Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Helping Special Education Students Harvest Job Skills: Season of Sharing 2016


Title: Helping Special Education Students Harvest Job Skills: Season of Sharing 2016
By: Susan Green

October 5, 2016

 Oregon Live


Key points:  The article highlights the importance of special education students having work experience opportunities.  There is a Community Transition Program part of the Beaverton School District that connects 95 students in special education ages 18-21 with vocational opportunities.  This program is geared towards students who have graduated with a modified or alternative certificate.  Currently, the program is raising funds for a greenhouse that would allow students to build gross motor skills while learning about healthy food options.  It is essential that students learn both work and life skills.  Also, students give extra produce from the garden to the Oregon Food Bank.

Intended Audience:  Students, parents, educators, administrators, and community members

Relevance:  Special educators working with high school students can help provide opportunities for them to develop skills, find interests, and prepare them for life after high school.  Educators can partner with community members to create these learning opportunities for students.  Also, we can provide students with job opportunities that fit their strengths and passions that can make this process more meaningful and motivating for the students.  In addition, we can instill the importance of volunteering and serving in the community.        




8 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. This is awesome! I didn't know about their project for the greenhouse, I think this is a phenomenal idea to teach students about where their food comes from. Transition and work opportunities for students is essential to their development and success in their futures. Students can participate at whatever level they are ready for, and it will still be beneficial to them. This is a wonderful article that spreads awareness about Beaverton's Community Transition program. Although this article discusses students with special needs gaining life and job skills, these are skills that could be highly beneficial for all students. This is highly relevant to education.

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  3. I love this article! We're actually putting together a greenhouse project and a student store with my SLC kids. I am in full support of all of this vocational activity. I teach 2 vocational and one daily living class and they are all really important to me. Transition is a huge piece of these kids lives. Working in middle and high school has made this even more apparent to me.

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  4. I really enjoyed this article! We are taking a transition class and it was very relevant to that. I worked at a school last year where the 5th graders (gen ed) had 3 garden beds and there was a lot of learning going on. There is something so exciting about watching something grow and change and then being able to use what was grown. I hope they made their goal.

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  5. I really enjoyed this article! We are taking a transition class and it was very relevant to that. I worked at a school last year where the 5th graders (gen ed) had 3 garden beds and there was a lot of learning going on. There is something so exciting about watching something grow and change and then being able to use what was grown. I hope they made their goal.

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  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  7. I really love this article. It is so important to have opportunities like these to help students in transition programs to gain experience. Just from my recent experience in Lori's classroom I realized how important it is to get the students out to explore different options as well as their choice options for work after graduation.

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  8. We do an Urban Ag fest at the school I work at and kids from all over our district are bussed over to check it out. To see kids get excited about alternative fuel sources and sustainable gardening/farming techniques is great. So I would hope that with this greenhouse the CTP can eventually expand to hosting community events themselves to not only share what the students have learned with others, but also to become more involved in their community.

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