Hawks in Transition (H.I.T. Team)

One of the goals of the H.I.T. Team is to increase special needs students' comfort with interacting with regular education students. To accomplish this goal, the Peer Partnership Program was implemented by Steven Nation and Laurel Bush. Regular education students are mentors to special needs students. They meet on a weekly basis. During the meetings students work on social activities that help the students get to know each other. PPP allows the students to grow and interact with their mentors.

On October 29,2011, the Kelly H.I.T. Team took a group of students to listen to Michael J. Fox speak in Cape Girardeau. The group of 25 students listened as Fox spoke of his rise to fame and his battle with Parkinson's Disease. The core of his message was to stay positive despite what happens in our lives. The students attending took that message to heart. L.J. Sanders, a member of PPP said, "I learned things about Michael J. Fox that I never knew before. He told us to keep going and don't let anything stop you from reaching your goals."

Other activities during first semester included the Haunted Halloween Tour, the Ugly Christmas sweater contest, and Christmas lights tour and bowling extravaganza. Our school based enterprise, Kelly Creative Creations, made, advertised, and sold their gift jars. The hot chocolate jar, which debuted this year, sold out in only a few days! The H.I.T. Team has also been busy volunteering at the Elementary Chili Supper, along with cutting, sorting, and counting boxtops.

The H.I.T. team is looking forward to a productive 2012. We are recruiting new team members consistently and planning several activities with our students. Attending Blues Hockey Game, listening to speaker Bill Nye the Science Guy, and hunting for eggs in our Eggstravganza are activities that the H.I.T. Team has planned for the students at Kelly High School. The H.I.T. Team plans on attending the Summer Transition Institute this June.