Shredding the Ice

Mr. Tom and Mrs. K. took all of the boys and girls in the MERIT Program ice skating at Rosa Parks Circle in Grand Rapids. It was a lot of our first times shredding the ice :) It was so much fun! After we ice skated we went to the Dog Pit for hot dogs. It was very yummy!

Thank you Mr. Tom and Mrs. K. for such a fun night!

CPR....are you prepared?

Mrs. Bocks, our P.E. teacher, instructed the MERIT Program about what to do if a person is not breathing or is choking.
In order to be prepared for life threatening situations you should know these life saving steps.

• Check the scene. Is it safe?
• Are you ok? Are you ok?
• Call 911
• Head tilt/chin lift (this opens the airway)
• Look, listen, and feel for breathing for 5-10 seconds
• 2 breaths (if chest does not rise, retilt and give 2 more breaths)
• Check pulse
• Check for severe bleeding
• Begin rescue breathing or CPR
  

Off to Colorado....

The MERIT Program students and teachers had to say goodbye to Mrs. J. right before Thanksgiving break. To celebrate her time with us at Hudsonville we got her a pretty cake, card and an Eagles sweatshirt. Maghen even made her a picture to hang on the wall of her new classroom. We think she liked it all! We were really sad to see her go but we know she had move to Colorado with her hudband. We all miss her very much and hope she comes to visit us again soon!










p.s. Mrs. J. did you get a puppy yet?

Boys Outing

Yesterday, the boys went on an outing and it was crazy! It was brain boggling, eye popping, heart stopping, mouth dropping. It was nuts and it was unpredictable!! When all the totals were counted up Josh conquered a score of 90 during the first game and Eric took home the second game win with a score of 128. There were a lot of gutters made but it was a lot of FUN!

By: A.J. Keckler

Parker Comes To School

We were so excited to finally have Parker come in for visit! It was a pretty hot October day (strange) so the Halloween costume didn't last long. The kids helped me through a long pregnancy so it was great to have them finally meet my "reward"!

"I don't care what people say...I don't care what people do....but I care about what people go through" by Diana Niewiek

Today in English class we talked about observations that we make day to day. The definition of observation is looking at a situation before communicating so one can communicate appropriately with good timing.

We role played all types of observations. Some of the skits we performed were good examples of what to do and bad examples of what NOT to do. Our favorite skits had to do with friendship. We acted out how to treat a friend when they are upset or shy. We also acted out how to treat our parents when they are busy or have had a long day. We learned how to observe a teacher whey they are working with another student or talking with another teacher.

We had a good time making up our skits and will remember to observe before we act.

By: Caitlyn and Ashley

Lakeshore Disability Network

This year Lucia and Sam from Lakeshore Disability Network will be working with the MERIT Program to help us prepare for work and life after school. This past Friday we learned about reasons we need to work. There are several reasons why we should work.....economic, personal, social and community reasons.

It was a great first meeting! We are excited to learn how to GET a job and KEEP a job!

Thank you Lucia and Sam. See you soon!

By: Hayli and Jake