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CAAEL’s Academic Bowl

Four of our brave high school students to the annual “CAAEL Academic Bowl”, hosted by New Hope School. The Academic Bowl is a yearly competition of other alternative and therapeutic schools in the area divided into small groups for each school’s chosen students to represent the team. Each team has one student as a spokesperson to share the team’s answers and gain points.

At the academic bowl, there are four rounds of competition, which included thirty questions about Geography, Science, History, English and Math. Felicity took home a second place trophy for sportsmanship as well as the second highest scoring school among the group! All schools were rewarded with a celebratory pizza.

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Richardson's Farm: An Annual Felicity Fall Tradition

Felicity students eagerly attended the yearly tradition of going to Richardson’s Farm during the peak of the fall season. Students and staff received a tour of the farm on a private hayride, provided by one of the owners of Richardson’s farm, enjoyed delicious s’mores after lunch and explore the farm’s attractions throughout the day in small groups.

Some of the Richard’s Farm activities included: the famous corn maze, petting zoos, the giant “jumping pillows” and pick out a pumpkin to take back and paint at school for Halloween fun. All painted pumpkins will be placed in a friendly competition to get the chance to win, “Most Creative Pumpkin”.

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Soul Harbour Ranch Therapeutic Horse Farm

In October, a group of Felicity students were able to check out Soul Harbour Ranch in Barrington, Illinois. In previous years, Felicity staff has been working on continuing to provide activities for students to interact with animals on field trips and special events. Felicity staff has found that interacting with animals can reduce anxiety overall, especially in students who have patterns of impulsive behavior.

The ranch included a variety of animals trained to be emotional support animals including: miniature therapeutic donkeys, miniature therapeutic horses and therapy dogs. Students pet the animals, learn how to walk with them around the farm and helped with grooming.

This was Felicity’s first time visiting and based on the student feedback, won’t be the last. Thank you to CAAEL for inviting Felicity to join in! Featured above is one of our Felicity clinicians, Ms. Swillum, enjoying some quality time with one of the miniature therapeutic donkeys.

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Bears Fit

Mid school year, a small group of Felicity students received the opportunity to participate in a sample workout that the Chicago Bears complete as a part of their pre-season training at the program called Bears Fit. The intense session demonstrated the skill, strength and dedication necessary to be an elite athlete. One of the requirements of our Felicity students going was to confirm they would be willing to participate in a sample workout for P.E. credit.

As much as Felicity loves to capture memories at our field trips throughout the year, due to the privacy of the facility, students were unable to bring their phones. However, this was a great opportunity to be mindful of the present moment and be comfortable sharing experiences without needing phones to make it memorable.

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The Historical Holocaust Museum

Ten students were selected to attend the Holocaust Museum in Skokie, Illinois to view a number of the exhibits as well as attend a discussion with a Holocaust survivor and ask questions. Some of our students were able to ask engaging and thought-provoking questions regarding a personalized experience of the Holocaust in a way that may not always be accessible to learn about.

Additionally, a number of these students have not been able to attend this museum and it was a great opportunity to see some of the underlying information about the Holocaust to apply to one of our online history classes or inspire individual projects for credit. This field trip proved to be insightful for students to learn and understand one of the darkest events in human history.

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Camping at Devil’s Lake State Park

Camping with students has been a Felicity tradition that many of our students look forward to each year. Camping gives students a mututally exclusive opportunity to introduce important life skills of outdoor survival as well as providing a short getaway experience in nature to reset and reduce stress of daily life.

At the start of our school year, Felicity students accompanied Ms. Greenawalt and Mr. Watson on a camping trip to Devil’s Lake in Baraboo, Wisconsin. During the trip, students cooked their own food over a campfire, helped each other build tents, spent a considerable amount of time hiking and enjoying the beautiful scenery.

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Being Competitive and Humble

Hoop dreams come alive at Felicity! The Chicago Area Alternative Education League (CAAEL) provides a wonderful opportunity for our students to compete. First year basketball coach, Sol Luskin, knows firsthand that planning, preparation, and execution are the keys to success both on and off the court. Felicity students have been provided an extra layer of motivation to be good citizens, complete their work, and participate in a competitive setting that values leadership and sportsmanship.

After every CAAEL game, it is tradition for the student athletes to award two sportsmanship ribbons to the opposing team. Felicity students have participated in the ribbon ceremony three times now. Those that present the ribbons have gained the unique opportunity to provide specific praise to someone they have just competed against. With a record of 2-1 during the 2017-2018 season, Felicity is poised to have fun and hopefully win a few more games, all while learning how to be humble.

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2016-17: A Look Into Our Year

The 2016-2017 school year was quite successful in Mr. Watson’s and Mr. Kostas’ classroom. This year, we introduced individual and group art therapy for our students as an additional resource for transferable skills and an outlet for creativity. Also, we read the novel Unwind, a science fiction book for young adults by Neal Shusterman. Further, we went on various field trips throughout the school year to promote social, emotional, and academic growth.
We started the school year with 5 students and grew to 9 students by the end of the year! We watched 3 of our students move on to bigger and better things in their post-high school endeavors. We are proud to have had 2 high school graduates and 1 student reintegrate into their home school full-time. Mr. Watson and Mr. Kostas are looking forward to the 2017-2018 school year and hope it will be as successful as the 2016-2017 year.