Brandeis SPECTRUM wins 'Shining Star' award from Waltham parent council

Photo/courtesy

Brandeis student volunteers and some of the Waltham Public Schools students they worked with in SPECTRUM.

Brandeis SPECTRUM, a group that builds relationships between Brandeis students and children with disabilities and their families, was recognized with a Shining Star Award from the Waltham Public Schools Special Education Parent Advisory Council.

SPECTRUM consists of three programs: playgroup, tutoring and mentoring. Playgroup focuses on building and developing social skills among a group of children on Sundays. The tutoring program matches children from the community with Brandeis students to work on academic work the children choose. Mentoring focuses on developing a social relationship between a Brandeis student and an older child. SPECTRUM is also developing a new program at the Prospect Hill Community Center. 

The group also joined with Brandeis Buddies, another Waltham Group program, to hold the second annual “Spread the Word to End the Word” event in March. This campaign was started by Special Olympics to put an end to the use of the "R-words" in everyday language. 

The Shining Star Awards are presented at an annual reception in May to individuals or organizations that have demonstrated exemplary service and dedication in their effort to include children with special needs in the Waltham community. 

A parent of a Waltham student tutored by Kathryn Semerau '17 nominated the group. SPECTRUM is coordinated by a group of student leaders, including Benji Bernstein '15, Danielle Flaum '15, Lekha Grandhi '16, Daniel Kats '16, Sejal Kotecha '17 and Jackson Tuck '17.