District: Cañon City Schools (CO)
Role: SLP & SPED Case Manager
Students Served: 30
Free Pilot: 5 SLPs, 2 SPED teachers

Background

Jenny Curliss has worked at Cañon City Schools in Colorado for over 15 years. She started as a classroom teacher before transitioning into her current dual role as a speech-language pathologist and special education case manager at Cañon Exploratory School, a K–8 building. She serves approximately 30 students on her caseload and supports both speech-language services and IEP coordination for students across the school.

Related resources: See our full list of social skills lessons.

Challenges

Over the last two years, Jenny has noticed more kindergartners entering school who need extra support with self-regulation.

“The level of dysregulated children coming into kindergarten specifically has been incredibly challenging…”

Many of these students present intense behavioral and emotional regulation needs which taxed existing support systems and pulled focus from Jenny’s core speech responsibilities.

“It has made carrying out regularly scheduled supports more challenging. As an SLP provider, I feel heavily responsible for stepping in and supporting my students with autism who are dysregulated.”

Although the school already used a Tier 1 curriculum (Choices), it lacked structured and effective tools for small group Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions.

Solution

Jenny found out about Everyday Speech from another SLP in the district during one of their regular district meetings. That SLP ended up signing everyone up for the 8-week free pilot.

One of [our SLPs] had mentioned utilizing some of the free resources from Everyday Speech…so we got to use it [via a free pilot] for a couple of months.

During the pilot program, the team found that Everyday Speech offered age-appropriate, engaging lessons they could easily roll out for small groups of students in need of social skills and behavioral support. Jenny loved the platform’s usefulness as a multi-modal curriculum originally developed by an SLP. The mix of video-modeling lessons, interactive hands-on games, printable worksheets, and structured progression by skill and age level made it incredibly effective.

“One of the most powerful things… is the video samples of kids their age carrying out these non-models and models of what they should be doing.”

But the time commitment was what sealed the deal.

“…it doesn’t take a lot to implement. So that’s why I would go to this resource over others, because it is ready to roll out.”

Jenny’s school PTO even stepped in to purchase a license when district funding was uncertain.

I felt like I couldn’t have a lapse in support. So I went to our PTO and I asked them to buy me a license, and they did.

Results

Time savings: Everyday Speech replaced the patchwork of materials Jenny once used with a single platform that saves her planning time. “It doesn’t take a lot to implement… It’s all there for you.” Engaged learners: Everyday Speech captures students’ attention. The video modeling, relatable peer actors, and interactive activities make students eager to participate, so much so that it’s hard to limit the content to just those with IEP goals.

When you have the Everyday Speech curriculum pulled out, everybody wants to watch it and listen and engage with it.

Teacher empowerment:
Jenny shared toolkits with general education teachers and used consistent language from the platform to coordinate support.

“It’s impacted the way I can engage and support kids… as well as how I communicate to the teachers about what they’re working on.”

Student skill-building:
The platform gives students tangible tools and shared vocabulary for understanding emotions and behavior.

“[It gives kids the] language to talk about their feelings and emotions and to understand how they can communicate…the video samples of kids their age, that is one of the most powerful things.”

Behavioral improvements:
Everyday Speech has become a go-to intervention during a time when schoolwide behavior has been the most challenging. The structure and predictability of the lessons offer relief in what Jenny described as “survival mode” for staff supporting dysregulated students.

Everyday Speech helps SLPs like Jenny simplify prep, engage students, and make real progress toward IEP goals. Want to see how it can support your team? Learn more about our Free Pilot Program.