Friday at David’s Supermarket you could see some very skilled shoppers making their way through the store. They were the CBI students from Italy High School and Avalon High School with Lee Joffre (Italy High School principal). They were busy hunting down various items on their shopping list.

Jennifer Whiteley (Avaon ISD CBI teacher) was busy escorting her students through the store. She said, “We are shopping for finger foods today and we are getting ready for Homecoming. So we are busy shopping and learning life skills at the same time.”

Principal Joffre was having a great time watching the students put to use the life skills they have learned.

“I came up here to Davids Supermarket to support what the teachers are doing, Miss Young and Miss Davis (CBI teachers Italy High School) and the teachers from Avalon brought their students up here in order to teach the students how to prepare for life outside of high school. Today they came to practice shopping for normal things they will have to buy when they enter adulthood. What I see from the kids, and what they are doing here, the teachers are doing a very good job of teaching the kids to be independent. It is important for the kids to learn that independence. They have demonstrated that perfectly today. I got to see the kids help bag items and not only were they learning how to shop but they were learning how to possibly take on a job in that role where they might be a bagger or something like that in a grocery store. The teachers are doing a phenomenal job getting them ready for life outside of school.”

Young said, “We are practicing job skills today. Jobs that they will be able to do when they graduate from high school. We have a really good program here and we are working hand in hand with principal Joffre to make it even better. And we are really enjoying having Avalon ISD with us today.”