One of the important things for students at Castle Valley Center is to get real life experiences so they can make their way through the world when they are out of school. One of the things that brings them this kind of experience is outside agencies working with them both at school and when possible at the partner’s location.
“This fall we have just had many of the outside agencies really add to our students experiences,” said Principal Amy Bell. “They have been so good to adapt what they do to our circumstances, which is different from how they do things at other schools.”
She said that the Utah State University Eastern athletic department came to the school and when they showed up they broke up into groups and sat by all the kids and interacted with them on a personal level by playing games with them and encouraging them.
Law enforcement agencies came to the school, walked around and talked with the kids and provided a number of activities to do with them as well. This helped the students to understand who law enforcement officers are and what they are like.
Castle Valley Center also partners with students at Carbon High School to host a dinner for the students at the school. She said that Kim Williams from the district office, who is the districts Autism Specialist, and Tiffany Kurtz, a high school teacher, were the key person in getting the “Beauty and the Beast” meal set up.
“Students at the high school are working on pre-employment skills and hosting the dinner provided an opportunity for the students to learn about cooking and how to take orders, what they needed to do to have a job, and how to interview,” said Bell. “It was a social experience so students at Castle Valley center could practice how they should act in that situation.”
Because of Covid, many of the students cannot go out and get the skills they need in the community, so these kinds of interactions are valuable to the students in their building.
“Kim has really helped because she comes to our school and helps the students learn life skills that are community based,” explained Bell. “Things like learning to make selections and ordering off a menu, and tying everything to daily living skills is important. She is a tremendous help to us. Most of the students she and her aides work with make great gains in those areas through the year.”
Bell said that many of the students at the school have autism and that the programs that have been set up by Williams that are ongoing from year to year are a great help to those individuals.
Changing gears, Bell said that the building of their library collection that the school is starting is going well too.
“We have had people from the community step up and give us some good donations toward buying books,” she stated, pointing out that they are after new books for their library, not used ones. “We hope by the fall we will have a space for our collection and then will be able to have kids use them.”
“I want to point out that the district is in full support of putting this library together and they are certainly lending financial support. But starting a new library is challenging and expensive so any donations from the community would be helpful,” she pointed out.
The library effort ties in with another community agency that has been helping the school as well, the Price City Library.
“Once a month they have about half of our students go to their building for a library experience, and there is an activity there for them to do,” she said. “They also come to our school and do a story time because some of our students cannot go down to the library. There is an activity that goes with the story as well.”
Bell concluded by saying the community support from agencies and businesses is a key factor in students at her school succeeding and having a satisfying life.
“It’s just amazing what support we get.”