Burn Relief Through HBOT

Would you run into a burning building when every instinct and impulse firing in your brain is telling you something else? There are many times that people are presented with this seemingly unanswerable question… a conflict between what we can possibly save and what we are risking to lose.

Sunday, March 29th is a day that Clayton and his family will never forget. Clayton noticed smoke coming from the barn that housed dairy goats his daughters were raising for their 4H projects. Upon seeing the smoke, he ran to the barn to investigate. Unfortunately, when he opened the barn door, the rush of air caused the smoldering straw to ignite.

Despite the potential danger, Clayton ran into the burning barn multiple times in an attempt to save as many of the goats as possible. He was able to save three baby and two adult goats before deciding it was too dangerous to continue going back into the barn. Unfortunately, other than the five goats he was able to save, the barn, the remaining goats and all of its contents were a complete loss.

When the paramedics arrived on the scene, they determined that Clayton was in urgent need of medical attention. Because he had inhaled smoke and breathed in the heat of the fire, the paramedics proceeded to sedate and intubate him for fear that the damage to his trachea and lungs would cause severe swelling and restrict his breathing, causing his airway to fail. They also determined that he had sustained numerous 2nd and 3rd degree burns on his face, neck, head, fingers, hands and right knee. Life Flight was called to the scene and Clayton was rushed to the hospital.

The burns were so severe that Clayton was unable to perform any daily activities or care for himself. His wife became his caregiver following his return home from the hospital. Twice a day, the burns required scraping, cleaning and dressing changes to avoid contracting any infections. The injuries were extremely painful and required special compression garments.

Fortunately, Clayton was able to begin hyperbaric treatments at Sara’s Garden immediately following his release from the hospital. Initially, the treatments were very painful and Clayton questioned whether he would be able to do a full series of treatments. The severity of his burns made him extremely sensitive to temperature changes and heat intolerance. Being in the chamber for extended periods of time was difficult for him to tolerate. Clayton was very thankful at how much effort the staff made to help him relieve his pain and discomfort by packing him with ice bags to cool him down.

Within several weeks of treatment, new skin growth began to appear. The doctors at the burn clinic would comment about how quickly Clayton was healing and remark that he was progressing much more rapidly than they would have anticipated. They were thrilled that Clayton was displaying an accelerated healing process, had a reduction in noticeable scar tissue, and was seeing a quicker return to more normal skin pigment.

Clayton often hears comments from people who saw him at my worst right after the accident. They marvel at how well his healing went. When he tells his story and explains his burns and everything he went through, many people say that his scars and burns are not very noticeable and that if he hadn’t said anything they would not have even noticed.

Clayton and his family are extremely thankful for all the prayers and support they received following his accident. They are eternally grateful that their community of friends and church stepped up to assist with the costs of treatment. They know that God works things out according to his plan and believe he used the great staff and facility of Sara’s Garden to provide the healing he so desperately needed during that time. They know it would be impossible to thank everyone who played a role in providing care and support to their family during that time.

Thanks to the healing power of the great physician, Jesus Christ and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy at Sara’s Garden, Clayton has his life back. No matter what you’ve been told, there is hope… for this and many other conditions. HBOT is treatment without drugs… without surgery… without pain.

NHA is Still Accepting Students for the 2020-2021 School Year

With so many schools affected by the coronavirus pandemic and reducing the number of in-person, instructional days, if you are still looking for a 5-day a week school program for your special needs child, New Horizons Academy is STILL accepting new student applications for the 2020-2021 school year for both its Wauseon and Springfield/Holland campuses, as well as for its new Career Center in Wauseon. Call TODAY to begin the enrollment process for August’s classes. School starts on August 19.

We are so excited to be accepting applications for NEW special education students for the 2020-2021 school year for our preschool to high school classes (up to age 21). If you are looking for the right special education placement, a place where your child feels like he or she fits in, consider New Horizons Academy (NHA) in Wauseon or Springfield/Holland.

At NHA, kids come first. We exist for our students; our students do not exist for the school. Students don’t have to fit into the classes. The class and program are made to meet the individual student’s needs. Please visit us, and see if we are the right fit for your special needs student.

NHA’s Wauseon & Springfield/Holland Campuses:

Are regional preschool to 12th grade special education schools.
Have less than a 1:2—staff to student ratio.
Specialize in individualized, personalized education.
Provide strong academics, community involvement, life skills classes, vocational skills, work site placements, and job coaches.
Offer early intervention, conductive education (CE), sensory integration, occupational therapy, speech/language pathology & music instruction.
Participate in the College Credit Plus (CCP) Program.
Are Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA)-Based Schools.
Accept both the Autism & Jon Peterson Scholarships as payment in full.
Serve students from over 9 counties and 37 different school districts.

Our mission is to help your child achieve the greatest independence possible through early intervention programs, classes, community activities, life skills training, vocational placements, and job coaching.

Steps to Enrollment:

Call the school for more information.
Submit a copy of your child’s IEP & ETR for review.
Schedule a school tour, interview, and student assessment.
If accepted, complete student enrollment paperwork, and provide proof of residency.
Complete and accept the Autism or Jon Peterson Scholarship.

For more information on New Horizons Academy or to schedule a tour, call Admissions Coordinator Ronda Rupp at 419-335-7272, email rondar@sarasgarden.org, or log onto newhorizonsacademy.org.

NHA Heading Back to School 5 Days a Week Safely!

The health and safety of our students is our top priority! We take their physical and emotional well-being very seriously. During this COVID-19 pandemic, New Horizons Academy (NHA) will do everything in its power to serve your children and keep them safe.

As a regional special needs school, New Horizons Academy is a very special place, serving students from 37 different school districts from over 9 different counties across 3 different campuses. With Ohio’s county-by-county approach to reopening schools, NHA will work with all of Northwest Ohio’s health departments to meet the individual needs of our students under a variety of risk levels.

Since the March 2020 school closure, education has been very challenging for our special needs students. Our students thrive in small groups with individualized, hands-on instruction, which is why many struggled with at-home, online learning. NHA believes that our students’ special education and social needs are best met through face-to-face, hands-on instruction. With our small class sizes, NHA is able to meet the social distancing guidelines to bring our students back to school five days a week from 8:15 a.m.-2:45 p.m. for the 2020-2021 school year!

But returning to school will look a little different than it did before. Thank you to the parents and staff who have shared their questions and concerns with us! Some parents are worried that the state’s guidelines are not stringent enough to protect their children while others are concerned that the health and safety guidelines are too strict for their children and their family. All of us, NHA staff, students, and parents, will need to be flexible and understanding of each other as we return to school. We have tried to take a common sense approach, which incorporates and modifies the federal, state, and local guidelines for our special needs students. Through our summer camps, we were able to pilot this approach and gain a great deal of experience and understanding on successfully implementing these health and safety guidelines.

Returning to School 5 Days a Week!

Our teachers and staff have really missed your children and are so excited about welcoming them back to school!
Our first day of school will be August 19 with our regular school day from 8:15 a.m.-2:45 p.m.
With all of our students on individual education plans (IEPs), NHA will continue to provide personalized, individualized education to meet the diverse learning needs of our students.
Classes will be held in and students spread out across our Wauseon and Springfield/Holland Campuses, Sara’s Garden building, and our new NHA Career Center in Wauseon.

Heading Back to School Safely To protect your children and our medically fragile students, NHA is planning on:

Daily symptom and temperature checks for both staff and students with anyone exhibiting symptoms or with a fever of 100 degrees or greater immediately sent home to isolate,
Social distancing as much as possible,
Teachers rather than students rotating classrooms,
Frequent hand washing and liberal use of hand sanitizer,
Meeting students at the car or lobby door to limit parental exposure,
Utilizing water bottles with snacks and lunch in the classroom,
Sanitizing high-traffic areas throughout the day and intensive building cleanings,
Ongoing staff training.

Face Coverings

All staff will wear face coverings.
Students will be encouraged, but not mandated, to wear face coverings (bandanna, scarf, mask, etc.) as a part of their behavioral plans. We want to help them build up their ability and tolerance in case they need to wear them on the bus, for appointments, during a group outing, etc.
Be imaginative, creative, and fun like wearing a favorite team’s bandanna, playing dress up with a special scarf, playing pretend with a mask, or choosing a favorite ball cap with an attached plastic sheet or shield.

Online Learning

Just being in school or any public area carries some risk of exposure.
For parents who are not ready to send back and/or do not feel comfortable sending their children back to school yet, NHA will offer a full-time, online learning option, which may be accessed through any smart phone or device.

Communications

Keeping parents updated and informed is critical!
NHA will reach parents by posting updates on our web site and Facebook page, texting and/or emailing out critical announcements, making phone calls, sending home letters, leaving notes in students’ communications folders, etc.
Additional information about how day-to-day school operations like pick up, drop off, and classroom schedules may be impacted will be sent out over the summer.
If you have any questions or concerns, please call the school offices at 419-335-7272 (Wauseon) or 567-703-1322 (Springfield/Holland). We would be happy to hear from you!

Visitors

To reduce exposure risk, NHA will try to limit entrance to its buildings.
Parents will be asked to wait in their cars with staff coming out to escort students into and out of the school buildings.
Anyone, entering the buildings, will be asked to wear a face covering and will undergo a symptom and temperature check.

Transportation

Bussing is up to the home school district. If you are planning on your home school district providing transportation for your child to school this year, please contact them right away.
If you are transporting your child to and from school, please look for additional information from NHA on drop off and pick up locations and procedures.

Social, Emotional & Behavioral Support

With children feeling afraid, angry, sad, anxious, and depressed during this pandemic, their negative or disruptive behaviors may increase.
As an Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA)-based school system, NHA’s behavioral specialists are here to help.
This year, NHA will also have a part-time school counselor available for mental health support.

Blended Education

During a coronavirus outbreak which causes the Ohio Department of Health and/or the local health department to classify a county or counties as Level 3-Red, NHA will follow the health department’s guidance.
This may include utilizing remote learning (electronic or online coursework through smart phones or other technology, interactive bins or bags sent home with the students, and/or hands-on activities posted on the web site or Facebook page).
If due to a Level 3-Red alert, students from a specific county are unable to physically attend school or if either of NHA’s Wauseon or Springfield/Holland Campuses are forced to close for an extended period of time, NHA will continue instruction remotely until the health department drops the county down to a Level 2-Orange designation with instruction then physically returning back to the classroom.
During that time, NHA will provide telehealth or online therapy services.
NHA will also give first priority to and will try to offer one-on-one, in-person interventions and therapies to our most needy students, who struggled the most with online learning, when it can be offered and scheduled safely using all of the health guidelines previously discussed.

COVID Exposure

If any student or staff member would test positive for COVID-19, NHA is committed to working with the local health departments and public health officials on contact tracing while still maintaining individual privacy.

Special Grounds Coffee Shop, Event Center & Career Center Opening Soon!

Sara’s Garden is pleased and SO excited to announce the opening of its Special Grounds Coffee Shop, Event Center, and Career Center at 854 S. Shoop Avenue in Wauseon! The new Career Center is scheduled to open August 19 with the start of New Horizons Academy’s school year while the Special Grounds Coffee Shop and Event Center will open this fall, staffed by many of our special needs high school students.

During a normal school year, it is always challenging to find vocational placements for our special needs high schoolers; and this year is anything but normal. With higher unemployment rates in Northwest Ohio and so many public health restrictions due to the coronavirus, this year could have been a vocational placement and employment nightmare; instead, it is a dream come true! With the purchase of the former First Baptist Church , NHA now has its very own built-in vocational options.

Over half of the building is being converted into a Career Center with classrooms and skills labs for our New Horizons Academy students which will promote vocational training and employment. Education and training will include daily life and personal care skills, basic reading and math literacy, employment readiness with customer service and socialization activities, and vocational education and training in such areas as food preparation, cooking, cleaning, gardening, landscaping, event prep, catering, coffee roasting and packaging, and woodworking. For more information on enrolling a special needs student in New Horizons Academy’s Career Center or to schedule a tour, call Admissions Coordinator Ronda Rupp at 419-335-7272 or email rondar@sarasgarden.org.

Special education students up to age 21 (and hopefully young adults after they get out of school) will progress from learning basic life skills to practicing in the skills labs to eventually working in our Special Grounds Coffee Shop and Event Center. The Event Center will be available for individual, family, and business rentals for weddings, conferences, workshops, and other special events; and best of all, our special needs students will be setting up, tearing down, and cleaning the facilities. They will get built-in event prep and cleaning experience. Please consider supporting our special needs students by hosting your next event with us. For more information on the Event Center, its reception hall, kitchen, and large event space, call Sara’s Garden’s Administrative Assistant Katie Helberg at 419-335-7272 or email katieh@sarasgarden.org.

The most exciting aspect of this facility is the fully functional Special Grounds Coffee Shop, staffed by many of our special needs high school students. The coffee and pastry shop should open this fall. Our plan is to source fair trade coffee beans and roast our own delicious blends of coffee in-house, providing amazing vocational opportunities for our students. This fall, please stop in and support our special needs students and get a great cup of coffee or if you are in a hurry, use our drive-up window for your caffeine fix. All proceeds will be used to support special education services through New Horizons Academy and Sara’s Garden. Please keep an eye out for our fall Special Grounds Coffee Shop Grand Opening invitation and announcement. We look forward to seeing you and serving you there!

We Need Your Support Now, More Than Ever!

During these uncertain times, we need your support now, more than ever! Sara’s Garden and New Horizons Academy are doing everything we can to meet federal, state, and local health and safety guidelines so we can stay open and accessible to serve our special needs children and their families.

We are so grateful to the dedication of our staff, who really pitched in and helped get our special needs Summer Camp up and running with just six days’ notice from Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. They also revised our hyperbaric oxygen therapy protocols and office and lobby procedures to serve our clients while keeping them safe from coronavirus exposure. We can’t thank our nurses, therapists, and staff enough!

Many of our clients are those least able to navigate this new normal. They are under intense financial, emotional, and physical stress, and they need our services now more than ever which is why we need your support. Because of COVID-19, we were forced to cancel our Purse Bingo and Golf Outing, two annual fundraisers that we rely and count upon to fund operations. The Ohio Department of Education also informed us that all of our Autism and Jon Peterson Scholarships will be reduced due to the governor’s budget cuts. When our special needs children and their families need the services the most, funding is the tightest.

If you have the means or are able to help, please consider making a donation to Sara’s Garden and New Horizons Academy. Our special needs children and their families need your support and our services now more than ever! Please consider donating today. Log onto https://sarasgarden.org/support/ to make a credit card donation or send your check or money order to Sara’s Garden, P.O. Box 150, Wauseon, OH 43567.

Thank you for your continued support of Sara’s Garden and New Horizons Academy! We hope you and your loved ones stay safe and well.

Marathon Classic Volunteers Needed

Sara’s Garden is proud to announce that we have been selected as a benefiting charity for the 2020 LPGA Marathon Classic to be hosted at Highland Meadows Golf Course, August 3rd-9th.

Sara’s Garden, with the support of the Marathon Classic, hopes to create TWO fully inclusive, multi-sensory play areas in Springfield and Wauseon, which offer youth of all ability levels and their families the opportunity to explore, discover, and play together. They will address the needs of special needs children with neurological, intellectual, and physical disabilities, as well as their typically developing peers and siblings. These fully inclusive, regional playgrounds will have areas and activities rich in sensory experiences, social interactions, and physical challenges. The play areas will naturally expand and enhance both the recreational and therapeutic treatment, offered both during and after school hours for special needs children and their families.

As a benefiting charity, we are providing volunteers to help with set-up and clean-up of the tournament.

Ten volunteers are needed for set-up on August 2nd from 2:00 – 6:00 pm.
Three volunteers are needed to for clean-up on August 10th at 8:00 am until completion for clean-up (approximately 2 hours).

Volunteers should wear clothes you are comfortable getting dirty or paint on, no jeans allowed. If the volunteer is under 18 years of age, they must have a parent or guardian present.

If interested in volunteering on behalf of Sara’s Garden, please contact Kelly Elton at kellye@sarasgarden.org.