As we all know Bingham High School has decided to drop their life skills class for individuals with disabilities. WRONG! After they announced that the class was going to be dropped and that all the students would be transferred to either West Jordan or Riverton High, the decision was reversed due to public outcry. In spite of the smaller class size, the Bingham community is very pleased to be able to welcome the Life Skills students back to Bingham.

Recently they have been having fewer and fewer students in the class and next year they are only expected to have six students. Lexi Waite, the teacher of the class, thinks that this is due to people putting their students into charter schools more for the educational opportunities. Charter schools have become a much more popular choice for parents these past few years, according to Waite. 

Mrs. Waite has made the decision to transfer to Jordan District’s post-high school for people with disabilities, South Valley School. This is the school where high school graduates go to continuing learning life skills. They usually attend this school right after high school until they are 22 years old, and then they are officially done with school, unless they wish to go to college. Some students don’t follow this path though because their parents would rather have them stay at home or focus on getting a job. 

The new teacher of Bingham’s Life Skills class will be transferring from South Valley School. Her name is Lindsey Collins, so make sure you give her a big welcome next year.

When I talked to Mrs. Waite, she told me that she hasn’t had enough aids for the class for years, and since Bingham announced the class was closing right before arena scheduling, they definitely don’t have enough for next year. 

Having aids for the class helps so that the students can go to other classes outside of the actual life skills class. Aids will take the students to other classes such as foods, art, sewing, and other elective classes. They also help out the teacher with grading and other work. The aids have a huge role in the class, so talk to your counselor if you would like to get involved and make a difference.