Welcome to the May Edition of our agency wide newsletter!
Hackettstown Center
Hi, I’m Sarah. I like Disney characters, writing stories on my tablet, going to concerts, and talking with my friends about different topics. I also enjoy sharing lunch outside with my peers on beautiful days, like in early spring when there are no mosquitoes and colorful butterflies can be seen.
Hi, my name is Rebecca, and I like to play basketball and golf with my friend Brian. We have fun outside with our peers. I like to work out and be active.
My advice for shooting baskets in the game is to bend your knees and push hard to get the ball into the basket.
Hi, my name is Brian, and I like to play outside with my peers after lunch. I practice golf with them and play with my family on the weekends.
Mary Apgar
Latest news and bulletin updates by your reporter on the scene, Darren.
We’ve had a fun and busy past month here at Mary Apgar. On 4/16 a group of us went to Pequest Fish Hatchery in Oxford. We got to see a bunch of taxidermy animals and we fed the fish. On 4/22 a group went to Oxford Lake for lunch, on 4/23 and 5/12 a group went to Meadow Breeze Park for lunch and to enjoy the weather, on 4/29 a group went to ShopRite and then to the park for lunch. On 5/1 a group of 8 went to Dairy Queen for lunch and ice cream and on 5/13 a different group of 9 went. I had a cheeseburger, fries, Sprite and an Ice Cream Sundae. It was delicious!
April 24th was Take a Child to Work Day. We had 8 children visit the center for the day. We all planted some new vegetable plants and they sprouted so fast. The mom’s put shower caps on their heads and Jo Anne went around and spread shaving cream on top of the caps. The kids got to throw cheeseballs at their mom’s to see how many they could get to stick to their heads. We got to throw some, too! It was hilarious!
We’re getting ready to take the new vegetable plants out into the greenhouse and transplant them.
April 30th was National Oatmeal Cookie Day. We baked Oatmeal cookies at the center, and they came out very good.
We got to see our pal Imperfect Phil and we had some visits from Sandy, the Zumba instructor.
This months “This or That”
- Apples- 17 or Oranges- 10
- Cats- 17 or Dogs- 12
- Dancing- 10 or Singing- 12
- Wake up early- 16 or Stay up late- 13
- Watch a hockey game-8 or Watch a football game- 16
- Feel chilly- 11 or Feel warm- 9
- Wear rain boots- 7 or Wear flip-flops- 14
Until next time everyone,
-Darren, your reporter on the scene
MSN
All About Me:
Name: John
Age: 33 yrs old
Favorite Food: Pizza
Favorite Drink: Apple Juice
Hobbies: Watching TV, going on trips with family, shopping and bowling.
Favorite Color: Red
Favorite Musician: Luke Bryan
Favorite Season: Fall
Favorite Holiday: Christmas
What I want others to know about me is that I love the Mets and the New York Giants. I am a good friend, and my favorite shows are Seinfeld and Everybody Loves Raymond. My favorite characters from each show are Krammer (Seinfeld) and Robert (Everybody Loves Raymond).
Gardening Begins
We have started a project in MSN attempting to grow our own peppers and onions from another whole pepper and onion purchased. We have put the onion in some water and are letting the root grow until it is able to be transferred into a smaller indoor pot and eventually moved outside into our gardening bed. All of us in MSN are curious If this will work and have been working as a team to make sure we are tending to this to maximize the end results.
Cinco De Mayo
Monday, May 5th, 2025, MSN celebrated Cinco De Mayo. After learning about Mexican culture and heritage it was voted on to make virgin Margarita’s to end the lesson. While the recipe was followed it did come out to be a very sweet mocktail. We used the following ingredients: Limeade, Orange Juice and lemon-flavored water. While it was a hit with some of our consumers, it was not an overall favorite. We had John who assisted with mixing all the mocktails together and serving them to his peers.
MSN Take Your Child to Work Day
On April 24th, 2025, Abilities Celebrated Bring Your Child to Work Day. In MSN we had a visitor Hollie (Teri’s granddaughter) come and spend the day with us. While Hollie was over in MSN she started her day off with greeting all the staff and consumers. Hollie participated in our Morning Routine, a daily exercise dance video (the Chacha slide), participated with several consumers at the sensory activity station. played Trivia, planted and helped consumers with planting flowers for Mother’s Day. Hollie ended her day calling a round of Bingo before heading over to work with April to take apart electronics. Hollie was very excited about spending the day at Abilities. Hollie shared with Teri (MSN Assistant Supervisor/LPN) that she can see the difference we make in people’s everyday lives just from spending time here one day. Hollie said she can see herself working in this field and would love to come back and visit. Also, while over in MSN Hollie assisted with Art Class. Our Art Instructor Sam brought her daughter as well who assisted with their art projects (Spring Wreaths).
Washington CRP
by Stevie
Employment Pathways
Hi there! My name is Max, and I work at Bentley’s Paragon Village in Hackettstown. When I’m not at work, you can find me binge-watching shows and movies on Disney+, Netflix, HBO Max (or just Max…I know, it’s ironic, but I had no say in the name change), Prime Video, and videos on YouTube. Some of the shows I’ve seen are Kim Possible, Pokémon Horizons: The Search for Laqua, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, Jurassic World:Chaos Theory, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, Helluva Boss, Hazbin Hotel, and RWBY. I also love playing games on my phone, especially Pokémon Go. On my Nintendo Switch, I enjoy games like Pokémon Scarlet, Disney Dreamlight Valley, and Disney Speedstorm. I also love going to the movies with my family and friends. We’re planning on seeing some great movies together, like the upcoming live-action Lilo & Stitch movie, the live-action How to Train Your Dragon movie, and the upcoming Disney Pixar animated movie Elio. I also enjoy playing games with my family, like Telestrations and Sorry!. We also play card games together, like Uno and Sequence. And sometimes, I play games with just regular cards with my grandpa on my mom’s side, like gin and casino.
Cryil is job sampling for a possible employment opportunity while learning new skills with the support of our Employment Specialist Dawn.
