School Gets Special Education Trip to Catalina Island

(Pasadena, CA) – Chapman and Associates, a local Pasadena company, funded a trip to Catalina Island for the children attending Hillsides Education Center, a school providing special education to children needing individualized attention for emotional disturbances and learning disabilities like attention deficit disorder.

The goal of the trip was to promote the exploration and education of natural flora and fauna of the island, as well as the importance of adaptability in nature. The trip allowed a group of 11 children, some with learning disabilities like attention deficit disorder, and their teachers, to benefit from a fun hands-on activity they will remember forever.

The trip was an overnight excursion with the first day spent hiking the interior of the island where they spotted an island fox, a bald eagle, bison and many types of native birds. The children were able to visit the Catalina Island Conservancy’s Nature Center in Avalon Canyon, where the center’s self-guided exhibits and hands-on activities made learning about the natural habitats of the island interesting and stimulating for the kids.

Later the children were driven by the Catalina Island Conservancy through the area of Catalina Island that had burned in May. They were taught that dramatic changes to ecosystems like the island create effects to the animals inhabiting the area as well as the people living on the island. The children were shown parts of the burn area that are beginning to sprout new growth, but were told that in many locations it would take seven to eight years for the area to grow back to its sustainable level.

After their long day of hands-on learning and exploring the island the special education children and their teachers camped at Hermits Gulch in Avalon. The camping trip, which was a first time experience for many of the children, included eating s'mores and telling ghost stories.

This hands-on learning of the indigenous people, animals and plant life on Catalina Island allows the children of Hillsides Education Center, especially those with learning disabilities like attention deficit disorder, to examine and learn up close and personal instead of from a textbook. "They experienced a way of learning that is new to many of these special education children," said Jay Bechtol director of Hillsides Education Center. "It is activities like this trip to Catalina Island, and donors like Chapman and Associates, that allows the Hillsides Education Center to teach and affect the lives of children with learning disabilities."

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About Hillsides Education Center: As a special education and private school founded in 1982, Hillsides Education Center creates a safe learning environment for students who require individualized attention due to severe emotional disturbances like attention deficit disorder or learning disabilities. To learn more about Hillsides Education Center, visit www.Hillsides.org.