I am a Special Education teacher of 9th to 12th graders, with two classes designed for teaching life skills. For the past few years, I have put together a Transition and a Basic Life Skills Class. We work on skills that will assist them in life after high school.
The BIG thing that happened last year was adding cooking to the senior class, and this year adding another class, Basic Life Skill Class, for sophomores and juniors!
The students are very excited about cooking being part of the class. They are spending time reading through recipe books, looking for things they can cook. Imagine that ... wanting to read!
These classes are designed to have students be able to learn the basics of living on their own, including budgeting their income versus expenses, bank accounts – checking and saving, transportation costs, insurance, food costs, housing costs, clothing costs, entertainment costs, and the many unforeseen costs of living in the real world.
My Project
Our Transition Class and Basic Life Skills Class are based on getting Special Needs students skills they will use as they move on after high school. One of the main parts of these classes is learning cooking skills. So far, they have made burritos, minestrone soup, biscuits with shredded beef, and tacos, to name a few.
Much of this food needs refrigerating before and after the cooking classes start.
Right now, we have a little mini refrigerator that does not fit our needs. We cannot store the basics that are needed to prepare many dishes, such as milk, butter, eggs, condiments, dressings, and such.
This 10.5 cu ft Insignia refrigerator is just the right size to fit the classroom needs. It would be awesome to have this funded, and the students will be grateful to learn these important skills.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Yates and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.