Dan Marino Walkabout Autism
The CHBS ESE Department and the HDS Foundation are once again teaming up to raise funds through involvement in the 2016 Dan Marino Walkabout Autism. This community event is unique because through it, the Marino Foundation awards K-12 School Teams a 25% grant of the total funds raised by the team for the respective school’s ESE Department. This is significant because it has allowed Cypress Bay’s, and a number of other school’s, ESE Department to purchase iPads, computers, software and different supplies needed to supplement the needs of the ESE Program at the Bay. The increase in supplies as a result of this event have greatly aided in the learning and understanding of the students tied to the ESE Department.
Team Cypress Bay has embarked on a campaign to promote this fundraiser throughout the school and community. The focus of the campaign is to have students join Team Cypress, rather than breaking up into different teams, so that the school can get the benefit of the funds they raise, as non-school groups do not get the benefit of the direct Grant.
The HDS Foundation staff visited the class this week, where students were creating large banner posters to hang around school. Additionally, smaller flyers were printed to circulate throughout different clubs and teachers at the school to get the word out. The Theme is #WeAreCypressBay, and the focus is to create one team. The school’s TV Production crew “After Shock” came to the classroom and interviewed different students and the teachers. Student Team Captain Katherine Miranda-Gilson, who has been the top fund-raiser for this event in years past, is focused on making this the best year yet for the walk. As a senior, she hopes to leave this legacy and spread awareness about this great organization.
The Team Cypress Bay Page can be found at http://support.danmarinofoundation.org/site/TR/Event/General?pg=team&fr_id=1130&team_id=12541
WELL DONE CLASS!
CBHS Homecoming 2015
Homecoming is an exciting time of year for many high school students. It’s a week of celebration, group activities, and pep rallies all leading up to the coveted football game and dance. Often, though, the students participating in these festivities are part of the mainstream, while many others end up excluded.
Still, this year, homecoming managed to be very special for our students in the ESE Department of Cypress Bay. They actively participated as a group in the weekly “dress-up” challenges, attended the football game, and those who wanted to went to the dance. Teens and young adults on the Autism Spectrum are often challenged with social situations and tend to be excluded from these very important and enjoyable activities. It is often difficult for them to feel a part of it all. These activities are key to appropriate social development at their age and promote more general inclusion at the high school level. Many of the week’s activities were discussed and the students were encouraged to dress up and play a part in the festivities.
The week started off with video game super-heroes, and the class got very creative. Jeffrey and Corey came dressed as “Mario and Luigi” from Super Mario Brothers, Kate and Allison came as the Sonic the Hedgehog Dynamic Duo, and Eric and Sara came as The Legend of Zelda Duo. The entire class had a great time on Ho-Down Day. Most guys wore amazing hats and were coined “The Caballeros,” and our country gals had equally fun wear. Friday was spirit day, which at CBHS means a large field pep rally and color wars. Each class wore colored shirts and competed for the most spirit award. Seniors wore black (“blackout”), which continued at the Homecoming Game against Coral Springs High School where the Lightning won 48-34. Despite some rain, the students had a great time. Saturday night, a couple of our students also participated in the Homecoming Dance, which was held at the Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort. Homecoming ended up being an enjoyable success for them all.
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.
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