Life Skills

Life Skills

By: Olivia Wright

Date: 3/13/25

In Cal Young, there is a classroom that isn't exactly like the other classrooms. It has students, they learn, and they have teachers, but the students are different and the teachers aren't actually called teachers. They are instructional/educational assistants. Does this give you a hint on what the class is?

It is the Life Skills classroom! A class full of astounding kids and instructional assistants. There are 11 students; Kayleen, Ava, Robby, Damien, Erica, Heyden, Aiden, Sophia, Ari, Nuro, and Ella. The kids are a lot like the kids around Cal Young, even though a lot of people don’t think so. They have highs and lows and are sometimes excited and sometimes sad. The only difference is the abilities they have. Some kids in the class have an intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder, and OHI (other health impairments). 

The way they learn in class is by having goals. Each student has a goal around academics and works on those goals by having activities and lesson plans. They also do P.E.! They go into the cafeteria and the assistants play music while they use their scooters or dance!

When I was writing this article, I realized that I didn’t know that much about Life Skills. So I decided to interview two of the amazing instructional assistants and the head teacher in the Life Skills room: Janae Ashton, Emily Harrison, and Cameron Ritchey. Janae said that she loves watching the kids “make gains” and “seeing how far they've come and how much they've grown”. Emily said that she loves the “fun classroom environment” and loves to “play and be silly”. She later mentions how they “always get to laugh together”. Another thing I was happy to hear was what Cameron said, he said he loves “[seeing] them at their highs and lows” and being able to be there for “every little success”.

Since the instructional assistants want them to practice the skills they need in class, they sometimes go into other classrooms or kids come into their room. When they go into classes, they learn about the things the class is learning, but they also learn social skills like what to say to certain things, when to raise your hand, and more. When a kid/kids come into their class, the kids help them in their own environment or are just there for them if they need help.

Another thing they have in the Life Skills classroom is routines. One thing they do for a routine is how to safely get on a bus. Another thing they do is practice social skills. For this they do things like, “how to have a conversation with a friend” or good conversation topics.

Life Skills is a classroom full of kids, kids that are both similar and different from others, kids that are full of excitement, happiness, but also have their downs just like everyone else. They also need help, like all of us, except they have instructional assistants who help them through things. But even though they have their differences and might seem strange because of it, they are each amazing kids that are just as amazing as everyone else. Besides, everyone's different. And despite people's differences, everyone is amazing in their own way and has a place at our school, Cal Young.