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8 —- October 15, 2015
Life
one Gllll at a time
Alexis Shultz
NLJ Reporter
Special Education students at Newcastle
High School have enjoyed the opportunity
for the past four years to learn life skills
through the operation of their own coffee
shop, know as the Coffee Corral. Instructors
Mary Dixon and Arlie Davis have pro-
vided guidance to students in that endeavor,
and the pair announced that their students
recently began another venture that will
expose students to an even broader set of
skills.
“The kids that work in here are part of
special education...they are getting skills
they wouldn’t normally get,” professed
Dixon, explaining the reasoning behind the
establishment of the “in school” coffee shop.
Skills the students learn through their work
in the fiilly functioning shop include money
management, counting change, teamwork
skills, skills working with different measure-
ments, and memory improvement.
“The biggest thing the students learn is
how to follow instructions,” declared Davis,
noting that every drink has its own recipe
and set of instructions that students must
follow to achieve the perfect drink that has
been ordered. Dixon noted that the students
that participate in this class, which they do
receive credit for, learn every aspect of the
business and they even help her with inven-
tory and ordering.
“The kids love working in the Coffee
Corral because it’s hands on. They see
immediate results from their efforts. I have
recipes that are easy to follow,” observed
Dixon, explaining that the end result, after
following the instructions, is
something the student can be
instantly proud of.
The Coffee Corral,
which is located in Room
228 in Newcastle High
School, is only available
to students and staff of the
middle school, high school,
and the administration
building during a roughly
two hour time period every
morning. Customers place
their order online through the
district website, and that order
is sent to Dixon.
“The form comes to me and
I get the order ready on the cup
for the student,” announced
Dixon. The students, who
usually work in pairs, then
make the drink and deliver it to
those who ordered the beverage.
Dixon suggested that because
the students are the ones who physically
deliver the drink to their peers and teachers,
the experience also improves their social and
communication skills. She explained that the
purpose of the Coffee Corral is not to make
a profit, but to provide the chance for these
students to seize an opportunity they may
not originally have been able to.
“We keep the prices low...the goal is
not to make money but to teach the kids
life skills,” Dixon disclosed, noting that
the money made from the beverages goes
to purchasing the supplies required to keep
the Coffee Corral up and running. Dixon
and Davis both added that the children do
receive credit for the class, as well as one
free drink a 'day. They are encouraged to
experiment in the preparation of their own
drink.
“We like the kids to get creative. The
kids that work in here get to experiment with
their daily drinks,” revealed Dixon, who
said the menu is large and features basically
everything that can be purchased in other
coffee shops, with new items being added
every year. Dixon mentioned that a survey
is also provided to students on occasion to
receive information on what new things
they would like to see offered, as well as
informing them of beverages that may no
longer offered due to a lack of purchases.
“We offer brewed coffee, chai tea, jet tea,
blended coffees, and smoothies,” explained
Dixon, noting that this allows for the stu-
dents to master a variety of instructions and
different units of measurement and products.
She continued that they try to keep the bev-
erages as healthy as possible, and they offer
a variety of low calorie and sugar free items
to try to offer something for everyone.
On top of providing a learning experi-
ence for students in the form of the coffee
shop, Davis and Dixon this year began
investigating a new venture— t-shirt sales——
that will offer students the ability to learn
a new set of skills. The duo is looking
into producing shirts through two different
techniques.
“We thought we would try to expand to I
meet the needs of the students,” professed
Davis, adding that neither himself or Dixon
had previous experience in the techniques
used to make the shirts. He noted that the
group is working on learning and becoming
experienced in the two different forms of
graphic transfer they have purchased, one
being vinyl cutting and the other being heat
transfer of the graphics.
“We went in knowing nothing...learning
the graphics is taking the longest because
we are teaching ourselves,” Davis admitted,
adding that the program required to produce
the correct image is difficult
to learn and not necessarily
“user friendly.” Davis did
receive some help from
some friends from Rapid
City, SD. who own Unique
Signs, but said it is still a long
process that is taking some
time to learn and perfect.
They have already made
shirts for some students and
staff at Newcastle Elementary
School, but Dixon and Davis
confirmed that they have not
yet charged anyone for the
shirts they have produced
because they are still learning
the process. The pair has also
been taking time to practice
and experiment with colors
and designs to determine what
will work on their end products,
which range from Dogie pride
emblems to items featuring Harley
Davidson decor on a large array of colored
fabric.
Once the craft is perfected, Davis reported
that the students will not only be able to
produce shirts, but will also be able to craft
mugs, plates, hats, bags, mouse pads, and a
number of other items that have the ability
to either receive a heat transferred image or
a vinyl images.
Davis and Dixon did want to clarify that
both the coffee shop and the t-shirt making
are strictly to teach students important life
skills that will help them in their future after
they graduate from Newcastle High School.
“We don’t want the community to think
we are trying to compete with them...it’s
just the school,” announced Davis, once
again reiterating that the coffee shop bever-
ages can only be purchased by students and
staff of Newcastle High School, Newcastle
Middle School, and the Administration
office located across the street from the
schools.
Pipeline
Safety
Did you know?
To protect our community and
environment, Wyoming Refining
routinely patrols the pipeline route
and the pipeline is equipped with
safety shutdown valves designed
to isolate the pipeline in the event
of a sudden pressure loss.
Questions? Call (307)746-4445
Moms and
editor@newslj. com
muffins
Scotlyn Carr, Nicole Carr and Kim Lovejoy receive their muffins from
Newcastle Elementary
School Principal Brandy Holmes during the annual Moms and Muffins event
held October 9.
The Friday morning gathering, which aimed to encourage parent involvement,
gave moms a
chance to hang out with their little ones— and to don some hot pink.
(Todd Bennington/NLJ)
UHS students enjoy numerous options
Todd Bennington
NLJ Reporter
Upton students looking to get a head start on
college have the option of earning credit through
Tonington—based Eastern Wyoming College.
“It’s not as robust as some,” Upton
Superintendent Summer Stephens explained of
WCSD #7 ’5 concurrent program through EWC,
“It’s based on the staff that we have available with
their credentials.”
With only about 11 instructors at the high school
level, the requirement that teachers have a master’s
degree in a specific content area in order to teach a
college class puts some limitations on the courses
the district is able to offer. Nevertheless, this year
Upton students can take English 1010, Math 1400,
and Math 1405 online, earning both college and
highfischool credit, while Math 930, to be followed
by Math 1000, is being offered live.
Though technically a remedial college class,
Stephens explained, Math 930 provides an oppor-
tunity for students to go straight into Math 1400
without having to take a qualifying test and is in
line with what the school would have been offering
as a high school class otherwise.
Upton’s limited concurrent program offerings
mean no students is able to graduate with an asso-
ciate’s degree, but college-oriented students are
typically able to graduate having earned 15 to ‘25
college credits, according to Stephens.
Weight training and business classes are also
presently being offered as concurrent enrollment
courses. 1
“We’re kind of delving into the world of
advanced placement,” added Stephens of the dis-
trict’s future plans. “One of the principals and
myself feel pretty strongly about advanced place-
ment classes, the rigor that’s in them.”
Though, unlike the concurrent program, stu-
dents don’t automatically eam college credit for
AP classes, they can be awarded such credit based
on their performance on a paper-based exam taken
in the spring.
For those students more interested in vocational
opportunities, Stephens said the high schoolloffers
four years of welding, v‘vood working, farnilytcon-
sumer science, business, and agriculture. Vocational
training is an area the district has started looking at
as part of it strategic plan, Stephens mentioned.
Also a part of the district’s strategic plan is a
personalized learning plan in which educators will
start working with kids in middle school in order
to help them understand how they learn and what
they like to do as means of creating a more solid
pathway toward a career.
Upton students to attend
driving safety event
Todd Bennington
NLJ Reporter
Upton High School students
Seth Jones and Emily Sharkey,
accompanied by guidance coun-
selor Deanne Gould, will make
a trip to Alexandria, Va., this
Oct. 17-20 to learn about orga- ’
nizing driver safety awareness
activities through the National
Organization for Youth Safety
(NOYS).
The trio will make the trip,
the expenses of which are being
paid for by NOYS, as representa-
tives of the Upton chapter of
Sciences.
told the NLJ.
Family, Career, and Community
Leaders of America (FCCLA),
a national organization for stu-
dents of Family and Consumer
The Upton group will be one
of 17 groups from 20 different
states to attend the 2015 Teen
Safe Driving Summit.
“We’re the first group from
Wyoming ever to do this,” Jones
Jones described the aim of the
program as to train groups nation-
wide to hold monthly awareness
events once they return home.
“We’re going to bring it to
the community, both Newcastle:
and Weston County, and maybe
some other places in Wyoming,”
Jones said of his group’s plans
for applying what they learn.
The official NOYS website
describes the summit as “an
annual event where youth gather;
to learn how to engage their peers,j
parents, community leaders, and:
policymakers in education about;
teen distracted driving. Young:
people who want to be a part of
the solution will learn strategies
for implementing these programs:
and educational initiatives in
their local communities.”
We would like to recognize Wyoming
Refining Company employees Shane .
Crawford and Paul Farnsworth for the
additional work they performed that led
to the creation of the community fishing
pond at the Newcastle Country Club.