Students from East County with hearing loss got together at the beach June 7 to make new friends and connect over games as part of a family event organized by employees from the San Diego County Office of Education.

Nine families attended as well as a local Girl Scouts troop that helped organize games and set up the event at Crown Point Park.

“It was a beautiful afternoon to be at the beach, and our students got reacquainted or made new friends,” said Mary Brewer, one of the teachers who organized the event for the East County Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA). Teacher Angela Sorrem also helped plan the outing.

This was the first time the SELPA has organized a year-end beach day. Because of the overwhelmingly positive response from the families, the organizers hope to make it an annual event. 

Social events like this are very important to students with hearing loss because they’re often the only child in their school with that disability, said Heather DiFede, senior director of the East County SELPA.

“It’s important to get them together with peers that they might not see otherwise so they can get to know each other and build relationships,” she said.