Earlier this year Calais announced a partnership with DAWNcil of Denville to provide an enhanced life skills program for 12+ students so we thought it would be nice to provide you all with an update on the program!

“Skills for Independent Living” (SkIL), is a comprehensive, dynamic curriculum designed to expand the critical skills necessary to live a productive, gratifying, independent life in the community. SkIL includes 72 hours of instructional time both in the classroom and out in the community.  Topics include Keeping a Clean, Neat Home, Living Well & Making Healthy Choices, Communicating with Others, Creating & Maintaining Positive Relationships, Managing Money & Using Transportation, among others.

community based instruction and independent living skills

Community Based Instruction activities reinforce classroom learning in a social, hands-on learning experience.  Recently, students travelled to Chef It Up where they prepared a complete  meal for themselves which consisted of making a personal sized pizza, a beverage and chocolate covered strawberries for dessert, all from scratch!  Following that, the students went to a public laundromat and learned how to separate, load & operate the washer & dryer, measure out detergent, make change at the coin machine, use the down time effectively and fold the items.  In subsequent weeks, students completed safety instruction at a shopping mall, selected and purchased their own lunch at a food court and tested their critical thinking and problem solving skills to escape The Mystery Room, a physical adventure game in in which players must solve a series of puzzles using clues & strategy.

community based instruction

Post-secondary options are also explored through visits to the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services and the County College of Morris.  The program culminates in a fun-filled, friendly bowling game at Rockaway Lanes.

For more information, contact Lisa Marie Vallo @ lisamarie.vallo@thecalaisschool.org