Ms. Wheelchair California 2009 : Ms. Wheelchair America 2010, 2nd Runner Up: Getting Ready for the Tournament of Roses Parade

Monday, December 28, 2009

Getting Ready for the Tournament of Roses Parade

On January 1, 2010, I will be a part of the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena on New Years Day for Ms. Wheelchair CA in conjunction with the Kiwanis Club. I am very excited about this opportunity and memory. I’ve never been to the parade before, so to jump forward and actually be ON it is thrilling! Wednesday and Thursday, I’ll be busy helping with the final preparations of the float, putting the final flowers on, doing media interviews, photo ops, luncheons, dinners, etc. It will be a very busy week for sure.

Here is the link to the Rose Float that I’ll be on with the Kiwanis Club. http://www.kiwanisrosefloat.com/2010_float.htm The parade starts at 8am PST, but there is no guarantee that our float will be televised. Nonetheless, it will be an exciting and memorable experience. I’ll be supposedly sitting on a park bench on the very front of the float. I’ll wave to you all on television! The Grand Marshall for the parade is Captain Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger , the heroic pilot who masterfully landed US Airways Flight 1549 into the Hudson. http://www.tournamentofroses.com/press/press/press_2010_gm_announced.html

I'll update the blog on Wednesday evening once I find out more about the schedule along with pictures from the day. Be sure to set your DVR's for this amazing day as we bring in 2010 together!

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Ms. Wheelchair California is available for speaking engagements, master of ceremony events, parades, photo opportunities and other community events. All events will be considered, and if deemed appropriate and scheduling allows, the Ms. Wheelchair California Foundation will do its best to accommodate your request.

Please contact the Ms. Wheelchair California office www.mswheelchaircaliforniafoundation.org.

(* Please note that during my reign, my title was underneath the Ms. Wheelchair California pageant with Ruthee Goldkorn as the State Coordinator. Ms. Wheelchair America no longer recognizes her pageant as part of the National program, thus a new Foundation was begun for future title holders to continue spreading advocacy in a positive manner.)

Biography

Alyson Roth, Ms. Wheelchair California 2009, lived in Southern California when she was crowned. In 2000, Alyson was involved in a near-fatal car accident that left her with a spinal cord injury and paralyzed from the waist down. Alyson obtained her BS in Music Education at Samford University, and her MS in Elementary Reading and Literacy from Walden University. While at Samford University, she was successful in establishing a “Disability Awareness Week” where students learned about different disabilities and simulated them in order to understand the barriers that confronted students with disabilities. It brought a new awareness to the campus and became a catalyst for further accessibility within the community. After graduation, she taught music in the public and private school sector before joining Free Wheelchair Mission in 2007. Free Wheelchair Mission is a non-profit organization that distributes wheelchairs to over 80 countries around the world to the poorest people with disabilities.

Alyson continued her advocacy by speaking at both the National Association for Music Education’s National Convention (2004) with her session entitled “Barrier-free Music Education: Concepts of Inclusion” and the National Orff Schulwerk Association National Convention (2005) with her session entitled “Mainstreaming the Process”. These sessions taught other music educators how to turn able-bodied music lessons into lessons that included those children with disabilities in the mainstreamed classroom. She has also written several articles and been published in several magazines regarding disability awareness.

Yosemite National Park is now more wheelchair friendly and ADA compliant due to Alyson’s input while sitting on the Board of Directors. She has assisted Habitat for Humanity to help build a house for a disabled member of the Atlanta inner-city community. To bring more recognition to those with disabilities, Alyson presented the “Ability through Mobility” Award to four recipients around the country for their outstanding work within their community despite their disability. She has traveled to Nicaragua to work at an orphanage for children with disabilities and teach music at a school for the blind. Alyson has also traveled to Mexico to deliver wheelchairs to the country’s poorest people with disabilities and has had the opportunity to collaborate with the former president of Mexico, President Vicente Fox, about the importance of providing wheelchairs to the citizens of Mexico in addition to providing aide and healthcare to everyone.

In her free time, Alyson enjoys providing mentorship for newly injured patients, participating in several outdoor activities including waterskiing, surfing, and swimming. It is Alyson’s desire to educate the public on the truths of having a disability and empower those with a disability to be all they can be in a world full of possibilities.

Ms. Wheelchair California 2009 : Ms. Wheelchair America 2010, 2nd Runner Up

Monday, December 28, 2009

Getting Ready for the Tournament of Roses Parade

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