Remodeled Life Skills Rooms (WI)

http://www.wauwatosanow.com/news/79422077.html

Special ed students learning life skills
Remodeled classrooms give more hands-on role
By ISRAL DEBRUIN
Posted: Dec. 16, 2009 (0) Comments

Classrooms remodeled using federal stimulus money are helping special education students at both Wauwatosa high schools learn practical life skills that will help them live more independently.

The repurposed rooms, one at each high school, have been equipped with kitchen-style cabinets and a variety of home appliances to help cognitively disabled students learn to cook and clean. It was all paid for by $2,500 in stimulus funding and a $1,260 grant from the Education Foundation of Wauwatosa.

Parents of some of the students are already seeing their kids help out more at home with chores and cooking, said Deni Wessel, Wauwatosa West High School special education teacher.

"Some parents have said they're really seeing a gain in confidence in the students," she said.

The apartment classrooms were Wessel's idea, and she wrote the EFW grant that helped fund them.

Teaching through holiday projects

Wessel said her classes use the new equipment daily, practicing baking, washing dishes, dusting and vacuuming while focusing on kitchen safety and cleanup skills.

Recently, they've focused on projects related to the holidays. Last month, students prepared a Thanksgiving feast and lately they have been baking Christmas cookies.

Most of the projects are simple, and Wessel breaks them down into individual tasks.

For example, when the students made turtle pretzel cookies Dec. 11, one student was assigned to line up the pretzels on a baking sheet while another unwrapped Rolo candies and placed them in a bowl. Another student placed the candies on top of the pretzels and another placed the filled baking sheets into the oven and set a timer. When the cookies were done baking, yet another student placed a pecan on top of the melted candy.

By performing the same simple tasks over and over, students can master different skills, Wessel said. This same approach is also used when teaching students how to do things like wash dishes, make cinnamon toast or bake cinnamon rolls.

Opening up career paths

Wessel said her ultimate goal is for students to work toward independence by being able to cook and clean for themselves safely and effectively. So far, the growth toward that goal is "small, but it's what we're looking for," she said.

Once students have successfully completed some of the simpler projects, Wessel said she hopes to have them prepare a staff lunch or coffee social.

The students are learning functional life skills that will stay with them long after they leave Wauwatosa West, said Therese Kwiatkowski, district director for students services. In addition, the projects actively engage all of the students, helping them develop socially while teaching them time management and how to understand directions. These are abilities that could help open career pathways, Kwiatkowski said.

"It gives them some skills that they could possibly take beyond high school," she said.

Other students help, too

Though the new apartment classroom is home to Wessel's special education class, others in Wauwatosa West's student community are benefiting from it. Throughout the school day, regular education students spend class periods helping out in Wessel's class.

Junior Ashley Reed said she comes in once a day to lend a hand, earning class credit while gaining career experience.

"I want to be a special education teacher when I'm older," she said.

But for Reed, the experience is also deeply personal. One of the special education students is her 20-year-old sister, Amy. Coming in to Wessel's class allows her to spend more time with her big sister.

Amy said she's having fun cooking with her sister, and Ashley said she's already seeing Amy benefit from the new classroom. Since the beginning of the school year, Amy has started helping make her dinner at home.

"I think it's really good," she said. "Having everything right in the room is really easy."

This type of interaction between the special education and regular education students is what makes the apartment classroom special, Kwiatkowski said.

"Everybody brings something to the table," she said.

"I think we're lucky to be able to have something like this in our school buildings," she said.

AT A GLANCE

Wauwatosa received a total of $2.2 million in federal stimulus.

So far, $1.62 million of that has been spent on instructional materials to help special education students learn to read. In addition, $30,000 has been spent on staff training, $10,000 on consultants, $9,000 on assessment materials and $2,000 on software.

Another $70,000 is available for use this year and $456,000 is available for next year.

The $2.2 million is Wauwatosa's share of $366 million in federal stimulus funds allocated to Wisconsin schools for spending on special education and services for low-income students. It's all part of the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, of which Wisconsin has received about $7.7 billion so far.