Amy Lichwa
Doug F. Aftanas
R a i s i ng A wa r e n e ss
S
Norwin Senior High Life Skills students helped the school
community “grow” in its awareness of autism during
Autism Awareness Month this past April. Pictured left to
right are the Peer Buddy and seven students in the Life
Skills class.
for
A ut i s m
tudents at Norwin High School did something special in April to raise
awareness for Autism.
As part of the standard curriculum, Life Skills students host the
Knights Café, a cold/hot drink and snack bar available to teachers and
students at the beginning and end of each day. Fellow students, called
Peer Buddies, help the Life Skills students with social interaction, using
the register, and counting change.
In April, the Knights Café was additionally purposed to help Norwin
high school “grow” their awareness about Autism through such activities
as a puzzle piece hunt, puzzle piece sugar cookies, autism awareness
giveaways, and collecting donations that will be sent to the Autism
Speaks Foundation.
The Puzzle Piece hunt included puzzle pieces with facts about Autism
written on them. If a teacher or student received a puzzle piece, they
got a free or discounted item from the Knight’s Café. Puzzle pieces were
hung on a tree entitles “Grow Your Awareness” posted on the wall near
the cafe. As the tree “grew”, students and staff were encouraged to visit it
at their leisure, during lunches and free periods, to learn about Autism in
a collaborative, interactive environment.
Norwin | Summer 2016 | icmags.com 49
N orwin school district News
A
my Lichwa, CEO of Norwin Teachers FCU and member of the Foundation
Board of Directors, and Doug F. Aftanas, a business teacher at Norwin High
School, have prepared a correlation report aligning the lessons taught
in Financial Reality Fairs to the National Business Education Association (NBEA)
Standards for Business Learning.
The reports shows the strong extent to which Financial Reality Fairs align
with the standards for business classes around the country, according to the
Pennsylvania CU Association. Some of the NBEA standards that were analyzed
include personal decision making, managing finances and budgeting, savings
and investing, among others.
“This groundbreaking work underscores how effective an educational tool
Financial Reality Fairs can be to teachers and curriculum directors, as well as
students,” the PCUA said.
“I wan