Festive and Bittersweet
Who doesn’t love a taco?! The graduating class of 2023 at Rainbows United helped us to celebrate all things taco and festive (including sombreros, taco pinatas and churro bars) with “Taco ‘bout a Future” as this year’s theme. We had hoped to have the ceremony outside as in years past, but the Kansas weather did […]
Tribe Helps Shape Littles
Five-year-old Baylor has graduated from Rainbows’ Pre-Kindergarten Program! Baylor started with Rainbows in the infant room and has grown up with Rainbows. “It’s extremely difficult dropping off your precious little one with “strangers” for the day,” said Stacy, Baylor’s mother. “I struggled. But so quickly, those “strangers” become your support system, your tribe in shaping […]
Pre-K Teacher Shares Love of Music With Children
When MacKenzie Tilma, Lead Teacher, is in the classroom, you are likely to hear the happy notes of…A UKELELE? “I always like when the children get excited when I bring my ukulele to play songs for them,” said MacKenzie. “They are always suggesting songs I need to learn to play. We keep multiple toy ukuleles […]
Teaching Love, Kindness, Inclusion and Empathy
What does Valentine’s Day mean to Rainbows United preschoolers? For those of us in Classroom 6, it’s about teaching love and compassion, as well as making our lessons fun and engaging. We want the kids to be excited to learn about Math, Literacy, Science, Art, and how to be good humans. We want them to […]
A prism reflects light and turns it into a rainbow
The criteria for Rainbows’ employee award, the Prism Award are to demonstrate Rainbows Guiding Principles, be an exemplar in the role they fulfill for Rainbows; demonstrate leadership; make children and families their highest priority; and represent Rainbows in a way that reflects positively on the entire organization. This year Rainbows honored an educator who has […]
Determined kid catches peers
Alex is a senior this year at Andover Central High School. He’s involved in soccer, bowling and mountain bike riding. His goal after high school is to go on to college and is interested in Physical Therapy. He loves spending time with his family and friends but is looking forward to going off to school. […]
Don’t Stop Dreaming
All parents have dreams for their children. When those dreams are disrupted by a diagnosis like Down Syndrome, it can be easy to stop dreaming—but Rainbows staff and organization is SO GOOD at saying: “Hey, don’t stop dreaming—just open your mind and dream a bit differently!” “Getting the Down Syndrome diagnosis AFTER birth was a […]
Unique and Wonderfully Made
“Our goal for Sophia is for her know how wonderfully made she is,” said Taylor, Sophia’s mother. Sophia has a very complex and unique medical diagnosis of unbalanced translocation of chromosomes. She has 100 extra Chromosome 7, and 6 deleted from Chromosome 9. She is the only one in medical history to have this mix […]
Pumpkin Guts, Pumpkin Patch, Candy Corn, and a Parade
Halloween at Rainbows is not only fun, it’s educational! Rainbows’ children used their senses to explain what pumpkin guts felt, smelled, looked, and tasted like. After pulling out the pumpkin seeds and letting them dry, the seeds were seasoned with butter, vanilla, cinnamon, and sugar. Chef Ryan then cooked the seeds and the children had […]
Honoring CJ Seitz
“From the moment he was born, CJ was a kind soul,” said Frank Seitz, CJ’s father. CJ was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, but no evidence of brain damage at the time of his birth. “We thought we had a perfectly normal child,” said Frank. When he was 4 months old, […]
