On March 19, the Woodbridge High special education program took a field trip to the Orange County (OC) Zoo to practice important interpersonal skills.
The program seeks to prepare its students so they will graduate from high school as independent and successful members of society. The program accomplishes this by equipping students with critical life skills ranging from social relations to personal advocacy.
Woodbridge High’s special education program prioritizes teaching students the abilities to make their own choices, express their opinions and converse with peers. Beyond communication skills, the program also helps students understand budgeting and prac tice purchasing items, according to education specialist and Extensive Support Needs department chair Alexander Doty.
Such skills build a strong, necessary foundation for students to be independent and help to ease the transition out of high school and into the community.
“It’s something that we’re able to transfer not just through high school but hopefully…after high school and into adulthood,” special education teacher Nicholas Card said.
Unfortunately, teaching students life skills is often a struggle if done simply through classroom lectures and activities. Nearly all high school students can relate to the lack of motivation that stems from having the same routine throughout the year and how difficult it may be seeing the purpose of some subjects and lessons.
Fortunately, Woodbridge High’s special education program understands this deeply and has found a way to counteract it. By specifying instruction based on specific individual needs, the program’s staff is able to ensure that the students not only learn the skills they are being taught, but also understand and can apply them in a wider setting.
“Our students rely on practice for these skills in a variety of environments to become successful. Skills that are learned in the classroom need to be taken into the community and generalized. We [take] any necessary skills before and break them into manageable pieces that can be practiced and worked on individually,” Doty said.
As for how the program landed on the zoo as their designated location for this field trip, there are plenty of ideal benefits and opportunities this location provides. When the program’s staff was thinking of ways to connect ongoing functional biology units with enriching hands-on experiences, the zoo provided a perfect option for a location that would be relevant to instruction, but also accessible to each student’s abilities while being budget friendly.
“We’ve been learning about animals throughout the year, learning about different biomes and where animals live. And so this is just kind of a way for us to take what we’ve learned in the classroom and then go out into the community and learn even more about it,” Card said.
Being able to apply skills to real-life experiences helps all students, regardless of ability, to solidify their learning and better understand the application and importance of certain lessons they learn in school. However, beyond learning and community interaction, it is important to note that this was also a unique opportunity for both students and staff to have experiences that are out of the ordinary as well as to simply have fun.
All of those involved shared mutual excitement for the trip, as it was the first of its kind for the program in nearly 10 years. With programs catered toward younger children and special events allowing people to interact with and learn about different species and environments, the OC Zoo offers plenty of fun and educational experiences for its visitors. The zoo prides itself in containing a variety of animal species from across the southwestern region of the United States.
“[I’m excited] to see the animals,” sophomore and special education student Nolan Laynes said.
Laynes also shared excitement and anticipation for the opportunity to visit animals like giraffes, bears, coyotes, and bison, as well as the smaller farm animals in the petting zoo. After months of planning and preparation, staff members are hopeful for the progress and success this trip will bring for students, viewing it as incredibly promising for the future of the program.
The special education department hopes to explore the possibility of more field trips like this one in the future, and they may even lead the way for other programs at Woodbridge High to follow.
