Autism Awareness activities

Recently, the 5th grade students participated in an essay contest on the topic, “If each piece were the same, we could never make a puzzle.”Why is it important for us to each be unique and special in our own way? The four winning students visited Mike’s Ice Cream to assist in making blue Italian ice for an autism awareness fundraiser. During the Blue Ice Sale, if a student bought an ice, he or she received a puzzle piece to write their name on and connect to a giant puzzle. The fundraiser was a success, raising approximately $725. This was the conclusion to Autism Awareness month.
Other activities during the month of April included a “blue shirt day” and a pretzel and blue Gatorade sale. Approximately $1800 was raised which will be donated to Autism New Jersey. Throughout the month, the students learned about what autism is by participating in various activities in their classrooms. Additionally, approximately $1250 was raised for Spectrum Works, a non-profit Secaucus based company who employees only autistic individuals, through the sale of t-shirts made by the company and by participating in their #GoSpectrumBlue face painting challenge.