Hi, I'm Terry Widener and I am one of two Essential Skills Teachers at CPMS. I've been teaching special education for 25 years and still enjoy it very much. I am married to Bruce (37 years) and have 4 children, 3 are married and the 4th is a special ed teacher at a charter school in Fountain Square. I also have 6 wonderful grandchildren ages almost 2 to 12 with a new one on the way in December.
We will continue learning functional academics as well as life skills this year. I will also be exposing your children to grade level standards in order to help prepare them for the ISTAR testing which occurs 2 times each year. We made good use of our life skills room last year and will continue doing laundry, cooking, cleaning and recycling as well as having social skill lessons. Please feel free to send in your child's favorite recipe and we'll try to make it.
Our class will join with Mrs. Border's class to go on community trips once every other week. These trips usually occur on Fridays and almost always involve lunch. We shop for cooking supplies one week and go on a fun and educational trip 2 weeks later. Some past trips have been to Kelsey Farms, Not Just Popcorn, and the skating rink.
To find out what's happening in our classroom and at CPMS, as well as class work and assignments, click on the Activities this week page. To see information about community trips and pictures, click on the Community Trips page. The websites page lists many fun and educational websites your students might enjoy. The Ipad apps page has several apps we use. Most are free to download. If you have an Ipad or Iphone you might want to check them out. Click on "more" to access the monthly calendar which should inform you of what's happening in our class and at our school.
Boxtops for Education Our class is collecting boxtops again this year. We receive all the money earned from the boxtops to use on our community trips and for supplies for cooking. Please send your boxtops in with your students. We receive $.10 for each one! Some of the products that have boxtops are Ziploc, Betty Crocker products, Juicy Juice, Kleenex, Avery and Pillsbury products to name a few. For a complete list go to www.btfe.com.
Recycling We have a paper recycling container in the SW corner of CPMS' front parking lot. Mrs. Border's and my class recycle the entire school's paper every Tuesday and Wednesday. We talk about the importance of recycling and what happens to the paper after it is recycled throughout the year. You are welcome to bring your old newspapers, magazines and paper to CPMS and dump them in our recycling bin.