PORT BYRON, Ill. — Riverdale Elementary School celebrated the installation of a "core board," which is a tool that allows non-verbal children to more easily communicate with others on the playground.
The core board has 98 "core" words with pictures that help students create sentences to express their wants and needs.
"Core boards are language boards that have core communication words that people use everyday. So words like can, play or more," said Trish Mayo, Riverdale Elementary School Speech Pathologist.
The Pilot Club of Moline and teachers at Riverdale worked together on the project. They realized non-verbal students needed help communicating while playing. It was the suggestion of a Pilot Club member and the mother of a non-verbal child at Riverdale, Holly Baker, to get a core board for kids to use during recess.
"Communication is everywhere. And yet, we didn't have it accessible on the playground, but now we do," said Mayo.
"I remember those days on the playground where he wanted to play, he wanted to communicate with other children, and he didn't have an outlet to do that," said Baker.
Speech pathologists at Riverdale created the core board and sent it to be printed and built. They used a program that's used by children with speech deficits inside the classroom as a guide.
The school teaches children without speech impairments to use the board as well. This helps them communicate with students who are struggling or even shy.
"This is something they can run to, walk to show their friend what they want to do, show their friend how they're feeling, and then go about their play," said Baker.
"I think they've really accepted it and they kind of think it's cool," said Mayo.
Staff at Riverdale say the board not only helps the students who need it but normalizes the idea that there are different ways to communicate.
The Pilot Club of Moline funded the project in memory of Marlene Scott. She was a dedicated member of the organization who died before the board was built. The Pilot club used donations collected at her memorial service to pay for the board.