Laurie Fifield

Laurie Fifield is the 2011 Volunteer of the Year.

If the last name sounds familiar, that’s because she’s the wife of director Bryce Fifield. She’s also a dream volunteer. “I don’t have to check up on her,” said Jeff Sheen, the CPD’s volunteer coordinator. “She’s a community member, she’s reliable, she’s consistent.”

She also helps out in one of the CPD’s more challenging places for volunteers: the Disability Skills Laboratory. It requires some dependability, since the clients there need some structure. Volunteers who work there need to undergo a background check. For many of them, working at the DSL requires a step outside the comfort zone, at least at first.

It was a step Laurie took because she wanted to volunteer, preferably at the CPD. She didn’t know what to expect at first, but it grew on her. “I know it’s worth it,” she said. “I like the reactions that I get… It’s just fun to make them smile.”

Laurie brought her experience as a preschool and second-grade teacher with her. She began helping out with outings at the DSL, but eventually the staff invited her to sing songs and tell stories once a week. She began a weekly story time in August of 2009, bringing a guitar along with her. It’s a good instrument, she said; she can face people while she sings.

With time she learned what the participants liked and built the stories and songs around themes they were interested in. Her last story time was dedicated to Halloween. On one week in September she focused on trains because she knew the participants would be riding one during a visit to the Clarke Planetarium in Salt Lake City.

Laurie’s advice to other volunteers: Stick with it. With time you will gain a better understanding of the people you serve and what works best for them.

“I think people should be encouraged to volunteer,” she said. “It helps you learn about other people and gives you a wider view of what the world is really like.”

If you are looking for something fun to do that will bring you a lot of satisfaction along with it, come to the Quad on the USU campus tonight at 7:30 p.m. for some  glow-in-the-dark frisbee games and pizza.

That’s the fun part.  The satisfaction comes in when you join the newest club at USU, Aggie Advocates for Disability, and get to know some  people with disabilities.

The Aggie’s Advocates Club was organized this year after two Level 2 Special Ed students saw a play about discrimination and prejudice. After talking about how this is still a part of the world today, they decided to see if they could make a positive difference, at least here on the USU campus.

The description of the club on the USU website says it all:   The purpose of Aggie Advocates for Disability is to improve the lives of people with disabilities through social awareness, and to advocate for people with disabilities and their families through educating the general public, raising funds for schools, families, and organizations, and providing service.

This new club isn’t just waiting around for people to come to them.  Already they have recruited over 100 members and have organized officers and activities for the whole year!

Many have already been volunteering in some of the programs at the CPD.

Jeff Sheen, CPD Volunteer Coordinator, has been working with some of the Aggie Advocate members, introducing them to the programs that serve children and youth with disabilities at the CPD.  Programs like the PEER program, a post-secondary program for young adults, and the Disability Skills Laboratory, an adult day program for adults with disabilities.

Along with volunteering to work directly with people with disabilities, Aggies Advocates has plans to sponsor some fundraisers for programs whose funding has been cut who serve children with disabilities.  They will also be participating with the CPD during Disability Awareness Week in January, and this Saturday, they will be marching alongside the CPD’s 40th Anniversary float in the Homecoming Parade.

Through it all, they want to make campus more inclusive by organizing activities for people with and without disabilities.

Those interested in becoming a part of this amazing club can email them at aggieadvocates.usu@gmail.com to join.  For now, they will email information about their activities to members, but they will soon have a facebook account and will be posting them on it.

It seems that we are going to be hearing a lot from the Aggie Advocates for Disability Club.  Welcome to USU!

Kelly Smith and Jeff Sheen will be on the quad at USU to answer questions on September 1.

If you are will walk through Utah State University’s Day on the Quad—or you know somebody who is—make sure you watch for these faces from the CPD on September 1. They’ll be there from 10:30 to 2:30.

Information specialist Kelly Smith and volunteer coordinator Jeff Sheen will be handing out information about our volunteer program, our undergraduate research program and the Interdisciplinary Awareness and Service Learning Class. All three of these programs have something in common: they’re looking for committed, good students. For more information, visit Kelly and Jeff on the Quad—and visit this website.

Parent-child play is good for development. Read all about it in the CPD's April NewsFlash.

Check out April’s NewsFlash, featuring the CPD’s multifaceted approach to autism and a fundraising campaign for the CPD’s new developmental playground, which will help provide support to the families of children with disabilities. We thank all conors and volunteers who have already contributed to this project and invite others to join in the effort.

Happy reading, and happy spring.

Jeff Sheen, back row center, stands with 11 volunteers from Grand Valley State University who spent part of their spring break helping out at the CPD.

This month’s NewFlash features volunteers who came from halfway across the country to help at the CPD.