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HOPEhouse Happenings November, 2014
HOPE
house
Hap
pening
s
Riley’s Interview 3
Keaton interviews Riley to find out more about his housemate.
Grocery Shopping 6 Max tells us about everyone’s favorite past time at HOPEhouse.
Working at CMS 7
Riley talks about his custodial job at Coolidge Middle School.
Fall has been busy at HOPEhouse! The HOPEhouse students have been hard at work settling in to the new school year, but have had time for some fun, too!
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October was a busy month at HOPEhouse!
From hosting our first ever Back to School Night for parents; planning for, preparing, and hosting a spooktacular Halloween party for Cotting’s Upper School classrooms; and keeping up with our regular
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schedules of work, college, and chores, we have had our hands full!
November is shaping up to be just as busy as we learn about the midterm elections, prepare for Thanksgiving, and maintain our usual routine of gym class, grocery shopping, and rec and
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leisure! Between the long weekend for Veteran’s Day and the Thanksgiving holiday, November is a short month, but there is still plenty to do.
We hope you enjoy reading about what we have been up to in the latest edition of HOPEhouse Happenings!
Here’s what’s going on at HOPEhouse at Cotting School!
HOPEhouse Happenings November, 2014
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The Halloween Party was run, decorated, and catered by HOPEhouse, with a lot of help from M rs . T h ib odeau , M rs . Ke l ly , and M rs . Ro per . All of the delicious treats and snacks were handcrafted by HOPEhouse’s finest students: HOPEhouse, Keat o n , R i ley , and M ax .
We transformed HOPEhouse into party central with many spooky Halloween decorations. We had spider webs, skeletons, orange lights, streamers over the dance floor, and many other fantastic details throughout the downstairs and upstairs of HOPEhouse. Most of the décor was borrowed from staff, and some brought in from students. No details were spared on the food,
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either. We served phantom punch with frozen ice hands floating in it, ghostly bananas, and ghoulish chocolate-covered strawberries.
Once the preparation was over it was time to start partying! Most of the Cotting Upper School came (which is like 50 people)! As soon as our guests came in we were ready with fun games, a photo booth, and dancing. M rs . Ga rceau ran a game where we turned our guests into mummies by wrapping them in toilet paper. Everyone enjoyed being mummified! M rs . Wha rf f ran the photo booth where everyone could dress up in costumes and take silly pictures
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with their friends. Many people also hit our spooktacular dance floor, where you could dance to a mix of Top 40 and Halloween music.
Overall the Halloween Party was a huge success! We received so many compliments from our guests; they all said they couldn’t wait until next year to do it again!
“Wrapping people in toilet paper was my favorite part!” said Max. Keaton really enjoyed the photo booth, while Riley’s favorite part
was seeing all of his friends. Everyone enjoyed themselves, which really made all the hard work and preparation worth it!
HOPEhouse
Halloween Party a Huge Success!
On Tuesday, October 28, Riley, Max, and Keaton opened their home to the Upper School students at Cotting School for a Halloween bash! By Max and Mrs. Garceau
HOPEhouse Happenings November, 2014
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Riley’s Interview By Keaton
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The first question was do you have a middle name? And he said yes. His middle name is James.
What’s hard for you? Riley answered it’s hard for him to stay on task.
What is your favorite thing at HOPE house? He said he likes gym class.
What do you want to be when you grow up? He wants to be a custodian.
What’s your favorite color? He likes maroon.
What’s your favorite animal? He says he likes horses.
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If you could be an animal, what would you be and why? He wants to be a dog because he thinks he would be good at the sounds and he wants to be in dog shows.
What’s your least favorite thing at HOPEhouse? He says he doesn’t like homework.
What’s your favorite sport? He said he likes football.
Do you like living at HOPEhouse and why? He likes living here because he likes living with different people.
I learned some things about Riley. I learned that his middle name is James.
“I chose to interview Riley because he is my housemate. I wanted to know more about my housemate.”
-‐ Keaton
HOPEhouse Happenings November, 2014
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Recently Keaton and Riley attended the Raise the Bar HIRE Career Fair in Norwood, MA. This career fair was sponsored by Work Without Limits and focused specifically on finding meaningful employment for people with disabilities.
Keaton and Riley registered for the career fair earlier in the month and submitted current copies of their resumes with their registration. Then they prepared
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questions for the different employers who would be at the fair. On the day of the career fair they wore nice clothes and brought copies of their resumes with them to the event to leave with employers they talked with at the Fair.
Some of the employers Keaton and Riley spoke to were: Boston Children’s Hospital, Spaulding Rehab, TD Bank, Wegman’s, and Mass Department of Transportation.
Keaton said his favorite part of the job fair was talking to the representative from TD Bank. “He was really nice,” Keaton says. “He had a lot of good information.” Riley agreed that the job fair was helpful. “I liked talking to the guy from Mass DOT,” says Riley. “He has jobs in facilities and I like doing that work.”
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Both students indicated that they felt like there were jobs available through the different employers at the Career Fair that matched their skill sets. Keaton noted that he spoke with a few people who have office positions for workers to shred papers (a task he does now,) and Riley said there were companies looking for janitorial and maintenance workers as well (again, work Riley does now).
Keaton and Riley did a great job advocating for their work preferences when talking with the various representatives at the Career Fair. They were able to practice the self-‐advocacy skills that they work on every day at HOPEhouse in a real-‐world, vocation-‐based situation. They were professional and independently communicated their strengths, needs, and interests as they pertain to work.
Way to go, guys!
Raise the Bar HIRE Career Fair Sponsored by Work Without Limits October 31, 2014
HOPEhouse Happenings November, 2014
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Event Descriptions Grocery Shopping: Rotates depending on the students’ individual schedules and when they have gym class. Gym Class: Adapted Physical Education class with Mr. Cuddy 1 hour a week. Boy’s Club: Cotting School afterschool program for middle-‐ and upper-‐school boys. The HOPEhouse students have been asked to mentor the students in the program by participating in the activities with them, either in the gym or on the field at Cotting School or in the rec room at HOPEhouse. Last day of Boy’s Club is November 13. House Meeting: Structured time for HOPEhouse residents to talk about their week, bring up conflicts or problems they are having, and plan for rec and leisure events. R&L: Recreation and Leisure. Happens on Tuesday of each week, students participate in the events previously planned at House Meetings. Soccer: Program put on by AccesSport America, taking place in the Cotting School gym. Young adults with disabilities receive a high-‐energy workout with quality coaching including skill building, resistance training, and conditioning games of soccer. Cost of each class is $10. This is not a mandatory HOPEhouse event. Thanksgiving Dinner: Open house for students, their families, and staff to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday together. Parents will be receiving more information soon. Questions? Ask a HOPEhouse resident or email Mrs. Wharff [email protected] or Mrs. Thibodeau [email protected] for more information.
HOPEhouse Events: November 2014
HOPEhouse Happenings November, 2014
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Here at HOPEhouse, Keaton, Riley, and myself go grocery shopping at the wonderful Star Market in Waltham.
Before we go to the Star Market, we all make specific lists based on what we have meal planned for the week. Also, we write down which aisle numbers all our food items are in off a copy of the store directory. This helps us be more organized while at the grocery store so we don’t end up scrambling around
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like penguins trying to get in formation in a snowstorm.
We go grocery shopping because we need to have food in the house, so we don’t starve to death! Usually we buy food, sometimes we also pick up our own medication prescriptions.
We shop on Monday nights or Tuesday day. When we go shopping depends on our gym schedule. While at the grocery
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store we work as a team getting the food off our lists.
I like grocery shopping because I like to eat, but it is otherwise boring and time consuming. It’s not the most fun thing, but it is essential!
Grocery Shopping By Max “I like grocery shopping because I like to eat.”
-‐ Max
HOPEhouse Happenings November, 2014
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Working at Coolidge Middle School By Riley
“I like to work at Coolidge Middle School. I feel awesome and fantastic to work there.”
-‐ Riley
I work at Coolidge Middle School in Reading MA. I am a volunteer custodian.
I am there Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I eat my lunch there. I get my food from the lunch ladies in the cafeteria on those days.
The people who I work with are nice. I work with Bo and Rafael. They are easy to work with, and we joke around. While I’m there I help Bo and Rafael out.
I do vacuuming, take the trash out, and clean the cafeteria. Sometime I clean the windows, and set up chairs if they have an assembly. I like to work at Coolidge Middle School. I feel awesome and fantastic to work there. I am even getting an employee ID badge.
I might want to work there some day when I leave HOPEhouse.
HOPEhouse Happenings November, 2014
Things we are thinking about…
• Thanksgiving Dinner for Families and Staff • Decorating for the Holidays • Hosting a Holiday Party Open House
Stay tuned for more information in the next edition of HOPEhouse Happenings!
Coming up Soon…
HOPEhouse at Cotting School
451 Concord Ave Lexington, MA 02421
