ISHPEMING — Today a group of students had their lesson outside of the classroom.

A special education class from Ishpeming Middle School did a little bit of volunteer work this morning at Little Jim’s Jubilee in Ishpeming.

On a normal school day the class would learn important everyday skills.

Special Education Teacher Ashley Hoag says, “Mostly functional skills like coming to the grocery store and learning how to shop for food, how to pay for their food. We’ve done things about laundry and hygiene and that kind of thing, just trying to foster and an independent life.”

Today was little different. The class took time to do a little bell ringing to collect donations for the Salvation Army.

“We’ve talked about, you know, what it’s like to help people out and why we do donate the money, and so our students are down here helping. They’re collecting the money, and we’re talking about social skills in there as well, because they have to say, you know, ‘Happy Holidays,’ or ‘Merry Christmas,’ that kind of thing. So it’s really good for them to not only help out but also to have those skills.”

Miss Ashley says that this experience will help the students learn important skills and be an example to others this holiday season, too.