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, […]
Rainbows Changed Our Lives
“My whole journey started at Rainbows in 1978 when my husband, Walt and I adopted a little 5-day-old boy named Brandon,” said Margaret, Brandon’s mother. “He was just perfect.” As he grew, Margaret became concerned that Brandon was not progressing as quickly as other babies his age, and her sister noticed Brandon wasn’t following with […]
Mother’s career inspires teacher
“At a young age I fell in love with a career serving children who have special needs,” said Mary May, Assistant Teacher. “I watched my mother teach and help students growing up. I would volunteer and help her in any way that I could. I saw how much of a difference she made in their […]
Letting Brayden Fail, With Love
Twenty-six-year-old Brayden is the biggest KU basketball fan you’ll ever meet. He is very sport-oriented, enjoys golfing with his dad and uncle and has played tournaments with them. This summer, Brayden and his mom, DeAnne attended Rainbows’ 50th Birthday celebration at the Wind Surge baseball game. Brayden has been part of the Rainbows’ family since […]
