Disabled kids at P.S. 107 feel at home in its kitchen, which youngsters built

Disabled kids at P.S. 107 feel at home in its kitchen, which youngsters built

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2010/07/18/2010-07-18_disabled_kids_feel_at_home_in_kitchen.html

The Great Recession hasn't stopped a Flushing elementary school from coming up with its own recipe for success.

Public School 107 created a custom-built, handicapped-accessible kitchen to help its physically and mentally disabled students learn day-to-day living skills along with arithmetic - without costing the school a cent.

"We wanted to go beyond paper and pencil activities for kids," said Principal Jim Phair. The kitchen "puts a real life spin on the activities they would normally do in therapy."

Even though the pre-K-through-5 school took a deep budget cut, Phair and special education coordinator Jane Turetzky forged ahead with the kitchen. It helps students learn reading, math and teamwork through activities like making a batch of sugar cookies, he said.

They transformed a musty old classroom into a bright kitchen able to accommodate wheelchairs, thanks to a $15,000 grant from the Home Depot in College Point and a $5,000 donation from PS 107's veteran Principal for a Day Michael Goldstein, a former Toys "R" Us CEO.

A group of Home Depot employees even volunteered to do the installation free of charge.

"You can't be held hostage by the economy," Phair said. "Every school has a wealth of community that virtually goes untapped."

Cooking can play an important role in some of the special needs children's therapy, he said. Simple tasks like holding a bowl with one hand and stirring the batter with the other can develop motor skills, Phair explained.

And so far, the kitchen seems to be a hit with the kids.

Lorraine Casey, 10, of Whitestone, who will be in fifth grade this fall, said her favorite comestible lesson is making pizza. Handicapped accessibility is another plus for the aspiring chef, who uses a wheelchair.

"There's space for me to move around," said Lorraine, who has cerebral palsy. "Some kitchens don't have enough room for people with wheelchairs."

Her mother, Vita Casey, 46, said the kitchen therapy sessions have boosted her daughter's self-esteem - along with her math skills.

"She's able to grasp the concept of measurements a little bit easier than in textbooks," she said.

Teaching special needs students day-to-day skills early on is key, said school occupational therapist Cristina Abramovich.

"Having the kitchen allows us to work on making the children more independent in school as well as at home," Abramovich said. "Rather than just reaching up to put a ring on a cone, now we're having them reach into a cabinet for a spoon."

Abramovich said she's seen improvement in her students since the kitchen opened this spring. But the kids aren't always aware of their progress "because they're having so much fun," she said.

Using a kitchen to tap into a child's potential is nothing new, said Mark Alter, a professor of educational psychology at New York University.

But "it's not common enough," he said. "The idea of putting kids in a real-life environment is a good one. It's preparing the kids to live independently."

Phair doesn't want to limit these types of life lessons to just his special needs students. He plans to open the kitchen to the entire school in the fall.

"This is going to be something everyone benefits from," he said.

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