Tag Archive for: Serendipity Center

Rojo the Llama visits Serendipity!

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Our good friend Rojo the Llama of Mtn. Peaks Therapy Llamas and Alpacas visited Serendipity yesterday! Rojo and all of his buddies at Mtn. Peaks Therapy Llamas and Alpacas have been visiting Serendipity for many years. Since Rojo first started visiting Serendipity he has become the most famous Llama in the world!  He has been featured on national publications like Huffington Post. CBS News, and Today.

All of the students interested in meeting Rojo were able to give him hugs, “Llama kisses,” and lots of petting. Rojo’s friendly demeanor and soft fur make him perfectly suited to relax the students of Serendipity and give them a unique break during the day. Thank you so much Lori for bringing Rojo to Serendipity, we hope he can come back soon!

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Rojo giving a student a “Llama Kiss”

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Thank You For Supporting Serendipity Center

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On Thursday, March 12 at Sentinel Hotel in downtown Portland, Serendipity Center held it’s annual benefit dinner Pearls of Hope.  Serendipity would like to thank all of our event sponsors, donors, volunteers and all those involved in making this year’s Pearls of Hope an awesome success!  Also, special thanks to our graduate speaker Mariah, our longtime MC Tony Martinez of “Good Day Oregon” and Kelly Russell of Kelly Russell Auctions, LLC​.

The generous support of our community members is the foundation of Serendipity’s success as a organization. This year Serendipity Center was able to raise over $130,000 to support our vision of educating students with unique challenges and needs. To get involved with Serendipity Center please check out our volunteer opportunities or make a donation.

 

 

Movie and Pajama Day at Serendipity Center

On Thursday, January 29, the students of Serendipity Center earned their second school-wide PBIS reward of the year. This time the students of Serendipity chose a pajama and movie day to celebrate their positive behavior! Groups of students across grade levels were invited into the dining hall to watch “Box Trolls.” Students munched on snacks and relaxed in their PJs, enjoying their earned reward for weeks of making safe, respectful, and responsible choices while at school.

Our PBIS coordinator and valued interventionist, Gretchen, organized the event for Serendipity students. The school-wide PBIS protocol has been successful at rewarding students for making good choices while at school. Students are now able to be rewarded by any of the Serendipity staff when they are seen demonstrating safe, respectful, and responsible behavior. This has lead to students being more mindful of their behavior outside of the classroom and they have become more respectful of staff who work indirectly with them. Thank you to all the staff who helped organize and produce the pajama and movie day for Serendipity’s students!

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Serendipity Center’s New Billiard Table

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One of the most popular areas of Serendipity Center for students is the Game Room. This area is used for a variety of therapeutic and recreational purposes. It is common to see students taking a structured break with Serendipity staff, or enjoying a game of pool during recess with peers during the day. For many of our students, it is an area to practice sportsmanship and turn-taking with others in a safe, constructive environment. Naturally, when students found out that we would be replacing our pool table the school was buzzing with excitement.

Last week on Tuesday, November 25th the incredibly generous individuals at Golden West Billiards donated and installed our new “Delta Queen” style billiard table; a significant, and much needed upgrade from our previous table. Serendipity Center would like to extend sincere gratitude to Rich, Jack, and Zack at Golden West for donating your time and energy to install our fabulous new table. To visit their website please click here, and Like their Facebook page here.

 

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PBIS Fall Harvest Festival 2014

This fall the students of Serendipity Center were challenged to reach a goal of 2,000 school-wide PBIS tickets to earn a wonderful autumn celebration. Not only did the students of Serendipity rise to the challenge and succeed at earning the Fall Harvest Festival, they smashed through the 2,000 ticket goal and earned over 2,200 by demonstrating safe, respectful, and responsible behavior at school.  Some of the events at this year’s Harvest Festival included an apple press, which gave students an opportunity to make apple cider from scratch using apples donated to Serendipity Center by The Barn for the festival. Students were also able to participate in a needle in the haystack search and decorate pumpkins, some of which were harvested from our Growing Minds Garden.

Serendipity Center adopted PBIS as a school-wide protocol in 2010 and has since seen a number of positive changes in student behavioral management. PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports)  is the framework for adopting and organizing evidence-based behavioral interventions into an integrated continuum that enhances academic and social behavior outcomes for all students (pbis.org). Our fantastic behavioral support specialists have guided Serendipity Center though the adoption phase of PBIS and provide continue support to classroom and support staff. 

Thank you to all of the staff, students, and volunteers who worked so hard to ensure the Harvest Festival was fun and memorable afternoon.

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