Aloha! Mt. Pleasant Area hosts luau for life skills students from around the county

Westmoreland students didn’t need to go to Hawaii to enjoy a luau Friday morning.

Staff at Mt. Pleasant Area Junior High School hosted a luau-themed party for life skills students from high schools throughout the county.

“I think that being around kids just like them makes them feel comfortable,” said Jocelyn Hill, a learning support teacher at Mt. Pleasant Area High School. “They get to mingle with each other and the Blue Shirts club. I just think that it gives them a day to have fun and be with other kids that are just like them.”

Members of the high school’s Blue Shirts club, a group of students who help class members who require communication and sometimes physical aid, decorated the junior high gym with flowers and themed wallpapers.

“When we brought life skills back into our district nine years ago — to see that grow and get to the point where it is right now, it’s rewarding for all of the students,” said Tim Gabauer, superintendent of Mt. Pleasant Area School District. “It’s become part of our culture.”

Multiple student organizations were involved in the celebration. Members of the senior high and middle school band played a welcome song as students from other schools arrived, and the varsity cheer and colorguard squads danced along with the music. Each guest was given a lei and a grass skirt upon entering the gym.

“To see the band out there and our cheerleaders welcoming the other students — I think it just speaks volumes to how much our students embrace the activities and embrace the other schools,” Gabauer said.

Hill said this was the third end-of-year party the school has hosted for the county’s life skills students, and they plan on continuing the annual event.