On October 28, Castle Valley Center hosted a special event for a group of their students called “A Very Hungry Caterpillar Dinner.” Kim Williams, the Autism Specialist for the district, explained that they had been working on skills in the building’s life skills classroom, using The Very Hungry Caterpillar as a help guide. Students set goals and this event was the culmination of that goal setting.
Within the classroom, students worked on math, reading, and functional communication skills. Using the book, the faculty matched what and how many food items were in the book with a shopping list. The focus was on having the students ask questions and for help rather than having help provided from the get-go; they wanted to improve their independence.
Kim Williams and Amy Bell, principal of Castle Valley Center, along with help from the faculty and staff set up a buffet of the food from the story: apples, pears, plums, strawberries, oranges, chocolate cake, ice-cream cones, pickles, swiss cheese, salami, lollipops, cherry pies, sausages, cupcakes, and watermelon. Students from the post-education classroom (students ages 18-22) also helped with preparations for the event; they helped wrap the silverware and set up decorations.
In addition to the students from Castle Valley Center, Tiffany Kurtz from the Special Education faculty at Carbon High brought the intensive intervention class from the high school to help younger students navigate through the serving area so the high school students could develop those helping skills and gave them leadership experience.