By Christina Leslie | Correspondent

The Trenton Diocesan Council of Parent Teacher Associations has been named one of four 2014 Distinguished Home and School Association Award winners in the United States by the National Catholic Educational Association. The award recognizes the work of the diocesan PTA in providing $20,000 in funding over a three-year time frame for its teachers to attend special needs workshops in Georgian Court University, Lakewood.

“To best teach our children who will be the future citizens, leaders and contributors of an ever-changing global society, the skill set of educators must be continually expanded and enhanced,” said JoAnn Tier, diocesan superintendent of schools. “It is important that teachers have the understanding, the resources and instructional strategies that will help students to be successful.”

The GCU special needs all-day workshops were held three to four times over the course of the academic year and address the needs of students with special emotional, behavioral and learning challenges. Topics discussed during this academic year have covered effective strategies for instructing students with learning disabilities; addressing various skill levels of students; literacy instruction in mathematics, reading, spelling and writing, and practical suggestions to address the needs of students with Asperger’s syndrome and high functioning autism in the inclusive school setting.

GCU dean of education Dr. Lynn DeCapua, Tier and Dr. Margaret Boland, assistant superintendent of schools, consulted with the Lakewood university’s special education department to discuss the needs of the teachers and plan workshops. Sixty to 70 teachers participated in the three GCU workshops last year, and 30 to 50 have attended this year’s workshops to date.

“Our goal is to assist the teachers to better meet the needs of the students with disabilities in a blended environment, to understand the nature of their disabilities and how they impact their performance,” stated DeCapua. “There is a misunderstanding that public schools have this knowledge base and parochial and private schools do not.”

Katherine Soss Prihoda, president of the Trenton Diocesan Council of the PTA, noted, “As the student population changes, there are challenges. The affiliation with Georgian Court University for the teachers will give them the same environment without people taking them out of Catholic schools.”