Our Brush With an Extraordinary Woman, Miss Lisa Hannaman

Max headed to his first day of 6th Grade!

October is Down Syndrome Awareness month.  This year, like all other years, I start out trying to bring attention to something positive related to down syndrome every day.  I start out strong...I mean well, but then life happens and my focus on Down syndrome awareness goes by the wayside.

This year, an old friend from High School posted a video on my facebook page about the first teacher in Argentina with Down syndrome.  How amazing, right?  My friend, Carol Magarino posted about the first teacher in Gaza with Down syndrome.  Groundbreaking, right?

Then I began to think back and realized that 9 years ago, when Max was in the Infant Toddler program at Alcott Elementary in the San Diego Unified School District, that he had a teacher with Down syndrome, Miss Lisa. I began to wonder about Miss Lisa.  What is she up to?  Is she still teaching?   Is she still socially active?

I wrote an article about Miss Lisa in October of 2007 and I'll share it below.

I'd like to first let you know that 9 years later, Lisa Hannaman is STILL working for the Infant Toddler program at Alcott Elementary.  She has been working with children at San Diego Unified for OVER 20 YEARS!  So while these stories that friends are sharing with me are amazing, in comparison they make Miss Lisa's story all the more extraordinary!

If you live in San Diego, Lisa Hannaman is legendary.  I reached out to see if anyone could tell me what Miss Lisa was up to these days.  Jamie Bisant let me know that her son is in Lisa's class this year and offered this bit of info:

She was at the buddy walk with her boyfriend (who has autism) she said she's never dated a boy with Down syndrome. And she broke of with her last boyfriend because he wasn't nice to his mom!! Love it!!! There's a lot of typical girls who should take notes 

Lisa with Max in 2007

Lisa with Joey Bisant this year at Alcott

Here is the story I did 9 years ago.  She is still an inspiration and living proof of what is possible for individuals with Down syndrome:

Lisa Hannaman--Living on Her Own
by Marti Lindsey

Lisa Hannaman’s face lights up when she talks about her job. When asked what her favorite part of working in Alcott’s Infant Program is, she beams and says, “Playing with the children!” Lisa Hannaman is an adult with Down syndrome. She lives independently and has worked for the San Diego Unified School District for over twelve years.

Lisa is a shining example of the endless possibilities our children possess. Lisa is in her early thirties. She has lived in an apartment in Mira Mesa since 2000. She rides the City bus to her job in Clairemont Mesa five days a week. The bus ride is about an hour, with a fifteen minute walk to her job at Alcott.

Lisa started her career at Erikson Elementary working with the preschool program. After four years at Erikson, Lisa transferred to Alcott where she has been working with children in the zero to three program for the past eight years.

When asked about her duties at Alcott, Lisa replies, “I get snacks and lunches. I play with children and put them in circle. For me it’s easy.” Circle time is when young children come together for a lesson where they sit together in a circle formation. If you’ve ever tried to get twelve two year olds to do something, you know it’s not easy.

Outside of work, Lisa’s life is much like any other single gal in San Diego. She does her own grocery shopping, laundry, cooking and cleaning in the apartment she shares with a roommate. “It’s not really my favorite part,” Lisa says about the cleaning. Her favorite color is purple, which she used to decorate her bathroom. Her signature dish is “Apricot Chicken.”

Lisa enjoys taking a weekly class in line dancing, followed by a dance party each Saturday in Carmel Mountain. She enjoys painting, yarn crafts, watching the San Diego Padres and going to the movies. Julia Roberts is her favorite actress. “I don’t care what she’s in; I’ll watch it,” says Lisa.

Lisa enjoys listening to Billy Joel, Shania Twain and Kelly Clarkson on her I-pod. Not surprisingly, she enjoys watching American Idol, much like any other young woman her age.

Lisa’s mom, Beth Hannaman says, “She’s in charge of what she wants to do. She has shown us that she makes good decisions.” Lisa’s family is very involved in her life. Lisa also has a coach, Julie Burcher, provided by the San Diego Regional Center. Julie helps Lisa with her finances and offers support wherever needed. Lisa mostly uses a debit card for her purchases and writes checks for her bills.

Lisa was recently appointed a “Global Messenger” for the Special Olympics. Lisa participates in Soccer, Sailing, Softball, Track and Field, and Ice Skating for the Special Olympics. “2005 was the year of Lisa,” says her mother, Beth. Lisa won a Bronze medal in Ice Skating at the World Winter Games in Japan. That same year Lisa was awarded the Classified Employee of the Year by the San Diego Unified School District.

As you can see, Lisa leads a full life. Her mother, Beth, said that Lisa would like to be married. When I asked Lisa about what she would look for in a husband, she said, “He has to like everything about me and be nice to my friends.” That sounds like any thirty-something woman to me.

Congratulations to Me...a Certified Victory Gardner!

Handbook for the Grow LA Victory Gardening Course

I have grown some of my own food for as long as I can remember.  My parents had a garden as did my grandparents before them.  I guess that being from the South, it's just expected that in the summer, you at least plant some tomatoes.

San Diego no effort garden of snap peas, tomatillos, tomatoes

When we moved to our property last year, we had a huge wake up call when trying to grow.  In San Diego, things just grew.  Here in the West Antelope Valley, we had to contend with many new conditions:  the on-going drought, exceptionally low humidity, the wind and the critters. Oh what critters we have:  jackrabbits, ground squirrels, gophers, birds, coyotes...and they're all hungry!

 

When I found out about the UC Cooperative Extension's Grow LA Victory Garden Initiative I was happy to see that they offered local classes.  I signed up for Master Gardener Susie Bowman's 4 week class held in the community garden at the Lutheran Church of the Master in Lancaster.  Finally I could round out my life long gardener's knowledge with local expertise!

We started by talking about what grows well in our climate in the Antelope Valley.
We talked about seeds, resources, and then got right to business...the garden!  Since it was Fall, we cleaned out some of the spent summer crops in the raised beds.  Then we planted some established starts that hold up to Fall & Winter growing:  artichokes, broccoli, garlic and onions.  I love that we got some hands on experience and were able to ask questions as we went.

Master Gardener Susie Bowman working in the raised

 beds

 

Irrigation and timer supplied by community gardener

We had homework for the next class.  We were asked to bring in a soil sample from our home garden.  So our second class focused heavily on soil.  Our instructor, Susie, brought in her "pet" worms and did a unit on vermicomposting.  It was fascinating.  The surprising part was the compost didn't have a foul odor....it smells of fresh soil.

Jar of soil with alam and water added---shake!

Soil from my garden

Now for the fun part.  We did a soil composition test with the dirt we brought in from our home gardens.  We added water and 2 tablespoons of alum and shook it all up.  An hour later the soil separated into layers of sand, clay and organic matter.  Fascinating stuff!

The other members of the class were also a wealth of knowledge.  The following class we all (without prior discussion!) brought in unique things we have grown and saved seed to share with the rest of the group.  Next year I am looking forward to growing Fairy Tale Eggplants from Tamara Coombs Antelope Acres garden!

Our last class was a blast.  It was titled, "Preserving the Harvest" and included another Master Gardner who is also a Master Food Preserver, Nancee Siebert. 

Tamara, Nancee and Susie getting the supplies ready

This was a full day of all types of preserving.  We started with fresh kale in the food dehydrator and made kale chips.  What a pleasant surprise....very tasty.  Our next task was to grate and bag zucchini to preserve in 2 cup servings the freezer.

Tamara added pectin and now stirring tomato jam

The more technical but rewarding part of the class was pressure canning and canning by water bath methods of preserving.   Most of us had canned before, but having a Master Food Preserver lead the class was really helpful!  Nancee pointed out some bad habits that some of us had picked up along the way.  Now we are confident that we can safely preserve our harvest!

Pressure canned green beans and tomatoes

The practice of patience when preserving food cannot be overstated.  We pressure canned fresh tomatoes and green beans.  Following each step and not taking short cuts really produced some beautiful canned foods.

Preserving the harvest with Nancee Siebert

We used the hot water bath method of preserving to make Cowboy Candy (candied jalapenos), Tomato Jam, cold pack tomatoes.  Although it was a lot of work, many hands make the task go quickly!

Nancee, Susie & me with the bounty of the day!

The best part of the day is that we got to take home canned tomatoes (2 ways), green beans, tomato jam, cowboy candy and frozen zucchini.  We ate all the kale chips...haha!

So overall, the Victory Garden class was a fantastic experience!  I learned a lot, met some great new people and have a new sense of community.  Although the class I took was comprised of more experienced gardeners, people of all experience levels and abilities would benefit from taking this class.  I highly recommend it!

Cheers~
Marti

POTATO HARVEST!

From the Marti Lindsey--Garden Lady

Back in June, we planted potatoes in some regular 2 gallon pots at the preschool.  These weren't seed potatoes, just potatoes from my pantry that had started to grow eyes.  Although it is not recommended to use regular potatoes from the grocery store, my philosophy has always been that if they were growing in my pantry, that they would certainly grow in the garden!

 

Washing the potatoes

First we placed the pots on a small table so my tiny friends could see what they were doing.  We then dug until we found potatoes.  Because they were grown in fairly small pots, most of the potatoes were fairly small.  After the potatoes were dug out of the pots, they went to the orange washing station to be cleaned.

Tuesday's Harvest!

Out of 4 pots, we harvested 28 potatoes!!  The students had planted other vegetables throughout the summer and there were also several tomatoes and beans ready to pick.

YUMMY!

We got the potatoes inside and gave them an additional wash.  The larger ones were cut into bit sized pieces and the smaller ones were left whole.  We steamed them with some season salt and pepper and served them with lunch.  The kids loved them!!  We will most definitely be growing potatoes again.

Cheers~
Marti--The Garden Lady