Special birthday

Jack O’Connor, second from right, presents a $700 check to his brother Ryan. Others pictured are, from left: Matheny School principal Sean Murphy, student Jacob Rolaf, teaching assistant Kristin Barone, Ryan and Jack, student Sara Hoffman and her nurse Nancy Winder.

When Jack O’Connor turned 12, he decided to use his birthday to help the Matheny School, where his younger brother Ryan is a student. So, he told his friends at the Immaculate Conception School in Annandale, NJ, to give him money that he would, in turn, donate to Matheny. His friends came through, and Jack visited Matheny recently to present a check for $700.

Ten-year-old Ryan, who was born with a very rare chromosome deletion, has been a student at Matheny for 7 ½ years. His mother Debbie says Matheny is “a safe environment made up of amazing people who give everything so that our children have a life that, as a parent of a special needs child, I never would have thought possible.”

Rick St.Pierre, right, presents a check for $2,100 last year to Sandy Josephson, left, Matheny director of marketing and public relations, and Steve Proctor, Matheny president.

For the third year, the Verve Bistro in Somerville, NJ, has selected Matheny as the recipient of funds raised in connection with its annual Mardi Gras celebration. This year, however, there is an added twist: On Sunday, March 2, two days before Fat Tuesday on March 4, Verve will hold a Gumbo Cookout. This will add a day to the celebration, which begins on Thursday night, February 27.

A portion of the proceeds from the five-day event, including funds raised from the auctioning of Mardi Gras masks, will go to Matheny. Many of the masks on display will be made by Matheny staff members, students and patients. However, anyone can contribute masks. Just drop them off at Verve, at 18 Main St., by February 19.

Last year, Verve donated $2,100 to Matheny. Since opening in the late 1990s, Verve owner Rick St. Pierre has given back to the community. He was named Somerville’s Citizen of the Year in 2011 and was given the Somerset County Business Partnership’s Economic Vitality Award in 2008.

To make reservations during the Mardi Gras celebration between February 27 and March 4, call (908) 707-8655 and be sure to mention Matheny.

Some of last year’s masks.

John McGarity tries to aim a beanbag with his feet, assisted by Cindy LaBar, Matheny director of physical therapy.

“It was a fun day. It was hard using my feet to shoot the beanbag in the target. It would have been much easier if I could have used my hands.” That was the reaction of John McGarity, a student at the Central Elementary School in Great Meadows, NJ, when he experienced what it’s like for children with disabilities to participate in a game or sport. He was one of several students at the Warren County school who played a variety of adapted sports with students from the Matheny School.

The objective of the visit was to promote interaction between the two groups of students, making it possible for them to compete in sports as peers. It seemed to work. “I enjoyed visiting with the children from the Matheny School,” McGarity said. “I would like it if they would come back for another visit.”

Music class at the Matheny School.

The Matheny School is hosting a program on “School Choice” from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 29. The event, for parents and educators, will feature a presentation on “Parental Rights in Special Education” by Andrew D. Linenberg of Hinkle, Fingles & Prior, P.C., Attorneys at Law. There will also be opportunities for networking and information about an upcoming conference on transition and two new special education scholarships being offered by the Alliance of Private Special Education Schools of North Jersey.

Educators and/or parents interested in attending should call (908) 234-0011, ext. 234, or email mathenyschool@matheny.org by January 27.

Matheny student works on his math skills.

From left, Anna Spencer, Bryan Zhu, Trisha Kaundiya and Rahil Shah.

When Trisha Kaundinya and three of her friends at Bridgewater-Raritan, NJ, High School formed a string quartet, the idea was to get together every week or so to socialize and practice playing music. But Kaundinya’s father is part of a group from the investment banking firm Goldman Sachs that regularly volunteers at Matheny, helping to spruce up the grounds. “He acquainted me with the special needs of the children,” said Trisha, “and informed me that many, if not most, of them are quite capable of learning and appreciating the fine arts.”

So Kaundinya and her friends recently performed for the students and patients at Matheny and “had a wonderful experience playing,” she said. “We could sense the acknowledgement from several children. Clearly they were engaged, and we felt that they connected with us through music. We walked away with a sense of satisfaction and developed an inner urge to do more. We would love to play again in a spring concert.”

Shane, left, and Josh Szott.

The students and patients at Matheny look forward to the annual visit by the varsity basketball team of the Delbarton School, an independent Roman Catholic learning center in Morristown for young men in grades 7–12. But this year brought a special twist. Delbarton basketball player Josh Szott was able to compete along with his brother Shane, a student at Matheny. Josh and Shane are the sons of David and Andrea Szott of Morristown, NJ.

The physical education and recreation therapy departments at Matheny created an assortment of basketball games designed to level the playing field, and the Delbarton players either competed against the Matheny players or helped them compete against each other. They also tossed T-shirts into the audience in the Robert Schonhorn Arts Center and displayed some of the skills they use against their regular opponents.

The event is always a huge success and, besides being fun, helps the Matheny students and patients improve their physical, emotional, cognitive and social well-being.

Delbarton player Drew Douglas with Matheny student Vraj Desai.

Skanska employees, from left, Lisa Mancuso, Robert Duncan and Kim DeRocco.

Who needs Santa when you can have Skanska instead? During the recent holiday season, employees from Skanska USA’s Parsippany, NJ, office made their annual visit to Matheny to drop off toys collected in the company’s toy drive. Sweden-based Skanska is one of the world’s leading construction groups. This is the fourth year that Skanska employees have visited Matheny during the holiday season.

Bottom row, from left: Pito Walton of Peapack; Frances and Charlotte Steele of Bedminster; Bella Walton, Peapack. Top row, from left: Jane Steele; Betsy Walton; Joan Millard of Toms River, NJ; Ali Millard and Lily Steele of Bedminster; and Mrs. Orr, visiting from Florida. (Also caroling, but not pictured, were Susan, Emma, Ellie and Ryan Palmer of Oldwick).

Jane Steele of Bedminster, NJ, and Betsy Walton of Peapack, NJ, and their families have been visiting Matheny’s students and patients on a regular basis for years. Several years ago, they decided to sing Christmas carols during one of their weekly visits.

“We invited friends to join us,” recalls Steele, “and got a very large turnout. Each year the same friends are excited to return and sing. It is a wonderful reminder of the true meaning of Christmas. One year we brought a very large homemade gingerbread house and the children dipped the hard candies in the gooey icing and stuck them on the house. They loved it!”

The majority of Matheny students and patients are full-time residents, and volunteers are welcome days, evenings and weekends. For more information about volunteering, call (908) 234-0011, ext. 282.

In our aquatic program, students have the opportunity to increase their independence through new individual and group strategies introduced by therapists and educators.

At The Matheny School, our mission is to provide an integrated educational and therapeutic experience for our students, who have a diverse range of abilities and disabilities. Here’s how we do it:

• We enhance the potential of children with multiple disabilities through the development of Individual Educational Plans (IEPs) that focus on tailored, attainable goals and objectives.

• We encourage our students to explore their own interests within a positive learning environment.

• We enrich their daily lives by increasing their gross motor, fine motor, and visual and perceptual skills.

• We help our students learn, without limits, through an interdisciplinary approach combining therapy treatment, social services, psychology and medical care.

Our adaptive physical education program develops ways for Matheny students to participate in traditional sports such as basketball.