Jackson, Cape districts have increased programs to help transitional students

The Jackson and Cape Girardeau school districts have revamped their programs in recent years to help special-education students be successful after high school.

According to Pam Deneke, a special-education teacher in the Jackson School District, a variety of what are called transition services have been created in the district in the past decade. Students' disabilities range from significant, such as autism, to mild, such as attention deficit disorder, Deneke said.

The main reason the programs were implemented, Deneke said, was because she and other staff in the district saw gaps in transition services.

"Students were doing great getting their high school diplomas, but they were having a hard time later finding jobs and trying to figure out what to do," she said.

One program that allows students to enter the community and work for a business is for those who have undergone enough training in preparation classes at the high school. Students work in local businesses and receive credit toward graduation. Deneke said students often hone "soft skills" used to communicative effectively, follow directions and use proper manners and have a professional attitude. Students are placed according to their interests in a variety of work environments, such as restaurants, offices, retail stores and warehouses. Deneke said seniors often participate but that younger students can, too, because eligibility for participation is determined individually. Nineteen students are currently in the program.

After several years, Deneke said, the program showed her and the staff that not every student was ready to be placed in a work environment. So the district developed a yearlong high school transition class to prepare students for job placement.

The high school also has a copy shop where students can work to develop skills further.

"What the children gain from that are the abilities to follow multistep directions, meet deadlines and experience working as part of a team," Deneke said.

A program that takes students toward employment in the health care field is another option. The BEST program with SoutheastHEALTH allows juniors and seniors to train and work in departments throughout Southeast Hospital.

"It's not job shadowing," Deneke said. "They actually work and learn to perform the functions of a job."

While students are in the program, Deneke stays on the hospital's campus to be available to the students for job coaching.

The hospital will often hire students who have shown aptitude after they graduate. Deneke said 11 students have been hired as a result of the program in the past 10 years for positions within the hospital in departments like maintenance and outpatient recovery.

Another program exists in cooperation with Jackson Manor nursing home for students with more significant disabilities, Deneke said. The program is supervised and entails high school students going to the nursing home and participating in activities with residents or working as assistants.

Path to success

Similar programs and classes exist in the Cape Girardeau School District.

According to Debbie Ebaugh, the district's transition services coordinator, courses and programs have been instituted at the high school to help transitional students determine what they will do following graduation.

Erikka Sokolowski, a special-education teacher at the high school, teaches two courses called "Pathways to Success," which she said are classes designed to discover students' abilities, skills and potential job strengths. One course focuses on how to apply for a job by filling out applications correctly online and on paper and teaches job interview skills. It also teaches how to network and how to build and properly use references. The other course focuses on preparing for postsecondary education.

Once students have been successful in the classes, they often enter the community through credit-earning work programs, Ebaugh said.

"Students are taught that any time they work with an employer, it is about meeting that employer's needs," she said.

Often, Ebaugh said, workers with disabilities have a more difficult time understanding how they are required to communicate with their employer and following directions. Therefore, she said, students gaining work experience and the knowledge to communicate effectively while in high school are a step ahead when they get their first real job.

Students in transition services also leave school with a portfolio containing an assessment of their aptitudes and work experience that they can show a potential employer.

Ebaugh often attends conferences throughout the state to share elements of the district's transitional services programs with other school districts. The program also includes skill-building classes that focus on hands-on activities like sewing and graphic printing. The transition services program at the high school has two school-based enterprises: Students create and sell school-themed handmade items to fund special activities, and they manage a custom-order printing service that produces brochures, cards, fliers and other items.

The National Center on Secondary Education and Transition, a group at the University of Minnesota, says research studies completed between 2000 and 2004 have shown work-based learning activities are an effective way to improve high school outcomes for teens with disabilities. According to the center, students who participate in work-based learning experience increases in completion of coursework, improved attendance and higher graduation rates. Research shows the experiences also lead to higher rates of adult employment.

eragan@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

1000 S. Silver Springs Road, Cape Girardeau, MO

315 S. Missouri St., Jackson, MO