education
GiGi Professionals In The Community
This past week, Hugs & Mugs had the incredible opportunity to attend an inclusive craft fair at District 214. It was a day filled with connection, creativity, and community. We were proud to set up our booth and showcase a variety of merchandise from our store. From handmade items to customer favorites, it was exciting to share what we’ve been working on…
Read MoreThe Amazing Impact of the Amina Grace Speech Language Program
Jeremiah just started speech this session and finally got his AAC device set up! Mom came to Regina, our Speech Language Pathologist, at the end of last session and mentioned that she had a device that she needed assistance setting up and we got started on it right away! We have been working on greetings and sharing biographical information such…
Read MoreBest Of All Moment: Karen & Robbie
Math Is Everywhere: A Best of All Moment with Karen & Robbie At GiGi’s Playhouse, Best of All moments are the little victories that show big growth—and for math tutor Karen and participant Robbie, those moments have been adding up since 2017. Karen began tutoring Robbie with a simple, practical goal: make math meaningful. They…
Read MoreFarzin’s Blog: Marketing Internship Wrap-Up!
Hi everyone, my name is Farzin. I am a marketing intern at the National Office of GiGi’s Playhouse. My goal with this internship is to learn more about photography. I am passionate about the nature of taking pictures. I would love to become a great photographer someday. I feel like I can reach my goal and succeed. I work…
Read MoreGiGi’s Ambassadors Shine At Annual Leadership Conference!
From Left to Right: Farzin, David, Jessica, Daniel, Patrick, Brad Connecting Across The Network This year’s GiGi’s Playhouse Annual Leadership Conference was nothing short of inspiring—and our incredible professionals and ambassadors took center stage! Representing our Playhouse with pride, passion, and purpose, they joined ambassadors and leaders from Playhouses across the entire network for several…
Read MoreBest Of All: “Falling” into literacy!
This Week’s Best of All moment comes to us from one of our long time tutors, Jody! Jody and Megan have been working together in literacy and math for the past few sessions, focusing on increasing reading comprehension and story elements. Jody had an idea to begin using Chat GPT to increase engagement and interest…
Read MoreA Hole In One: Career Development Skills In Action!
On Monday, August 18th GiGi’s Playhouse National Office hosted our Annual Golf Outing at Ivanhoe Golf Club. Each year, the adults in the Career Development Programs get a chance to come volunteer at the event, working hard during the day spreading the message about changing the way the world views Down syndrome! This year, the…
Read MoreOur GiGi Professionals in the Community
At GiGi’s Playhouse, we strive to provide not only educational programming, but purposeful programming for individuals with Down syndrome throughout their lifespan. This is where our Career Development Programs come in! The goal of our Career Development Programs is to get our adults independent employment or volunteer opportunities in the community. In 2023, the unemployment…
Read MoreGiGi University completes an extraordinary year!
Meet the GiGi Prep Graduates! We have had many new families enrolled in our GiGi University Program. Families like Nick Sables who is a GiGi Prep student. Nick completed GiGi Prep December 15th in a in person ceremony at GiGi’s Playhouse Hoffman Estates with his classmates. He will then begin GiGi University in January. Nick…
Read MoreThose who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it for themselves.
If you meet Tom Shuff you cannot help but smile at his infectious personality. He walks into a room and lifts people up immediately with his encouraging words, especially to the participants at GiGi’s Playhouse. His signature phrase is “Bam Baby” is heard throughout the playhouse when volunteers as 1:1 math and 1:1 literary for…
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