In an inspiring gathering on Thursday, Nov. 22, senior Avi Mendels Elliott assembled the North County community to support his Genius Project, Community Compassion Day. Mendels Elliot’s Community Compassion Day featured world-renowned speakers as well as different educational departments and organizations from across San Diego County.
The Sage Creek Genius Project is an opportunity for juniors and seniors to bring a passion of theirs to life through a project that impacts the community. It challenges students to think outside the box and innovate to address the needs of our community.
“The goal of Community Compassion Day is to raise awareness about what it’s like having these special abilities and challenges in other people’s lives so that the general community may become more compassionate and help improve the lives of those with special abilities,” Mendels Elliot explained.
Mendels Elliot was inspired to create this Genius Project by a similar event at Kelly Elementary, however, he brought a personal aspect to his Community Compassion Day. He wanted to take what they did at Kelly and expand the scope to include the entirety of North County.
“Another partial factor in driving my passion for this project is that I was born with an invisible disability,” Mendels Elliot said.
“I was born with autism and diagnosed at the age of five so essentially my whole life I grew up knowing that I was different from everybody else and the social aspect, school hadn’t necessarily been the most easy thing for me,” Mendels Elliot said.
Community Compassion Day brought educational departments and specialists from across San Diego Country to demonstrate the struggles and challenges experienced by those with disabilities every day. Showing what people with disabilities experience every day builds an understanding and respect for them; this is compassion.
The North Coastal Consortium for Special Education (NCCSE) provides resources to local school districts to meet the needs of all special education students. Educators also gathered for Community Compassion Day, with Educational Specialists, Speech Language Pathologists (SLP), School Psychologists, and Occupational Therapists (OT) in attendance.
Mendels Elliot also brought in guest speakers Stephen Hinkle, who spoke on disability rights in public schools and education, and Charles Webb, a disabled surfer who created the Stoked For Life Foundation.
Hinkle is a world-renowned speaker who advocates for inclusive education and helps organizations assist people with disabilities. He believes that advocacy for disability rights is the best way to keep it from falling out of priority in today’s socio-political landscape.
“In this day and age, it’s essential that we advocate for disability inclusion and overall equity… that includes people of different colors, races, different ethnicities, sexual orientations, gender identities, different socioeconomic status, and people with disabilities,” Hinkle said.
Mendels Elliot Community Compassion Day was a huge success and fostered a more compassionate North County community. His Genius Project will hopefully make waves and encourage more people to practice showing compassion for all.
