On Friday, Oct. 12, Mr. Laird Anderson took his Special Education class to downtown Monrovia for a community trip. Around the start of 2nd period, Mr. Anderson and his classes boarded the Foothills Transit to head to Old Town Monrovia. Once the group arrived at their destination, they walked around and browsed the local businesses that lined the streets, ranging from a shoe store to a juice store. After a quick lunch, the group headed back to AHS, just in time for the start of 5th period.

Community trips are usually a monthly occurrence in Mr. Anderson’s class. On these trips, students are able to explore different parts of the community and analyze businesses, figuring out if they serve food, sell goods, or provide services. Students also work on a range of real-life skills, such as ordering food, budgeting their money, paying independently, and taking public transportation.

Mr. Anderson expressed his thoughts on the importance of community trips, especially this particular one. “Community trips are a great way to practice real-world life skills and concepts that we work on and talk about in class,” he said. He also gave a special message to his students. “Shout out to my students — you guys are the best!”

For this trip specifically, Mr. Anderson gave one of his students choices, and that student was able to choose where to go. However, their other trips typically coincide with classroom activities or events that are taking place in the community.

Similar to Mr. Anderson, senior Myrick Difronzo thought that the trip was both memorable and educational. “I had fun,” he said. “I think the trip was significant because I was able to explore and look around at downtown Monrovia, which is something that I’ve never really done before.” When asked to recall his trip, Myrick added, “It was fun to explore the different businesses that were there. [My friend] Harry and I found a really cool shoe store and juice store, then we ate lunch at WaBa Grill, which was really good.” As for his favorite part, “I really liked taking the transit,” he mentioned.

Overall, this trip was not just a memorable and fun experience, but it was also a great way to allow students to practice real-life skills in everyday situations. We hope that everyone had a great time and can’t wait for their next community trip!

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Mariano Vivanco