Field trips become learning tools for North Allegheny autistic support and life skills support students

Community field trips are real-life learning tools for middle and high school students in the autistic support and life skills support classes at North Allegheny.

The trips enable students to take what they’ve learned in the classroom out into the community. They learn about stores, restaurants or other businesses in ways tailored to their unique learning styles, according to Mary Guerrieri, an autistic support and life skills support teacher at Marshall Middle School, and fellow AS/LSS instructor Katherine Zeh.

Bradford Woods, Franklin, Hosack and Marshall elementaries have autistic support/life skills support classrooms as do Carson and Marshall middle schools and the intermediate and high schools.

“Our goal is to start to transition from strictly academic skills to a mix of academic and vocational and functional skills. We want to help students prepare for high school and beyond, whether they plan to continue their schooling, go to trade school, or go into the workforce upon graduation,” said Guerrieri.

“Each month culminates with a trip into the community so students can apply the skills they have learned,” Zeh said.

When students were learning about making desserts, they toured a local Bruster’s. They saw how ice cream was made, helped make it, and then ate some, said Kami Ritter, who teaches autistic support and life skills support at NASH.

March is recognized nationally as Developmental Disability Awareness month and April as Autism Acceptance month.

At Marshall Middle School, trips this year included shopping at Giant Eagle and Walmart, a tour of Soergels, and a fitness class at the YMCA, Guerrieri and Zeh said. Recently, the students went to Cookie Cookie Ice Cream in McKees Rocks to learn about making ice cream.

CMS students enjoyed an instructional trip to Animal Friends. With the help of the school’s student council, students in autistic support and life skills support classes held a fundraiser to buy supplies for the animals, said Michele Famoso, a sixth-grade learning support teacher at CMS.

Carson and Marshall middle schools provide additional lessons through a student-run snack cart and coffee cart to their school’s staff. Students are responsible for stocking the cart, taking and fulfilling ordersand handling money.

“Snack cart is a huge success at CMS and it is all because of the students and their hard work,” Famoso said.

The autistic support and life skills support students at the high school went on a PNC Park field trip on March 24, which included a ride on the “T,” Pittsburgh’s light rail system, and lunch at Market Square, according to Kami Ritter, who teaches autistic support and life skills support at NASH.

Ritter plans community-based instruction to give students a real-life outlet for the skills they learned in the classroom. “That way they can generalize them and utilize them in a different setting,” said Ritter, who is assisted by Gina Vitale and Melinda Beck.

In honor of Earth Day, the high school support students will head to North Park on April 21 to help clean up the park, Ritter said.

English Language Arts and math classes are part of the curriculum, according to Zeh and Guerrieri. Students also participate in general education throughout the day.

“A successful AS/LSS program depends on support from everyone, it truly takes a village,” Zeh said.

North Allegheny transition coordinator Tom Irvine helps families in the special education program plan for life after high school, focusing on post-secondary education, employment, and independent living. Irvine builds partnerships with community agencies, and brings outside transition services to the schools in North Allegheny.

Transition-themed events are held throughout the year, including on April 20, at 7 p.m., Understanding the Services Provided by the Allegheny County Department of Human Services Office of Developmental Supports. RSVP is requested by April 17 at www.northallegheny.org/transitions.