ATEC (The Association of Teachers of Exceptional Children) is a long-standing
association whose goals are to promote professional development among its members
as well as improve the quality of education for those students with special
needs.
Toward its goal of promoting professional development ATEC has
provided financial assistance to teachers, through its Out-of-Province
Conference Grant, who wish to increase their expertise in a particular area.
An example of this would be the $1,000 grant given to a Truro teacher, Lori
Logue Starr, to attend a conference on autism in North Carolina. We have had
Lori speak at our October conference and we have covered her costs to put on
a summer session.
ATEC sponsors a very respected and well attended conference every October. We
have brought in many highly regarded keynote speakers, as well as providing
back-up sessions conducted by regional and local experts.
We have also been highly successful in enhancing the lives of special needs
students through our "Reaching Out to Meet the
Needs Grant". A recent example of this would be the $2,000 given to
Alice Bent's highest needs class in Bridgewater. They travelled to Ottawa where
they were billeted for a week by a similar class who in turn travelled back
to Nova Scotia to stay in the homes of Alice's students.
Within the last three years ATEC has set up a bursary program of which it is
very proud. It is called the "Special Achievement
Bursary" and each year two worth $500 each are given to successful
students who meet the specified criteria. You are encouraged to apply for any
of these forms of assistance by contacting Barry Crozier at 543-7811.
The association has been very fortunate over the years to have someone on the
executive with the talent and energy level to put out a high quality newsletter
(currently, our web page features the June 1999
and December 1999 issues) and journal. These
have proven very successful in getting out to our members and the general public
our goals and accomplishments for the year. Thanks to Bil MacMullin, the present
man of the hour!
Our executive is always open for new blood, so if you are interested please
contact our president, Frank Howell,
or the Special Associations Department
at the NSTU.
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