Westlake's Monthly Newsletter

April, 2023

Principal's Message

The month of April has been extremely busy at Westlake since we are forging ahead in our comfortable space we call "home". Students are happy to once again be back in our space and utilize every area of it. We have weekly Café time where students serve beverages and cakes and just have sometime to socialize with their peers. We also have the apartment where students are cooking, working on hygiene skills and independent living skills. Students continue to work various jobs within the school setting, making chocolates, jewelry, and working with our Vocational Teacher, Ms. Swisher to complete various work tasks.

Westlake has begun to partner with the Akhil Foundation to work on student skills of horticulture and hydroponics. The Rutgers hydroponics department is offering 10 lessons that will be taught to a group of students through a pilot program which has already begun in April. Students will start with seedlings, then a larger hydroponic plant based project will be underway in school. Our hopes is to expand the project and also work on our outside garden.

Our Social Emotional Learning Theme for this month is our Responsibility/Self Care and Autism awareness month. Students and staff all wore their autism awareness shirts and have completed activities to be sensitive and more understanding to students with autism.

Students are using their Super Hero powers and describing them in a video themed 'SUPER HERO" for our PLC presentation which will be presented to the Board of Education on May 3rd. We would love to share the video with all and once, finished it will be emailed to everyone!

Happy Spring!

Sincerely,

Claudine

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Upcoming Events!

Autism Awareness - Month of April

Teacher Appreciation Day - May 2nd (Week May 8th - 12th)

Student of the Month - Tuesday, May 2nd

Mini Golf Field Trip - May 9th

Yoga - May 10th

Prom - May 12th

School Closed - Memorial day - May 29th

Westlake's April Spotlights!

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Student of the Month

TP received student of the month in recognition of all of her hard work in academics and her increase in social skills.

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Principal's Award

PK received the Principal's Award from Mrs. Tantillo and Mr. Peneno for his work in Speech and Academics.

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Teacher Spotlight

Mr. Shanfield

Favorite Movie- Miracle

Hobbies- Backpacking, playing with his kids, and playing ice hockey

Spirit Animal- Eagle

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Paraprofessional Spotlight

Mr. Nelson

Favorite Movie- The Sting

Hobbies- Photography, hiking, and music

Spirit Animal- Border Collie

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Security Spotlight

Mr. Fitz

Favorite Movie- Rudy

Hobbies- Golf and working out

Spirit Animal- Bear

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Mrs. Convery’s Classroom

Mrs. Convery’s class has been busy doing volunteer jobs for outside agencies this month. They have assisted the Crawford Jaycees in their annual Easter Egg Hunt by filling over 1200 eggs with delicious treats. They have also packaged tissues, bracelets, and seed packets for The Sharing Network to distribute at their spring fundraisers. The students complete these tasks during their vocational class, where they gain real world experience by completing real jobs. They also gain a sense of pride and accomplishment in being able to help others.

Ms. Papeika's Classroom

During the month of April we focused on self-care and Autism Awareness.

For self-care, we watched video models of handwashing and toothbrushing. Then we learned and sequenced the steps to each self-care activity. Lastly, we practiced handwashing and toothbrushing using the classroom sink.

For Autism Awareness, we watched a video on Autism Acceptance and interacted with Boomcards to learn more about Autism. The students also painted puzzle pieces and wooden picture frames. We are planning on hot-gluing them to the frames to bring home for Autism Awareness month.

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ART

JK creating some art work!

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Fun with Playdough

Students being creative

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Clean up time

Student washing his hands and learning to become independent

April at Westlake!

“To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.” - Oscar Wilde

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Students teaching Others

BA has confidence in himself and is teaching his peers.

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Horticulture

Students are learning about seedlings and growing plants in science class and our horticulture program partnered with the Akhil Foundation and Rutgers hydroponics/horticulture program.

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Hands on Learning

MM is demonstrating his skills through hands on learning tasks.

Westlake Out and About!

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CBI - Bowling Trip

Ms. Swisher and a few students having fun in the community

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Experts

Our expert bowlers are competing at a high level for the win 🙂

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Work Readiness Jobs in School

JM is working hard cleaning the tables after lunch.

Springtime Garden

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We are excited to announce that Westlake School is a recipient of the 2023 Union County Kids Digin! Grant Award! This program will include renewal and expansion of the existing garden beds at our school, agricultural education with a focus on vocational skills, and a brand new hydroponics program. We have also received a grant from the Achilles Autism Foundation for a 10 week pilot program with Rutgers to learn about horticulture and hydroponics. The pilot program and Dig in! Grant projects will be spearheaded by our new Lead Gardener, Asher KurtzFreilich.

We would like to give a huge thank you to the Union County Board of County Commissioners and the Achilles Autism Foundation for their generous support!