On September 29th, the students of the BRIDGES Social Skills class at Cypress Bay had their second community based instruction. This one was similar to the first community based instruction at Office Depot, but there were lots of notable differences. This time the students ventured to their local Publix, where they had to independently purchase lunch for themselves. The lunch had to include an entrée, a drink, and a snack or dessert. Their budget was once again $15. A major difference between this trip and the one to Office Depot was that they had to work independently to purchase their lunch. The students enlisted the help of the store employees to maneuver the store, although most were very familiar with Publix and its layout. There was also much more freedom, as at Office Depot they had a list of things they could purchase, where as in Publix, they had the liberty to choose their favorite entrées, drinks, and snacks, as long as the total stayed under $!5. Also, whereas all items in Office Depot are taxed, many items at Publix and other grocery stores are not taxable, as there is no tax on groceries. Because of this, the students had to figure out whether the lunch items they had selected for themselves were taxable or not to be able to factor the price of their items in and stay under their $!5 limit. The students once again had a great time, and had their delicious lunches at the end of the instruction.
