JUMPING JACK THEATER
in the Autistic Support
Classroom BY LAUREN DANKERT
O
n Friday March 8th and Friday March 22nd students in Mrs.
Dankert’s and Ms. Pollick’s Autistic support classrooms
at Wilkins Elementary participated in workshops run by
Jumping Jack Theater. This opportunity was funded by a Mini-
Grant from the Woodland Hills Foundation.
The workshops were geared towards students on the Autism
Spectrum with communication and sensory needs. The workshops
were aligned to the Pennsylvania Core Standards and provided
objectives targeting group discussions, improvisation and dramatic
play to build trust in a safe space, and mindfulness tools.
Each workshop began with the Hello Song, where students
were given the opportunity to say hello to the group in their own
unique way. The group then went over the rules and expectations
for the workshop. During the first workshop students brought a
favorite item to show and explain to the group. Students were then
introduced to Pigeon, a puppet character from Jumping Jack’s
Cityscape show. The students had the opportunity to try their hand
at puppetry by controlling Pigeon. The final activity in the first
workshop was mindful breathing. Students were taught to do five
pigeon breaths to calm themselves.
The second workshop focused on the sights and sounds found
in a city. Students were given the opportunity to talk about and
make sounds they may hear in a city. They then recorded the
sounds that were made in a city, cars driving and beeping, a
construction site, and a park/
fountain. In the final activity the
students created a bus pass and
acted out riding the bus.
On April 5th Jumping
Jack Theater brought their
performance of Cityscape to Wilkins Elementary to perform for
the students. All students in the Autistic Support and Life Skills
classrooms at Wilkins Elementary attended the performance. Prior
to the beginning of the show the students recorded the sounds
to be used in different scenes. Jumping Jack Theater brought with
them special sensory pillows and fidgets that went along with the
show for every student in attendance.
This was a great opportunity for students to explore live theater
in a sensory friendly environment. The students had a fantastic
time and wanted to know when Jumping Jack Theater would
be able to return to Wilkins Elementary again! Thank you to the
Woodland Hills Foundation for selecting this project to receive
Mini-Grant Funding.
CODING TEAM TAKES
1 ST PLACE at PNC “Code
for Your Cause” Competition!
BY AARON MINOR
L-R: Principal - Mr. Graf, Brennan McCreary, Aidan Beck, Paige Durmis,
Kamir Walton, Madeline Douglas, Teacher – Mr. Minor
O
n April 12th at PNC Firstside Center, 5 students from
Woodland Hills High School came in first place at the first
ever PNC “Code for Your Cause” coding competition. PNC
started this event to promote diversity and innovation. The event
was designed to inspire and encourage students to show off their
talents by creating an application that utilized the Java or Python
programming language, SQL database, and HTML. Students
worked with mentors from PNC and got first-hand experience
working on a project as a team in a corporate atmosphere.
When Mr. Minor first saw what was expected of the competition,
he immediately realized how difficult of a task it would be to
connect Java, SQL, and HTML. However, as a teacher one can never
overlook or underestimate the drive and determination students
will put forth to accomplish a common goal. What was required
would be a final project for a computer science student in their 2nd
year of college.
The students decided to take on the challenge statement “How
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WOODLAND HILLS
might you create safer spaces for people to find and connect
with like-minded friend groups?” What these students create
was a web application called 2Gather. 2Gather was designed
so people could come find groups that interested them or
create their own group. One of the features was to identify age
appropriate groups. Additionally, the application also took into
consideration places that were deemed to be in safe places.
The students gained very valuable experience from taking
on specific roles. One student was in charge of creating the
wireframe for the application. Prior to working on the project
this student wasn’t aware what a wireframe was or what purpose
it served. This student learned something new and also rose up
to the challenge of doing something unfamiliar.
In summary, the students not only rose up to a challenging
task and won first place, but more importantly they got a taste of
how the corporate world works on a project as a team.