Students remove labels and backs from magazines at the East Greenbush Library.
Students in Cindy Burola’s AIM (Achieving Individual Milestones) class at Columbia High School have the chance to spend one or two days a week working in the community at Price Chopper in East Greenbush and the East Greenbush Public Library.
Burola says the goal of getting her students out in the community is to teach them necessary, functional skills in a real-life setting.
The students wear black pants and Questar III shirts, and one of the other special education classes at Columbia donated pants to students who needed them. Questar III Transition Coordinator Sally Lauletta got the shirts for the students.
Transportation to the work sites is provided by East Greenbush CSD, and Burola’s students ride the bus with several other special education classes also going out to work. Each class has a different job site, so being able to spend that time on the bus helps the students work on social skills and make friends outside of their classroom.
A student returns cans at Price Chopper in East Greenbush
At Price Chopper, Burola’s students usually handle recycling, helping the store associates at the bottle return area. They also use the self-checkout to improve their money handling skills.
At the East Greenbush Library, the students help prepare magazine for circulation, removing tags and backs, as well as putting returned magazines back on the shelf in the appropriate spot. They also make bookmarks and help keep the children’s section clean and picked up.
As far as benefits of the program?
Burola says she’s seen several improvements in her students due to this time spent in the community. One of her students with autism has notably increased vocal behavior, and she says the program helps students behave better in the classroom. Her students understand that if they don’t behave in the classroom, she can’t let them go out in the community.
The biggest reward she says is that her students have found there is something to look forward to after high school.
“For the level of our students, students with multiple disabilities, I think it gives them a perspective of what they can do in the future. We have one student who graduates next year and she wants to have a job. It’s given them hope that there’s something out there for them and the confidence in themselves to do the job,” Burola says.
