Spread your wings!

Today is a very special day at PrairieWood.  Today, one of our students is spreading her wings and flying out on her own.  Sarah will be leaving us to begin work at Goodwill.  We could not be more excited and proud of her.  Sarah has learned so much and grown in her time at PrairieWood.  She is such a hard worker and so driven.  Good luck Sarah!  We hope all good things for your new, independent life!


We also celebrated a 21st birthday today!  Happy Birthday Kaitlyn!  Thank you for sharing a sweet treat with us!

With all this celebrating we managed to find time to learn too.  We spent our morning at the Iowa City Fire House 4 and had a great tour led by Mr. Brian Marak.  Brian showed us through the fire house and showed us all the equipment on the fire trucks that help the fire fighters help all of us.

Enjoy your weekend!

Snow Days oh Snow Days!

My goodness!  What a winter we are having!  We "enjoyed" yet another Snow day this week.  What did you do with your extra day?  It was too cold to get out there and make a snow man.  Despite our change in routine, we managed to have a good week and got a lot done.

Our feature blogger this week is Nolan.  Here is what he had to say about his week at PrairieWood...
"This week at PrairieWood I learned to do a good job at work.  I enjoyed making a grilled cheese sandwich.  I was challenged by getting the grilled cheese sandwich from the plate to the frying pan.  At PrairieWood I would like to learn more about focusing on work, not watching TV.  I had a really good week at school."

Have a great weekend!

Weather Wise!

We have learned a lot about weather this year at PrairieWood.  We look at forecasts and prepare for what is coming.  We plan what to wear the next day based on the temperature and predicted forecast, and we do this all with the help of the weather team at KCRG.  Thanks to their application, website, and forecast in the newspaper, we are very "weather wise" at PrairieWood.  Today, we traveled downtown and got to tour KCRG Channel 9 Newsroom and Studio.  We learned a lot about what kind of work goes into putting our news together, especially that very important weather forecast.  Thank you to the folks at Channel 9 for taking the time to show us around!

Our feature blogger today is Andrea.  Here is what she had to say about her week at PrairieWood...

" This week I learned how to make more filing labels at hibu.  I liked getting my new name badge at work.  I was challenged by reading some of the file names at work.  At PrairieWood I would like to learn more about how to make grilled cheese.  I liked going to KCRG today!"

Based on our visit today, we got the inside scoop on the snow that is coming over the weekend...STAY WARM!

A big community today!

Today was a very busy day for us!  We spent time in the morning doing our center chores and were all very independent!  To celebrate our independence we went to lunch at Zio Johno's and displayed even more independence!  Each student ordered on their own, and payed for their own lunch!  SO GREAT!  We enjoyed great conversation and great food before heading out into the cold.  Off to Marion we went to drop off some of our holiday cards at Dreaming Bear in anticipation for tonight's Peppermint Walk (hope to see some of you out there).  From there we headed to Dollar Tree to make some more purchases, this time for our friends.  Each student selected and purchased a gift for one of their peers, to be exchanged at our holiday party later this month.  Back to the center we went to wrap our presents and wrap up our day.  It is so fun to spend the day in the community and watch each of our students show just how independent they are!

Our feature blogger this week is Parker.  Here is what he had to say about his week at PrairieWood:

"This week at PrairieWood, I learned to find hamburger.  I enjoyed getting my independence award.  I was challenged by pulling the cord at HyVee for the city bus.  At PrairieWood I would like to learn how to make Spaghetti."

Pictures from our lunch out...Enjoy your weekend!

The 6th Annual PrairieWood Thanksgiving feast...

Whelp...we are exhausted!  We have spent the entire week preparing food, cleaning the center, and practicing our party social skills.  And today we showed off all our hard work.  Guests included students and staff from Prairie and Kirkwood, those that are supportive of our program and those students who may one day be attending PrairieWood.  Each student spent two days cooking items that were served at today's luncheon.  Ask your PrairieWood student about their favorite part of the day!  We took some time this afternoon to reflect on our week of preparations and here is what we have to share...

"During our Thanksgiving, I learned to Grocery Shop for Thanksgiving food." Sarah

"During our Thanksgiving , I enjoyed talking with my friends." Nolan

"During our Thanksgiving , I was challenged by keeping my sleeves up while cooking" Andrea

"My favorite part of our Thanksgiving was making the stuffing." Kaitlyn

"During our Thanksgiving, I learned to make pumpkin pie." Parker

"My favorite part of our Thanksgiving was the people." Kyle

I could not be prouder of each and every one of our students today.  They worked so hard to clean and prepare the food, and were such great hosts to our guests.   They represented PrairieWood well!!!

Enjoy the pictures from our week of preparations and our party today...

 

Bowling Success!

What a FUN day the students and staff of the Transition Center had today.  We started our Friday morning at Westdale Bowl for the Special Olympics Bowling Regional competition.  Our students represented PrairieWood and Special Olympics well with their positive attitudes and smiling faces!  Each one of them had the best time bowling and cheering on their classmates.  Below is photos from our day.  Enjoy!

Rainy day fun!

Our original Friday activity plans had us heading to Palisades Park in Mt. Vernon today.  Its an annual fall trip where we cook out and go on a nature hike to enjoy the fall weather.  Well...it would be a pretty miserable trip today...so we had to come up with Plan B.  What a better way to spend a rainy day than with a trip to the movie theater.  We will be heading to the Budget Theater this afternoon to enjoy Despicable Me 2 3D.  Many of us are more excited about purchasing our own snacks.  An afternoon full of great learning opportunities and a little fun at the movie theater!

Our feature blogger this week is Sarah.  Here is what she had to say about her (short) week at PrairieWood.

" This week at PrairieWood I learned cooking because I made s'mores.  I enjoyed city bus.  I was challenged by playing a game.  I would like to learn more about the Rec. Center.  I am excited about our movie trip."

Have a great weekend!  And stay dry!!!