Inclusivity, adaptability drive programs for very special Wildcats
Teaching can be hard enough without the modifications and adjustments necessary to a special education classroom. But with the right dose of patience and consideration, that classroom can become a magical place of learning and growth.
Along with Bruce Schreiber, Stephanie Polak teaches these very special students. She decided to pursue this career after seeing how students with disabilities were treated when she was a student.
“When I was in high school, there was a classroom that was shoved in the corner upstairs,” she said. “I remember kids coming out of this room, and I had no idea why they were in the room. I had never seen them before. So I asked a teacher, and they said those were the kids who needed a lot of extra help.”
Frustrations with past experiences have pushed Polak to become the most inclusive, encouraging teacher she can be.
“I shadowed the teacher who was in the special education room because I was really interested,” she said. “I am really big on these students being a part of the school because it really bothered me back then that it was in the corner. I was bothered that people didn’t embrace these students because I really believe they are just like everybody else.”
Carrie Bores is one of eight paraprofessionals that help out with preparation for the day.
“In the morning, I try to get as much of the stuff ready to go for the classes as far as double-checking classrooms and getting the washer and schedules going,” she said. “A few of the students have their schedules on flashcards, and I get those prepared. I do a lot of little projects for Mrs. Polak in the room.”
Nikki Seager is another paraprofessional who provides assistance for particular students.
“I do transfers from a wheelchair to a stander or an adaptive bike,” she said. “I do a feeding tube, so I have to hook and unhook her feeding tube when I move her. And then anger management, so if the kids are having a tough time, I take them out of the room.”
A common thread understood by all is that no day is predictable.
“There is no normal day; every single day is different. There are days that my phone goes off about someone being sick. It’s really a team effort down here,” Polak said. “If we didn’t have our paras and our parents helping us out, it would go bad really quickly. You’re just constantly on your toes, and you’re always thinking outside the box.”
Despite the ever-changing atmosphere, there is a structure to the day for Bores and all of the special education students. After meeting in Polak and Schreiber’s classrooms, students will branch out all over the school and are integrated into ‘typical developing’ classrooms.
“First hour, we’re all in here and we have what’s called current events. We go through the activities that are taking place during the day and go through schedules. After first hour, we all go to different areas. Some go to music, some go to phy ed- we split them up,” Bores said. “Then, most come back and have academics in both rooms. Mrs. Polak and Mr. Schreiber try to individualize as many of the lessons during that time as possible. Some students will be reading, while some will be working on personal information like retracing their names.”
One of the primary focuses is learning independent living skills. Some students go out and get real-world experience around town.
“We break up into three groups. Group one goes out into the community for community-based instruction where we’re learning city transportation,” Polak said. “We go to restaurants and grocery stores and those types of things to work on functional exchange of money and skills out in the community. Our goal is to make any student with a disability as independent as possible.”
The other two groups work on individualized skills that will aid them later in life.
“Another group goes into vocational training so we do different jobs. Some are on-site, some are off-site. We have paras that work on those skills because we want to be as employable as possible,” Polak said. “The third group does what’s called independent living. We do simple recipes with the hopes that, if they live in a group home or they live in some sort of assisted living environment or on their own, we can teach them how to make some simple recipes.”
Aside from going out into the community, West offers its own opportunities for growth. The Cafe, providing caffeine and snacks to hungry students, is a workplace for students with disabilities that was originally created for that purpose.
“The Cafe started years ago with another teacher who wrote a grant to get it started up, and it was really small. Now, it’s expanded to what you see today into two different areas,” Polak said. “The sole purpose of what it was intended for is to have students with disabilities work with peers to work on functional jobs skills in a natural environment.”
There are countless benefits for students who work at Cafe because the jobs are so versatile.
“It doesn’t matter if the disabilities are significant or not, because there are learning disabilities, emotional disabilities and there is such a wide range,” Polak said. “The Cafe services all those things so we can really hone in on the skills those students need. Some need answering phone skills, some might need money skills; there’s so much you can do there.”
Paraprofessionals and special education teachers do as much as they can to help their students truly be immersed in school culture.
“When they are able to and can handle it, we integrate them as much as we can,” Seager said. “We love to go to pep rallies with them, and some of them can’t handle the noise so we bring headphones. We try to get them as much as they can handle so they are still part of the school.”
Having each day be so unique is good for keeping teachers and paras on their toes, but it also presents some challenges.
“Since each day is so different, you think you got something accomplished, and then it can completely backfire on you the next day,” Bores said. “Some of our students are very detailed and orderly and when their schedule changes, it’s very hard on them. It’s like a domino effect because it affects everybody.”
Not having enough staff to help out with all of the students was difficult for Seager.
“We were short-staffed for a while so that was hard,” she said. “And our nonverbal kids can’t tell us what’s wrong, so we have to try to figure out why they’re mad or sad or upset. They can’t communicate that with us.”
Even though students in the special education department interact differently, they still have favorite and least favorite classes just like everyone else. Many of the students enjoy the cooking part of the curriculum, for example. Math teacher John Stack’s daughter is a part of the special education department at the middle school level, and she shares a similar interest.
“She usually starts the hour and they’ll do attendance and she usually filters out. But there’s one class that she takes that she just absolutely loves, which is Teen Life,” he said. “Every day, there’s a story about how they made chocolate pudding with whipped cream or something. She just absolutely loves that class.”
Another shared interest across schools and grade levels is the power of music.
“My daughter loves music and has pretty typical taste,” Stack said. “She likes Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift, Ozzy Osborne’s ‘Crazy Train’, and ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’ is her number one favorite song. As easily distracted as she is, she’s just as easily brought back with something like a joke or a good song that she likes.”
To further embrace students with disabilities, Bores would like to see a mixture of her students and regular education students in teams for school activities.
“From talking to other schools, we are so much further ahead. We have a really good thing going here, and it’s just keeping it continuing on,” she said. “With Snowblast, it would be great to have students from other grade levels come and join us for Snowblast versus just our team. Let’s get more students to come and join our team.”
To make West the most accepting environment it can be, Bores encourages all students and staff to say hello to her students in the hallway, because it can make someone’s day.
“I think it just comes down to the welcoming of everyone. Some people are really fantastic at it, and others are in their own place,” she said. “Step out of your boundaries a little bit; step out of your comfort zone and get involved. Welcome each student as an individual, and don’t label them.”
By Abby Furcy
March 18 2022
Volume 118 Issue VI