Mary Cariola Kicks Off 75th Anniversary Celebration! |
|
|
Mary Cariola Center kicked off its 75th Anniversary Celebration, on the 75th day of the school year, with a press conference and all the fanfare associated with such a milestone. Over 100 national, state and local politicians, alumni, retirees, staff, families, Board Members, and other honored guests gathered to celebrate the 75th kickoff event on our East Avenue school campus.
Dignitaries spoke about the impact that Agency founder Mary Cariola had on the Rochester community. City of Rochester Mayor Malik Evans talked about the woman “who walked and breathed the streets of Rochester and chose to take in and build something for people with physical and developmental disabilities, not because it was easy, but because it was hard.” |
|
On behalf of the Agency, Mary Cariola, President and CEO, Karen Zandi accepted proclamations and citations from the City of Rochester, Monroe County, the State of New York, and the U.S. House of Representatives. Throughout the year, the Mary Cariola Center will celebrate 75 years of serving the community with a variety of special events. Check our website and social media for information. |
|
|
A Donation Request Heard 'Round the World |
|
| |
Bryce O’Connor worked as a Physical Therapist at Mary Cariola Center prior to launching his writing career. |
|
|
When online donations to Mary Cariola Center started coming in from Queensland, Australia to Tokyo, Japan to Almere, Netherlands to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and everywhere in between, we thought we were living in a fantasy world. Then reality set in. It was the heartfelt generosity of the Fantasy Authors Group from Wraithmarked Creative that put us on Cloud 9. Long-time friend, former Mary Cariola Center employee, and current fantasy author Bryce O’Connor started Wraithmarked Creative, LLC in 2020 to “give voice to talented fantasy writers who just needed a leg up and an audience to speak to.” Since then, Wraithmarked has grown to include over 200 authors providing some of the best fantasy literature available. |
|
Over the holidays, Wraithmarked organized a sensational two-day MEGASALE with its authors and fans through the online Reddit Fantasy discussion forum, which has 3.6 million members. Each of the participating authors agreed to donate at least $0.02 per book they sold or gave away (or a minimum of $10, whichever was greater).
As a result, Mary Cariola received nearly $8,000 in donations from 150 authors from 16 different countries and 33 different states. It was exciting to track the donations as they rolled in from all around the world! Many thanks to Bryce, Wraithmarked Creative, and the world of fantasy fiction enthusiasts! |
|
|
Anything is PAW-sible at Mary Cariola |
Everyone is learning at Mary Cariola, including our engaging canine crew!
Working with a team of therapy dogs, Mary Cariola Center has brought new opportunities to both canines and students. Therapy dogs are typically encouraged to respond to hand signs or verbal prompts to perform certain tasks, follow commands, and participate in various activities when at work. Many of our students are non-verbal and utilize other Augmentative or Alternative Communication (AAC) tools such as a static communication board, picture exchange, voice-output switch, or a speech-generating device.
Therapy dogs need to learn how to respond to voice-recorded or machine-generated speech to respond in the same way. East Avenue student Adrienne is working with therapy dog Raven to shift training to synthesized speech. Adrienne’s Speech Language Pathologist, Tricia Coleman, programmed a specific page for dog commands containing phrases such as “Raven-sit,” “come,” “down,” “off,” and “stay.” During therapy, Adrienne practices sequencing various icons within her device to get Raven to learn and obey various commands. Tricia hopes to collaborate with Raven and her owner/trainer, Physical Therapist Michelle Thornhill, along with seven other therapy dogs on campus, to better respond to all kinds of AAC at school! After all, who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?
|
|
|
| Adrienne works on commands with therapy dog Raven using her speech-generating device via eye gaze. Speech Language Pathologist Tricia Colemen looks on. |
| |
If you know anything about the Mary Cariola Center, chances are you know or have heard of Mark Siewert. Mark has been involved with the Agency for nearly forty years. He knew Mary Cariola personally, has been active as a parent and a supporter, has served as Chair of the Mary Cariola Center Board of Directors and currently serves as Board Chair for the Mary Cariola Foundation. Take a moment to learn more about Mark and his many contributions to the Agency. Read more about Mark… |
|
|
Thanks to our Corporate Partners |
|
|
|