Events

Upcoming SPEAR Events | Past SPEAR Events | District Events | Community Event Calendars

Upcoming SPEAR Events

2025 School Board Candidate Meetings (Online)

These meetings provide an opportunity to hear the 2025 Sycamore school board candidates discuss special education and disability-related issues. We've compiled a set of Questions for 2025 School Board Candidates [PDF] submitted by SPEAR members and edited to ensure that candidates will address concerns representing a wide range of student ages and abilities.

Schedule:
• October 8 (Wednesday), 7:30PM - Will Gosnell [Q&A Video] | [Candidate Website]
• October 15 (Wednesday), 7:30PM - Victoria Margroum [Q&A Video] | [Candidate Website]
• October 16 (Thursday), 6:00PM - Sara Bitter [Q&A Video] | [Candidate Website]
• October 22 (Wednesday), 7:30PM - Amy Mihin [Q&A Video] | [Candidate Website]
• October 27 (Monday), 6:30PM - Paul Balent [Q&A Video] | [Candidate Website]
• Declined to participate - Zeeshan Pasha [Candidate Website]

Join Facebook group or membership mailing list to receive links to the candidate meetings a day before each event. The events will be recorded (barring technical difficulties!) and posted here for members who are unable to attend in person.

SPEAR meeting info can be found here.

Past SPEAR Events

April-May 2025

SPEAR held its "April Tools Day" useful-stuff exchange online.

December 2024

SPEAR's winter gathering featured crafts and snacks, and we filled care packages for local families in need, which were distributed through Operation Give Back.

August 2024

At our back-to-school event, we enjoyed snacks, hide and seek, stomp rockets, and the playground at Swaim Park despite the rain!

May 2024

Our end-of-year picnic at Pioneer Park was a blast!

February 2024

SPEAR hosted a discussion of summer activities for kids with disabilities.

October 2023

SPEAR organized town hall meetings with each of the 2023 candidates for school board.

District Events

2025-2026

Parent Connections Meetings
Hosted by Mandy Friend, Parent Mentor, these virtual meetings cover a variety of special ed and disability-related topics and allow parents to connect with each other. Contact Mandy Friend for the schedule.

Community Event Calendars

UCEDD/DDBP Caregiver Training Programs and UCCEDD/DDBP Calendar of Trainings and Events

The Aves Abilities Facebook page and Aves Abilities Twitter Feed frequently list events of interest.