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Now there are more than 200 parent members, and that number is growing. SAGE provides twice-monthly districtwide workshops for parents on topics such as dyslexia, giftedness, education rights and laws, and coping and stress management. Fourteen RISD schools now have a SAGE representative who is working to bring advocacy programs to their campus and the district as a whole.

One new SAGE program is Understanding Differences (UD), which shows participants what it may be like to have different impairments. In late January, Richardson Terrace Elementary became the first school to implement the UD program, followed in mid-February by Merriman Park Elementary. These schools set aside time to allow the entire

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Inspirepediatrictherapy.com student body and faculty to experience impairments in vision, hearing, motor skills and verbal communication.

In one segment of the UD program, students play a game of bingo. But in this game, the bingo caller is whispering, there is a loud static sound accompanied by other sudden noises, the children have itchy tags affixed to their collars, and someone is spraying a strong scent near them. Needless to say, it’s hard to focus on the bingo game. Children with autism or other conditions that cause sensory sensitivity deal with such distractions every day. The goal of the UD experience is to foster empathy among the students and faculty who can’t relate to the way some kids experience their surroundings. Rachel San Jose, the assistant principal at Richardson Terrace, says the faculty has been very supportive of the program.

“We want to create an environment where all kids are accepted,” she says.

“It’s hard when we aren’t aware what they go through.”

Post points out that empathy is the most effective deterrent to bullying. Rachel Chumney, a volunteer who acts as Post’s unofficial SAGE committee cochair, agrees. “Compassion is a result of understanding,” she says. “And when we educate people, there’s a lot more understanding.”

Post says SAGE already has made a difference to many RISD families. “We see parents breathing a sigh of relief,” she says. “I see my own son flourishing.” Since there are about 9,400 students in the district who could be helped by SAGE programs, she says it’s important to get the word out about the group. “We want to make their lives as normal as we can,” she says.

Will the White Rock Lake restaurant proposal live or die?

Story by Emily Toman

The long and arduous process that must take place for a White Rock Lake restaurant to ever become a reality still is in its infancy as area residents Lyle Burgin and Richard Kopf continue to present their proposal to neighborhood groups.

So far, anyone who supports the restaurant has not gone to such lengths as those who oppose it in the form of petitions, and the Save Boy Scout Hill website and Facebook page. The notion of permanently handing over parkland is too hard to swallow for many residents around the lake.

Nonetheless, Burgin and Kopf are forging ahead, discussing details they hope will result in a few more open minds.

“A big portion of what we’re doing relates to the restoration of the Blackland prairie,” Burgin says. “We want this restaurant to feel like a place that’s been here forever.” Besides preserving native prairie grasses, the developers want to plant more around the site and add an educational nature trail that would extend from the restaurant down the hill, featuring markers to identify the different types of native grasses.

As for the location, Burgin and Kopf say the restaurant and its decomposed granite parking lot of 160 spaces would cover about two and a half acres of the hill southwest of Mockingbird and Buckner. The site totals about 14,500 square feet, although opponents estimate its footprint would be much larger, considering the effect on the surrounding area.

One of the chief concerns is that the restaurant could open the door for other commercialization at the lake. Burgin and Kopf insist they’ve chosen the most ideal spot with the lowest impact. “We think this is the best location,” Kopf says, “but we also think it’s the only location.”

The developers suggest that the restaurant would act as a nonprofit similar to Savor in Klyde Warren Park, but they have not released any details about how it would work — such as who would operate it, and what percentage of profits would actually benefit the lake. Enough to make a difference?

“Those are details that are too far into the future,” Burgin says.

Opponents aren’t buying it and have gathered more than 2,000 signatures against the restaurant.

City Councilman Sheffie Kadane says he can’t take an active role in the debate since the proposal hasn’t yet reached the city. But says, “I’m leaning with the neighborhoods. That’s not to say it wouldn’t be a good idea.”

Amid all the noise against the restaurant, Kadane says he has received just one formal letter of opposition from the newly formed White Rock East Coalition of Area Neighborhoods, which includes Old Lake Highlands, Peninsula and Lochwood.

The White Rock Lake Task Force hasn’t taken an official stance on the proposal, pending more information, but the general feeling is negative, says president Michael Jung.

The developers and Willis Winters, the Dallas Parks and Recreation director, have stressed from the outset that the restaurant will not reach city hall without enough neighborhood support. How is that support measured? After years of dreaming up the idea and months of neighborhood meetings, Burgin and Kopf don’t have an answer to that question.

“We haven’t developed a measurement mentality yet,” Burgin says. “That’s what were working on right now.”

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Follow the latest updates about the White Rock Lake restaurant proposal at lakehighlands.advocatemag.com.

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