The city of San Diego is rife with diversity and, indeed, has a knack for uniting people from all facets of life. But the city could not have earned such a reputation without crucial positive contributions to the education system, like those made by Kids Included Together (KIT).
KIT is a nonprofit organization that, while perhaps unfamiliar to some, is working to create a more unified future for San Diego’s youth, according to organizers.
As part of its upcoming open house on Saturday, May 22, at Liberty Station in Point Loma, KIT is introducing its National Training Center on Inclusion. According to KIT officials, the center offers valuable training and assistance to youth educators and providers throughout San Diego County.
Founded in 1997, KIT is an association devoted to the inclusion of children, with or without disabilities, into interactive learning programs. The organization supports countless programs around San Diego County that focus on child and youth development, as well as recreation, according to Adriana Herrerra, associate director for marketing and public relations.
More specifically, said KIT officials, the organization plays an invaluable role in training and supplying youth-care providers with the necessary means for promoting the most positive environment for all children. To ensure that proper training and guidance is used, KIT creates four-year affiliations with organizations around San Diego, said Herrerra.
As an example, the Coronado Recreational Department is one youth organization that was sponsored by KIT. According to Hilary Furnis-Lawrence, a summer inclusion specialist in Coronado, the programs have benefited from KIT’s sponsored staff training.
“All the speakers and KIT [representatives] were very helpful and extremely knowledgeable,” said Furnis-Lawrence. “And they were realistic about [the issues] we face when working with kids both with and without disabilities in the same classroom.”
Furnis-Lawrence’s responsibilities as an inclusion specialist have been directly influenced by KIT’s efforts. She is responsible for taking in children with any disabilities, interviewing parents and children to assess their needs and providing a feeling of acceptance and smooth integration for the family into a new, and perhaps unfamiliar, environment.
Just one of the points covered in KIT training educates youth-care providers about what it is to include children with disabilities into mainstream programs. Even after the training programs, “KIT Program Coordinator Torrie Dunlap continued to follow-up with our progress in inclusion,” said Furnis-Lawrence. “They are serious about what they are doing, and they’re a very positive group.”
Inclusion does not mean simply intermixing children with disabilities and those without. “It’s about how to get support for kids who need it so that no one just stands out,” said Furnis-Lawrence. “Instead, [all] children are growing bonds with each other, as a group, as a class.”
According to KIT’s Web site, the Point Loma-based National Training Center on Inclusion is a “state-of-the-art training facility and learning lab” that provides training, technical assistance, site-specific training and child-specific consultations to endorse lasting changes within organizations.
The open-house event will take place from 3 to 7 p.m. in a casual environment where food, wine and various entertainment will be provided. The NTCI is located at 2820 Roosevelt Road, Suite 202, at Liberty Station. For additional information, call (858) 225-5680, or visit www.kitonline.org.