SPRING TIME IS HERE

Hello world,

       It's been awhile since my last blog, We finished up discussing about musical instruments. We made some homemade instruments such box guitar, a drum, kazoos. xylophones, maracas and  things that shake.

   Spring is here in Florida. warm weather and sunshine has arrive. Spring is time when flowers bloom, birds sing, people go to parks and have picnics, and spring cleaning.   We will be talking about spring activities, planting a garden, and spend more time outside.  We will start doing more things in the next few weeks. Hopefully we will do some planting in the court yard.


Your Friend
Cool Gabe

Happy Valentine's Day

Hello World

HAPPY VALENTIN'S DAY!!

 Happy Valentines Day!!!!  Love is in the air. This day is a special day for someone special to be someones valentine. Our class has been decorating the room with hearts and other valentine stuff. We made cards for that someone special in our lives. My driver, Mark, who picks me up and brings me home, had a birthday this past week. We even had cake to celebrate his birthday in the classroom. So I hope everyone had a great valentine day with someone special.

MY FRIEND MARK

CHALLENGING QUESTION:  WHO IS YOU SPECIAL VALENTINE? 
WHAT DID YOU DO ON VALENTINE'S DAY? 

YOUR FRIEND
COOLGABE

WHATS NEW WITH COOL GABE

Hello World

The last few weeks have been busy for me. There have been a lot of new and exciting adventures that have been happening these past few weeks. Remember  that I mentioned about Christopher Coleman, who empowers people through his life story. I met him when he visited ARC one day. We had a great time visiting with each other.

My Mom took me to the high school where he was telling about his life story. My mom and I were moved by his testimony and amazed by what he had to say. If you are interested about Christopher Coleman, you can visit his web site.  Christopher Coleman.net.

Another new and exciting news that  happened, I finally received my new wheelchair. My chair is blue with custom made cushion seat that fits  my body shape. I also had a birthday last week. What a great birthday gift I received. I was so happy to have my new chair.

Springtime is here in Sebastian/Vero Beach area. In our classroom, we have been talking about springtime and gardening. I helped planted lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, corn, and bell peppers. The  bell peppers and corn  are sprouting a little bit. We been talking how to plant a garden this week.

CHALLENGE QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK


WHAT EXCITING NEW THINGS AND/OR PROJECTS YOU WILL BE DOING THIS SPRING?
WHAT IS IN YOUR GARDEN?


Your Friend
Cool Gabe

super bowl party

Hello world

My friend Mark (my van driver) came to my house for the super bowl party. We had a great time watching the game. My mom fixed fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob, yummy. My other friend Judy was over also, we all watched and cheered for the New York Giants. My sister,Taylor, had a bet with my mom about who was going to win the game. My sister won the bet of fifty dollars. Way to go sis! i cheered for the Giants! Yeah Giants. What a big day I had with my friends and family. Thanks Mark for for watching the game with us.

my friend mark and I at my house for super bowl game

Mark and I having fun

A big shout to my family in Indiana, especially to my cuz Desier who is at boot camp. My mom is from Kokomo  Indiana which is about 50 miles north of Indy.

My mom and I

My sister Taylor and I

Your friend

Cool Gabe   

WINTER WONDERLAND

Hello World!

We're turning up the heat here in the tropics.  It's Cool Gabe reporting from the cool tropics.  Very cool, in fact.  The Siberian cold front has blown through Vero Beach and Sebastian.  We've been bundling up and hunkered down in the van for my morning ride with Mark.  I look like a polar bear when I get off the bus at ARC.  Funny thing is, I like polar bears because I love the cold weather.  After all, I am Cool Gabe!

Mom is back working at school this week with the kids.  I'm back to work with my teachers, Barbara and Jacque.  It  was nice to have last Friday off with my mom, but I'm glad to be back on my regular schedule here. 

I'm looking foward to my cooking class tomorrow because I think we're making zucchini muffins with zucchini just picked from Veggies of Vero http://www.veggiesofvero.com/.  Can't wait! 

Your friend,
Cool Gabe

Where's the snow??

"Winter wonderland!"

COOL GABE GOES TO TARA PLANTATION

Hello World,

This week I went on a field trip to a Vero Beach tradition.  Several classes from ARC of Indian River County visited the offices of Grall Glenn and Grall yesterday. 

This is not your normal law office.  First, it's located in a sprawling office named Tara Plantation in Vero Beach.  Mr. Bernard Grall, Jr. is not your everyday run-of-the-mill attorney.  For the past 21 years, he and his wife have created Christmas displays inside Tara Plantation's many rooms and on the grounds.  Christmas at Tara Plantation has become a Vero Beach tradition.  Mr. Grall opens up his law offices to the public and to groups like ARC.  We made our annual pilgrimage to Tara Plantation yesterday to get into the Christmas spirit.  (This was my second trip there!) 

I am now officially in the Christmas spirit and you will be, too, when you see the pictures below. 

The sad part is this is the last Christmas when the inside of Tara Plantation will be open to the public.  I feel so special to have experienced the love and care that goes into creating the beautiful rooms filled with Christmas trains, trees, and angels.   Thank you to Tara Plantation and to Mr. Grall and his family for sharing this tradition with me and  my friends and teachers at ARC.  Merry Christmas, Mr. Grall!




Cool Gabe being very cool at the Christmas village. 





Here I am in front of my favorite Christmas tree at Tara Plantation.



Merry Christmas, my friends! 
Cool Gabe

PS - If you need a special gift to inspire someone, you can call Sandy Gaunt at ARC (772-562-6854, extension 217) for a copy of my book, The Adventures of Cool Gabe.





READY FOR THE NEW RIDE

Hello World,
It was a great Thanksgiving at the Caldwell house in Sebastian, Florida.  We had great food to share with great friends and great family.  Speaking of great friends, my neighbor, Miss Vic, was over for dinner.  Miss Vic, who is 80 years young, is a great cook and she makes the best rice pudding in the world.  She made her homemade gravy and mac, as she calls it, and everyone loved it.  We had lots of family in for Thanksgiving, including my Aunt Cindy who also lives in Sebastian.  My sister, Taylor, was a great help to Mom  to get Thanksgiving dinner on the table.  The best part of the day was when our Christmas tree was delivered to our house after dinner! 
You may recall an earlier blog where I wrote about my yellow chair.  Well, this may be the last week for riding around in my yellow chair because my new wheelchair has arrived and I can't wait to get it!  So the next time you see me, you may also be seeing the new Gabemobile!



Good-bye, yellow bus!

 

Have a great weekend!  If you're in Indian River County, tonight's the 23rd Annual Light Up Night in Sebastian and tomorrow are the Christmas parades in Vero Beach and Sebastian.  Have a great weekend! 

Your friend,
Cool Gabe
Author, The Adventures of Cool Gabe

Happy Thanksgiving from Cool Gabe

Hey World!

Last week, I went on a field trip with some of my peers from ARC of Indian River County to see the annual Festival of Trees at the Riverside Children's Theatre.  It was awesome to see all the decorated trees.  My favorite was the Beatles-theme tree. 

It's starting to get busy at my house with all the cooking and cleaning to be done before Turkey Day gets here this Thursday.  As you know, I have a large family and I am looking forward to seeing family members this week.  Some will be staying at our house, so i imagine we won't be getting much sleep. 

In sign language class at ARC, Patricia has been teaching us how to sign "turkey" and other signs related to Thanksgiving.  In the picture below I am demonstrating the sign for "turkey".  There will be plenty of turkey at my house. 

Here I am with my ARC teachers, Miss Barbara (left) and Miss Jacque (right), demonstrating the sign for turkey

To quote Cool Gabe, "HAVE A FUN TURKEY DAY!" 

As we all prepare for Thanksgiving, please remember that this is a special time to give thanks for the lives we have, the love of our family and friends, and gratitude for those whose service to America protects our freedoms.  I am especially grateful for all that my mother does for me each and every day.  Love you, Mom! 

To all my friends around the world, this is Cool Gabe saying, "Happy Thanksgiving!"

Stay safe and be healthy!
Cool Gabe

Citizen Journalism at 2011 Youth Service Institute

Hello World,

You may have noticed I did not write a blog last week.  Well, here's what happened.  My blog friend at ARC, Nancy, took time off to attend the Youth Service Instititue (YSI) in Philadelphia.  She told me about a session she attended about Citizen Journalism.  Check out this definition from Wikipedia:

Citizen journalism (also known as "public", "participatory", "democratic",^[1] "guerrilla"^[2] or "street journalism"^[3]) is the concept of members of the public "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information," according to the seminal 2003 report We Media: How Audiences are Shaping the Future of News and Information.^[4] Authors Bowman and Willis say: "The intent of this participation is to provide independent, reliable, accurate, wide-ranging and relevant information that a democracy requires."

When Nancy told me about her "citizen journalism" workshop, I was excited because this describes what I am doing with the Cool Gabe blog  -  bringing accurate and relevant information from my perspective to make the world a better place for other people with and without disabilities.  Recording my observations helps me explore the world and reach people who are ready to be inspired. 

As you know from my previous blogs, I attend the Adult Day Training program at Abilities Resource Center of Indian River County and have access its new computer lab plus the computer where I write this blog with assistance from able-bodied staff.  Having access to a computer has greatly expanded my world (did you notice that I can use Wikipedia?) and I'm just getting started.  Having this computer access has inspired me to continue writing this blog because it is fun to do and it gives me new things to think about!




Nancy (with blue scarf) at YSI promoting Cool Gabe's "Citizen Journalism."

 
















Photo credit:  Diane Palm, Harris County Juvenile Probation Office, Houston, Texas

This photo is of people from all over the United States attending the Citizen Journalism workshop at YSI.  The message from the presenters was to be inclusive of all youth, including those with disabilities, when recording your surroundings.  Nancy shared with them what I am doing with my blog. 

Thank you to everyone at the Youth Service Institute for giving a shout-out to me and http://www.coolgabe.blogspot.com/.  Thank you, Diane Palm - I love the picture you took! 

Please take my inspirations and share them with  someone in your own community.  Help someone discover their ability to become a citizen journalist just like me!

Your friend,
Cool Gabe

FAMILY MATTERS AND MORE

Cool Gabe and Kathi in my "Blog Central" office at ARC!

ON THE PERSONAL SIDE OF COOL GABE:

Let me tell you about my family.  I live with my mom, Liz, and my sister, Taylor.  Here are some interesting facts about my family.  My mother is one of 15 children - really!  That means I have 9 uncles and 5 aunts, and that's just on my mother's side.  I have about 50 cousins - REALLY!  My favorite girl cousin is Desier.  My grandmother Cavazos, who was a great cook, always told me that of all the cousins, I was her favorite! 

A special shout-out to Mom and Liz and one up to Heaven to Grandma Cavazos.

BACK TO WORK AT ARC:

The office across the hall from my classroom at ARC of Indian River County is the Support Employment and Supported Living Office.  Because of its convenience to my classroom, I use the computer in that office, with a little help from my blog teacher.  One of the things the staff do is help find jobs for people with disabilities, like me.  One of the job coaches is a woman named Kathi Pulver and here is a picture of Kathi and me in the Supported Employment Office.

Back to get some more work done before lunchtime.  Then we're playing bingo at 1:00 - I LOVE FRIDAYS!!

Stay cool, my friends,
Cool Gabe

Yellow Keds and Pelicans

Hello World,

We're having a wet tropical morning here in Vero Beach, Florida.  Mark is the man who picks me up every morning and brings me to ARC of Indian River County.  He had to drive through quite a bit of rain to get me here this morning.  Even though I am the original cool guy, my friend Mark is also very cool.  In fact, there are 3 pictures of Mark and me in my new book, The Adventures of Cool Gabe.

Let me tell a story about my yellow Keds.  As you can see from the pictures, I love to wear my yellow Keds.  My dad always wears Converse shoes, and I always want to be like my dad.   I have several different colors, however, the yellow ones are MY FAVORITES!   It also happens to be a coincidence that the color of my own personal transportation device is yellow, as you can see.  Sometimes I call my chair "The Yellow Bus". 

Speaking of transportation, if you check out this morning's Vero Beach Press Journal, you'll see a picture of ARC in the story about the Walking School bus.  The picture shows some kids walking to Vero Beach Elementary School, which is right next door to ARC, where I come every day.

On Tuesday,  my sign language teacher, Patricia, who I introduced you to in my previous blog entry, was here and I had another great sign language lesson with her.  I showed her and her mother my new blog and they were quite pleased to see what I have been up to.  One of the signs Patricia taught us to do is for "Pelican" which is really cool because I live in Sebastian, Florida, home of the nation's first national wildlife refuge, Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge (established by President Theodore Roosevelt).  If you want to see some pictures of this really cool place, click here:  http://www.fws.gov/pelicanisland/.

Time for me to get to work!  I hope you enjoy today's blog!

Your friend,

Cool Gabe

Check out my yellow Converse! 

I love the All*Star on my Converse!

I am now officially an author!!! 

PS - Copies of my new book, The Adventures of Cool Gabe, are on sale at ARC.  Just call Sandy Gaunt at 772-562-6854 or go to http://www.arcir.org/.

Inspirations

Dear World,

Here I am at ARC of Indian River County with my teachers.  Jacque is the one in the purple shirt, Barbara is the one in the white shirt, and Nancy is the one in the blue shirt.  Jacque and Barbara have 9 other individuals in my classroom where we work, play, exercise, and socialize from 8 in the morning until 2 in the afternoons. 

In our classroom we have a theme where I get to learn new things every week.  This week we are learning about ducks and geese.  Yesterday I learned how to sign "duck" and "geese" from my sign language teacher, Patricia. I enjoy having my sign language class, especially when I get to do funny things with my teacher, Jacque. 

In the mornings, my teacher, Barbara, reads to us.  What she reads gets me inspired.  When we get inspired, we can go great things.  What I inspire other people at ARC to do is to smile and think positive thoughts, because we all have the ability to be great and do great things.

Be inspired, my friends.

Cool Gabe