Halloween 2015
Dressing up and going to a party are typical activities high school students partake in on Halloween. This year, the Cypress Bay Social Skills class organized a party of its own. The event was scheduled at Tarantella’s Ristorante at Weston Town Center on Halloween night. Although some of the students were hesitant to participate at first, the planned activity was structured to have them practice both social skills and money management. The students were tasked with coming to the event in a full costume, ordering and paying for their individual dinners, and socializing amongst each other. As a result of these tasks, the students were given practice with various facets of socializing and managing themselves. The choice of which costume to wear gave them a sense of individuality and preference. Ordering and paying for their own meals taught them about independence and managing money, both of which are key components of successful adult living. And, socializing proved to be great practice in conversing and getting to know people, both of which are large aims of the class they all are in.
The students seemed to greatly enjoy this outing with their classmates, teachers, and the HDS Foundation staff. The creativity and effort that went into the costumes was truly remarkable, with Mario, Anna from Frozen, magicians, gangsters, zombies, and many other characters showing up. Some of the students had such an enjoyable time that they continued their evening together around Weston after the dinner.
Thank you to John and our server who facilitated this event and kindly helped us out, creating individual bills and servicing the group so nicely. As a result of the kindness put forth by the Tarantella staff, the students had the opportunity to develop some common life skills, all of which are key to their success. It was really a fun and successful night, with delicious food and Halloween cheer.
It’s Official
The Cypress Bay H.S. Social Skills students are on their way to being good money managers. This week, the entire class went to the Bank of America branch at Weston Commons to officially activate their bank accounts. Earlier in the month, Bank of America staff met with the parents of the Social Skills students at school to open up their accounts. The trip taken this past week was scheduled as a follow up to actually activate the previously discussed accounts and to make sure the students knew exactly how to deposit funds. Many of them seemed quite excited upon arrival at the bank, and all of them left informed. This is because the bank staff kindly took the time to completely and comprehensively explain banking procedures. As a result, each of the students left with the understanding of how to deposit their own funds and why they would and should do so. Equally as important, they had the opportunity to work with the tellers, one-on-one, to make their first official deposit, thus seeing exactly how the process works in real time. The students have been learning, and will continue to learn, money management through various activities, in which they will be paying for their own meals, supplies, etc. Today, actually, the students had lunch at Panera Bread, where they ordered and paid for their own food.
With that, it is clear that today was quite a helpful and eventful day for the class. They not only met with bank workers and learned, firsthand, how the world of banking operates and why it operates that way, but they also practiced independence – taking care of themselves with respect to both money and food. It is events like these that truly give the students insight into what successful independent living requires on a daily basis.
Bank of America Visits the Bay
Saturday, October 3 was an exciting day for our Social Skills Project class students. Most of them visited and met with Bank of America executives who were kind enough to give their time to Cypress Bay’s ESE department on a Saturday. These executives sat with the students, and their parents, and aided greatly in helping the students understand more about the functions of bank accounts and how they are useful on a daily basis. Through a grant from the HDS Foundation, each student had the opportunity to open a bank account and will be depositing funds in it to use during class daily living activities. The students will be going out in the community to work on and further develop everyday living skills needed to successfully and smoothly carry out activities like going to restaurants and paying for their meals, or shopping at local grocery and drug stores to purchase food, drinks, and other essential items. Their new ATM accounts will allow them the opportunity to deploy some of the skills they are learning in class and see how those skills truly play a part in the real world. So, the accounts will essentially help the students master the daily living skills needed to ensure successful long-term independence. Understanding practical banking and how to manage money are vital components of living independently.
Thank you to Ms. Mansollilo, Ms. Gard, Dr. Rizzo-Weiner and the Bank of America staff for taking time on Saturday to do this for the students – the activity was helpful and largely impactful on these students’ lives.
JAFCO 2015 In My Shoes Lunch
Meagan and Anthony at In My Shoes JAFCO 2015 Event
JAFCO’s Children’s Ability Center kicked off the season with its most successful fundraiser, the 5th Annual In My Shoes luncheon at Boca West Country Club on October 2, 2015. With 750 people in attendance, the organization raised close to $200,000. 100% of those proceeds will directly support family enrichment and respite programs offered at JAFCO’s Children’s Ability Center for families and children with developmental disabilities. The HDS Foundation was honored to attend this year’s In Your Shoes recognition lunch, as it is hugely impactful on the lives of many in that it immensely aids in the funding of helpful and necessary programs. Meagan Bouscher-Miranda, Board Member, and Anthony Caruso attended this year’s event as representatives of HDS.
The program this year focused on introducing to families and extended families, who have a developmentally disabled child relative, what exactly it is like walking in said child’s shoes. In other words, the event paid homage to and acknowledged the struggles endured by developmentally disabled children. It was a meaningful and heartfelt, as well as an incredibly educational experience for all. Those in attendance participated in the event’s traditional ribbon ceremony, in which the guests hold onto a yellow ribbon around the tables and stand in support of any guests who have children or other relatives with developmental disabilities. In addition, the guests watched a video about the center that opened just over one year ago. Next year’s In My Shoes luncheon is already scheduled for September 23, 2016. The committee will begin planning in late February, 2016.
Money Management
On September 25, 2015 the HDS Foundation, along with executives from Bank of America, hosted a lunch workshop related to bank accounts, ATMs, and learning to manage money for students. Bank of America collaborated with the students, explaining the types of accounts, security, the benefits and responsibilities of managing a bank account, and other important information. The students had many questions about a number of the facets of banking, including security, how and where they could potentially use their accounts, and other important points about money management. This experience proved to be quite beneficial for the students, as they were able to get a better understanding of money management and banking. And, this newfound understanding is key for activities to come, in which bank account usage will be involved. Each student was presented with the option of creating a bank account, which will be used during class activities whilst in the community. This is an area of independence skills instruction that both Ms. Mansollilo and Ms. Gard will be focusing on. There will be a follow up activity in which Bank of America will be coming to the school to meet with the parents, and bank account applications will be processed. The students are very excited about this new venture – it takes them one step closer to being fully prepared for successful independent living.
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