What Do Our Participants Do at the Murray Greenhouse?
We have a daily schedule at the "Greenhouse" that runs from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday. We have a worksheet for the student to work on while everyone arrives at the Greenhouse. We then serve a light lunch shortly after all the participants arrive. After lunch, we clean up and begin activities at 1:00 pm. After activities, all students are given a chore to enable them to take an active part in helping keep the Greenhouse clean.
Murray Greenhouse Activities Include
We provide a monthly schedule with a Theme Activity for each day. Every day we check the weather and look at our calendar to see what day it is. We also discuss Current Events daily as well as incorporate some time of physical activity each day. At least once during the week, we incorporate Reading, Math, Science, Spelling, History, Life Skills, Music, Computer Skills, Arts/Crafts, and more. Quite often we even manage to have fun and teach the participants all at the same time!
Goal Program
We have a Goal Program which helps each participant work on one to three goals that they, their parents, and the staff think they need to improve on. When they succeed in accomplishing a goal they earn a reward and move on to other goals. The Goal program also provides each participate “one-on-one” time with a counselor which is a very valuable learning experience for both student and teacher.
Field Trips
We try to offer each student the opportunity to go on a field trip once a month. Some trips are with the whole group and some field trips are with a smaller group of 2-4 students at a time, which gives them the opportunity to socialize in a different kind of environment.
Student of the Month
Our staff likes to spotlight each student occasionally by having a student of the month. We have found this is a great way to make each student feel special and important.
Our Goal for Our Participants
It is very rewarding to see our participants grow both mentally and socially at the same time as they build great bonds of friendship with the other participants and counselors. Along the way, we hope they also learn many of the life skills that help make it possible for them to be more independent and responsible people in our everyday world. - our ultimate goal!
