It is Gateway Education Center's time to shine. This Tiger Tuesday, we'll be highlighting how their leaders, teachers, students, and community support the WCS Mission and 4 Strategic Plan Pillars: Empathy, Experience, Adaptability, and Inclusivity.
Celebrate Thanksgiving with Gateway!
Today we get a sneak peek into two incredible programs: MRAP (MIDDLE SCHOOL REACHING ACTUAL POTENTIAL) and Applied Skills. The MRAP program is for students in grades 7-8. The program is structured to give students the behavioral support needed to be successful. The overall goal is to teach students the behavioral skills necessary to transition back to their home school. Academic instruction is differentiated to meet the needs of each individual student. The Adult Applied Skills class is for students aged 19-22 transitioning from the WCHS functional skills class. Students work on life skills.
This year, MRAP and Applied Skills teachers and students have worked closely together to enrich the lives of others. Teachers Mary Haeck, MRAP, and Sarah Schenck, Applied Skills, along with their teams, realized the potential for a win-win. One example of their collaboration is that students in Applied Skills set up a snack cart to learn life skills such as marketing, budgeting, hospitality, customer service, and accounting. It is available to ALL Gateway students. It especially brightens up the day for the MRAP students who can support this business venture and benefit from the snack as well as from the opportunity to build relationships. These relationships extend to playing educational games together such as a favorite of Lizzie's - Memory.
In October, the classes worked together to make gingerbread houses for Halloween that are proudly on display in their classrooms.
Recently, these classes joined forces to put their skills to the test and set up a meal train to support a friend in need.
The two classes also prepared a spaghetti meal with salads and desserts for Gateway teachers on Parent Teacher Conference night.
In the days leading up to Thanksgiving, the classes worked together to plan, prepare, and enjoy a Thanksgiving Feast! Students from both classes spoke about how much they enjoyed being with one another; the benefits and compassionate relationships are evident. The Applied Skills classroom at Gateway has a fully equipped kitchen for students to cook together and learn together. This year they learned that part of the turkey tradition involves the wishbone - two students were coached on how to take one side and break the bone apart while making a wish. While that tradition dictates that whoever breaks off the larger part of the wishbone will have their wish granted, we declare them both to be winners:-)
As Warsaw Community Schools celebrates a Year of Kindness, WCS would like to thank leaders, teachers, support personnel, students, and families for their support, creative initiatives, and strategic planning to align two programs with the mission to inspire and equip all students to continuously acquire and apply knowledge and skills while pursuing their dreams and enriching the lives of others.
On this Tiger Tuesday, we celebrate Gateway for giving each student an opportunity to grow, practice empathy, learn through experience, and give generously to others.
We also celebrate Gateway as they celebrate six graduates in their who earned their diplomas.
WCS is thankful for all at Gateway and wishes everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.
#wcsmission #togetherwearewarsaw #wcsempathy #wcsexperience #wcsadaptability