Held on the eighth of December from 10:00 to 3:00 in the main lobby, Woodgrove’s annual holiday market brings students and teachers from all over the school together to shop. This year was no different, with long lines stretching from the coffee and hot cocoa bar and a steady stream of customers each block of the day. The main hallway, decorated with ornaments and snowflakes for the school’s production of Elf, perfectly fit the market’s theme.
The holiday market is run by the Transition and Special Education Departments at Woodgrove. It not only offers an opportunity for Woodgrove students and staff to buy some holiday treats, but it allows special education students to learn important skills for their future.“Part of our program with our students is helping them prepare to get jobs,” explained Ms. Jacqueline Garbe, the Special Education Transition teacher who is in charge of the market. “This is just another opportunity for them to practice communicating with each other, with customers, and with peers; [to practice] workplace readiness, like being on time and cleaning up the area; and making sure they’re using good customer service skills. They’re constantly working on those skills, and that’s part of our program to try and help them get ready for employment.”
Special education students work for months to create crafts and grow plants to sell. Getting the plants ready for sale is one of the biggest challenges of preparing for the market. Special Education Teacher Ms. Lisa Barcenas said, “We started in October, because of the plants. They have to grow and we have to make sure we have all the materials we need. We take jars and repurpose them. We often have to clean them and decorate them, and then we put the plants in.”
Despite the challenge of putting everything together for the holiday market, teachers expressed how much they enjoy it every year. “[The students are] excited to go up and see everyone come and buy all their creations that they made, or work the register. They really like doing that. It’s good to see them blossom,” expressed Ms. Jennifer Beamer, an instructional assistant in the Special Education Department.
Seeing her students thrive was a great experience for Barcenas. She shared, “I think my favorite part has been that the kids are so proud that they participated. They work so hard. They love going up there and being cashiers. We practiced filling out the receipts, and doing the math part of that, which is a bit challenging for some of them…I like doing projects with the kids that are real-world projects, not just stuff we make up.”
After spending months doing hard work, the students were also happy to see their hard work pay off. “The winter market was amazing,” stated senior Estrellita Sanchez Solis, one of the students who created crafts for and worked at the market. “It’s really fun. Everyone was happy to be there together.” Freshman Cole Latham agreed, saying his favorite part was “making money with my friends and teachers.”
All the profit made from the market goes back into the special education classrooms, allowing them to purchase supplies, programs and trainings, and items used for the spring market. If you did not get a chance to shop at the winter market, the market will return to Woodgrove in May to celebrate spring, where students will be selling vegetables, herbs, and spring crafts.
