It’s a privilege to get to know our students and see their everyday growth through our program, like our student, Slater, who has grown in confidence and maturity over the years. He has recently reached goals that are very important to him, like volunteering out in the community and being able to effectively communicate with his family and friends about what he is learning at Pathways.
As a fun-loving extrovert who enjoys meeting new friends, learning about appropriate communication in different settings during life skills classes has been especially important to Slater. Learning social cues to know when it’s his turn to share and practicing asking follow up questions related to a given conversation topic helps Slater build stronger relationships with others.
Nikki, Slater’s mom, shared that in the past, Slater would not communicate with them about what he was learning, but recently he has been able to do that.
Over the last few weeks during Science class, Slater has observed the life cycle of butterflies. He discovered that moths form cocoons and butterflies form chrysalises for 10-14 days. When it wiggles out, the wings are wet and crumpled, and then they dry and are ready to fly. Slater was able to help release the butterflies with his peers, and the whole process was wonderful for him. When Slater got home, this “social butterfly” was so excited to teach his dad all about the butterflies he watched grow in class.
Pathways is important to Slater because he is learning, growing, and has a strong community, and as he said it best, “Pathways is my life!”
