sections include:
Starlight School News
FANS and Advocacy Calendars
Employed and Empowered Spotlight, Employment Breakfast
Community Events
Starlight School News
Letter from the Director
The 24-25 school year is off and running and we have been super busy here at Starlight. Our new teachers are learning about their classrooms and working with the assistants to assure the students are getting the educational supports they need. We are continuing to make improvements to our playground, recently planting four trees in our Butterfly Garden/Sensory Trail. We just have a couple more projects to finish and this area will be completed!
This fall the kiddos have been able to engage in a lot of fun and educational activities. Both our preschool and school age students got to visit Cherry’s Orchard and the McDonald’s Pumpkin Patch. Some of our students got to go swimming at the YMCA and others got to go bowling at Sunrise Bowling Center. We had several students attend assemblies at their home districts, which gives them a great opportunity to socialize with their peers. We also have two classrooms and the front office competing in the Downtown Zanesville Scarecrow Contest. A special thanks to these organizations and all the organizations around the area that are so welcoming to our students.
We had our first PBIS sponsored event of the school year on Wednesday, September 25th, which was a school-wide messy play. It went great and all the students had a wonderful time. Our school-wide PBIS plan helps to encourage and support positive behaviors throughout the school, and allows each student to earn Superhero Bucks that can be used to purchase special items from our PBIS Store. It also allows them to participate in these special events, which are held monthly. A special thanks to the PBIS committee for organizing this event and to Sam Shomaker of Happy Messy Play, LLC.
The transition students continue to be busy performing job skill training at various locations around the community. We have students completing work study hours Monday – Friday. I would like to thank all the local business/organizations that allow our staff and students the chance to come out and complete this work training each day.
I would like to give special recognition to all the preschool staff for their hard work earning the Ohio Step Up to Quality Gold Award! We have a special group and I am extremely proud of our program. Keep up the great work!
Lastly, I want to thank all the families and friends who continue to support our school, staff, and students. We are so proud of the work we do providing educational supports for your loved ones. I want to wish everyone a happy Fall and have a save and warm winter!
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Sincerely,
Brent Brannon, Director of Educational Services
Tree Planting
School-Age 4 and School-Age 5 students helped maintenance plant the trees in the Butterfly Garden and on the Sensory Trail. The four trees are Gum Tree, Eastern Redbus, Gingko, and Thundercloud Plum. Thanks to Timber Run Gardens for letting us come and pick out the trees for our playground.
Philo Pep Rally
Hannah, a Franklin Local student who attends Starlight School, showed her Electric Pride by participating in Philo's Pep Rally recently. Hannah loved participating and cheering on her home school!
Messy Play
Students enjoyed a Messy Play Day as a PBIS reward last month. Happy Messy Play brought all sorts of fun sensory play items for students to explore. Older students enjoyed take home sensory kits.
PBIS stands for Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports.
PBIS is a framework that guides school teams in the selection, integration and implementation of evidence-based practices for improving academic, social and behavior outcomes for all students. PBIS is not a curriculum or a one-day training, but a process that requires on-going commitment in order to create effective systems for teaching and addressing behavior and social-emotional skills.​​
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Each month there is a different PBIS sponsored activity that students can earn by exhibiting positive behaviors throughout the school day.
Busy Students
Transition age students have been busy working on job skills in the community. They have enjoyed work experiences at Dillon State Park, Masonic Lodge Northpointe, Muskingum County YMCA, Muskingum County Senior Center, Sunrise Bowling Alley, and GABE's.
Scarecrow Contest
Students participated in the Zanesville-Muskingum County Convention and Visitors Bureau's Scarecrow Contest. They came up with some very creative scarecrows including Sponge Bob, the Old Lady Who Ate A Fly, and a Spooky Pumpkin.
Welcome New Staff!
Starlight welcomed several new staff members this year, including teachers, classroom assistants and transportation assistants.
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New Teachers:
Destiny Dawson - SA2
Jessica Kennedy - SA3
Gracie Lewis - PS4
Vince Winters, SA5
New Classroom Assistants:
Amy Kaminski - SA1
Shandi Miller - PS2
Tristin Talley - PS1
Daveena West - SA1
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Transportation Assistant:
Mercedes McManes - Route 1
Advocacy and FANS December Calendars
Employed and Empowered Spotlight
Meet Christopher! Christopher is employed at ShopGoodwill as a Poster.
Christopher identifies items that might be appropriate for website sales and uses Google Lens to learn more about the item. He then photographs the item and loads the photo to the ShopGoodwill website to be sold. Christopher is great with technology. His favorite part of the job is “all of it!”
Goodwill, the FUSE Network, and the MCBDD worked with Christopher to find a position where he could use his technology skills to excel in the workplace.
Keep up the great work Christopher!
Employment Breakfast
In October the Muskingum County Board of DD held an Employment Breakfast to celebrate National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
Many employers, employees, and community members joined us to recognize the progress people have made in their employment journeys and the strides employers have made in becoming more inclusive.
Chelsea who works at Shaggy Chic Dog Grooming was our guest speaker and shared her experience looking for and finding employment.
The MCBDD would like to thank everyone who came out to help us celebrate!
Community Events
Each newsletter we will add a couple community events to help you connect and feel like a part of your community. You can find more community events at https://www.visitzanesville.com/Calendar-Of-Events/
30-Minute Mini Music Makers
Music of the Holidays
Muskingum County Library
Dresden Branch
Monday, December 2nd 10:30 to 11am
Ages 0 to 11
Register at: https://events.muskingumlibrary.org/event/12129720
Downtown Zanesville
Storybook Christmas Parade
Downtown Zanesville - Shinnick, 6th, Market and 3rd Street
Wednesday, December 4th 6pm
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