Tara Curtis’ nephew is part of a growing statistic: he is on the autism spectrum. Because of her experiences as a family member watching him navigate the educational system, Curtis is trying to make it easier for other students with the same diagnosis to succeed.
Harnessing her skills as an assistant volleyball coach at North Kitsap High, Curtis has arranged an Oct. 12 a fundraiser, dubbed “Aces for Autism.”
The game is part of a fundraiser dedicated to getting autistic students in the North Kitsap School District the tools they need to be successful in school. The volleyball team already has collected more than $1,500.
The game against Sequim, at the North Kitsap High gymnasium, will serve as a fundraiser to add to the amount already collected. The junior varsity games start at 5 p.m. and varsity starts at 6:15 p.m. and an ace from either team — when the opposing team does not return the ball after a serve — will bring in a pledged donation.
“People are diagnosed with autism all the time, but it gets very little attention,” said Curtis.
Pledges have come from businesses around the area, along with private donations, which the team has worked to get for the past few weeks.
The resources available through the school district were paramount to improving Curtis’ nephew’s—currently in grade school—development, she said. Through the fundraiser, she wanted to ensure other children with the same diagnosis received the tools necessary to learn.
For the fundraiser, teachers created a wish list of learning tools for their students on the autism spectrum. The list includes items such as headphones, educational films and computer programs. These items will be used to help the students learn in the classroom setting, and things such as headphones were requested to help increase concentration, said Director of Special Education Dorothy Siskin.
“We always make sure the special education program is provided with the tools it needs to get the job done,” Siskin said. “This money will provide extra resources for the teachers to utilize.”
Because autistic students have individual learning needs, the requested items are based on each student in the autistic spectrum, Siskin said.
According to autismspeaks.org, about one in 150 children under the age of 18 are somewhere on the autism spectrum. In the North Kitsap School District, approximately 60 students on the autistic spectrum are currently enrolled in the special education program. The money the volleyball team raises will help those students, Siskin said.
After the requested items are purchased, the team will deliver the materials to each classroom, Curtis said.
“I don’t think it will be until the team walks into the room, to give the students their new things, that it will hit them how important this is,” Curtis said.
Because pledges will be fulfilled after an ace, the weight falls in the server’s hands, but this has not bothered anyone on the team, said junior Nicole Weber.
While other teams in the Olympic Volleyball League, such as Bremerton, focus on raising money for cancer resources, Weber is excited to see the team do something different, she said.
“All the fundraisers right now are great,” Weber said. “I think it’s exciting to see our team bring attention to something else.”
