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12 | January 26, 2017 | The lake forest leader School News<br />
LakeForestLeader.com<br />
SAVE THE DATE<br />
Deer Path Middle School opens new life skills classroom<br />
10am - 2pm<br />
Saturday, Feb. 25th<br />
Sunset Ridge School<br />
525 Sunset Ridge Road, Northfield<br />
Activities include:<br />
• Meet with day camps, overnight camps,<br />
sports camps, arts camps and more!<br />
• Free Face Painting and Balloon Artist<br />
(10:30 am - 1:30 pm.<br />
• Free cotton candy<br />
• Games for children<br />
FREE PARKING! FREE ADMISSION!<br />
For more info: (847) 272-4565<br />
www.22ndcenturymedia.com/camp<br />
Alyssa Groh, Editor<br />
Three years ago the<br />
staff at Deer Path Middle<br />
School realized they did<br />
not have the proper room<br />
and resources to give students<br />
with special needs<br />
the tools to learn in an<br />
environment and way that<br />
worked for them.<br />
During that time the<br />
school started to have an<br />
increase in enrollment<br />
of special needs students<br />
from the elementary<br />
schools and realized they<br />
needed to make some<br />
changes to help them succeed.<br />
“We realized we had to<br />
develop a more functional<br />
programming for the students,”<br />
said Tom Cardamone,<br />
the principal at Deer<br />
Path Middle School. “For<br />
two years we had a program<br />
that was embedded<br />
into a traditional looking<br />
classroom and it was making<br />
due with the space we<br />
had to support our learners.”<br />
The space the students<br />
previously learned in was<br />
a large open classroom,<br />
which used to be a library,<br />
and had minimal walls and<br />
did not make for a functional<br />
classroom.<br />
In the summer of 2015<br />
the school hired Lauren<br />
Bell to help with the redevelopment<br />
of the space<br />
and to help make a program<br />
that would help the<br />
students succeed.<br />
When Bell started teaching<br />
the eight life skills<br />
students in the large classroom<br />
she began to visualize<br />
what she wanted the<br />
new classroom to look like.<br />
In the large open classroom<br />
Bell created sections<br />
of the room where students<br />
could work on different<br />
things in each section. Immediately<br />
it became obvious<br />
an open space classroom<br />
was not ideal for the<br />
The Go Zone room in the large life skills room at Deer Path Middle School has a<br />
swing to help all students release any extra energy they may have. PHOTOS BY ALYSSA<br />
GROH/22ND CENTURY MEDIA<br />
life skills students because<br />
every student could hear<br />
each other working which<br />
created a loud and chaotic<br />
classroom making it difficult<br />
to learn.<br />
Bell decided to redesign<br />
the room so there were<br />
separate rooms within the<br />
large space.<br />
“I knew I wanted separate<br />
spaces so groups could<br />
work in separate rooms so<br />
they could have their individual<br />
attention they need<br />
to work on whatever or be<br />
separated from other students<br />
so distractions are<br />
not there,” Bell said.<br />
“As we looked at the<br />
true programming for life<br />
skills we had a lot of philosophical<br />
conversations,”<br />
Cardamone said.<br />
Together with the rest<br />
of the staff and the board<br />
of education they worked<br />
on developing a new design<br />
for the classroom that<br />
would better assist life<br />
skills students.<br />
The planning and redesign<br />
for the room began in<br />
February of 2016 and the<br />
new classroom opened in<br />
November of 2016.<br />
Today the large room is<br />
divided into five separate<br />
Deer Path Middle School designed a new life skills<br />
classroom and opened its doors in November.<br />
rooms. On of the rooms<br />
called the Go Zone Room,<br />
which is filled with different<br />
equipment such as<br />
a swing and treadmill.<br />
The Go Zone is open to<br />
all students, not just life<br />
skills students who need to<br />
escape for a few minutes<br />
during the day to let out<br />
some energy or relax.<br />
Now that the room is<br />
finished and students have<br />
begun learning in it and<br />
the work has paid off for<br />
Bell.<br />
“It was a huge transition<br />
when we went into<br />
that classroom,” Bell said.<br />
“But before my kids managed<br />
[in the large classroom]…<br />
There was a lot<br />
happening in a big space.<br />
Now that we have different<br />
spaces they can come<br />
in and go to their spot<br />
and learn in their space. It<br />
flows and it is more relaxing<br />
and calming for them.”<br />
The redesign of the<br />
classroom was very well<br />
received by both parents<br />
and the board of education.<br />
“[The classroom] has<br />
been fun and it has opened<br />
up a lot of opportunities for<br />
my students,” Bell said. “I<br />
think my role coming in I<br />
really wanted not just the<br />
students and staff in the<br />
building to have an understanding<br />
of my students<br />
but to understand and what<br />
they are capable of.”
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