Episode 19: Joseph James Morelli Legacy Foundation

Enjoy some Monday morning mobile PD on your drive to school as you
learn about the Jospeh James Morelli Legacy Foundation! Check out
our website at utschoolcounselor.org
(http://www.utschoolcounselor.org/) where you can listen to past
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to find us! USCA members also receive a bi-monthly newsletter to
stay up to date on current Utah school counseling news, events, and
issues. Many students who learn differently, in this case
dyslexics, are highly intelligent and may possess special gifts
like creativity or facility with math and science, that can enable
them to flourish, if given the chance. Unfortunately, many academic
institutions still don’t recognize the needs of these students, too
often casting them aside and labeling them as lazy or unintelligent
crushing their self-esteem in the process. The question is, beyond
receiving academic accommodations, how can these students realize
their potential, so they shine as or more brightly than traditional
learners? The answer has appeared repeatedly in the many letters
received by Dr. Barbara Wirostko Morelli the driving force behind
the Joseph James Morelli Legacy Foundation, a Park City 501c3
organization that grants scholarships to dyslexic high school and
college students pursuing careers in STEM. Despite the modest
amounts of the scholarships, the awardees are exceptionally
grateful, and their gratitude is almost uniformly rooted in one
concept: BELIEF. Granting these students scholarships, demonstrates
that the Morelli Foundation believes in them, which helps them to
believe in themselves. Recently the Morelli Foundation further
demonstrated belief in its scholarship recipients by creating a
peer mentorship program, in conjunction with SuperPower Consulting.
This program pairs incoming college freshmen, who are dyslexic,
with dyslexic upperclassmen to help them navigate the challenges of
being college freshmen. The mentors help with everything from
getting academic accommodations to time management, the social
challenges of being a college freshman. The beauty of the program
is mentors, who have been in their shoes and succeeded, help the
mentees to believe that they can succeed as well. Armed with belief
in themselves, the sky’s the limit. One of them might become the
next Sir Richard Branson, Charles Schwab or Walt Disney. Check out
thier website: www.morelli.foundation Like us and follow on
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/morellilegacyfoundation/