Helene Ensign's class was sitting quietly, coloring pictures, playing card games. And then it was time for class to begin. Chairs scraped against the floor and students hurried around the classroom to set up the first activity.
They began playing the "number of the day game" which helps the students learn greater than, less than concepts, as well as basic arithmetic applications, said Ensign, the Learning for Independence teacher.
This class of Westminster High School students all face an obstacle of some kind, but they are all working toward the same goal as other high school students - to walk across the stage, find a job and live an independent life.
"These guys come in smiling and ready to go every day," Ensign said.
All of the students are there because of a learning disability, Ensign said. There is a wide range of abilities in her classroom so activities have to be modified to the individual, she said.
Finding a job will be harder for these intellectually challenged individuals, but they are all employable, Ensign said.
Holly Walker, part of Ensign's class in Westminster's LFI program, is one of these students.
"[Walker] will do anything anyone asks her to do," Ensign said.
She's a hard worker, Ensign said. It may take her a little bit longer, but she'll get it done.
"Once you get her started on a job, she's good, she'll finish it."
Walker said that she enjoyed high school. Her favorite part was homework, she said, but her favorite subject was hanging out with friends.
Walker is looking forward to graduation, but she's also going to miss her friends, as well as all of the cute boys, and there are lots of cute boys in her class, she said.
"Just be around her for five minutes, you can't help but smile," Ensign said.
Although Walker is 20 years old, she's entitled to an education until age 21, Ensign said. After she graduates with the rest of her class June 8, Walker will spend a year at Vocational Opportunities for Independent Change and Empowerment, which is based out of but not a part of Carroll Springs, Ensign said.
This is one of three post-secondary programs designed for LFI students, said Jennifer Wolfarth, instructor for VOICE and instructional consultant for all post-secondary programs.
"This program is for students who would typically need a little more support on a job site," Wolfarth said.
Students of VOICE work in the community four days a week at volunteer job sites like Food Lion, Boscov's and Legends Cafe, Wolfarth said. They seem to gravitate toward the food services, she said, possibly because of the variety of tasks required of them.
The students go to the job sites in groups, Wolfarth said, with one instructor for every two students.
Students are out in the community all day, every day, Wolfarth said. They learn independent living skills and functional academics such as telling time, counting money and reading directions, she said.
Transitions
Connections Program
For students who need more independence, there is the Transitions Connections Program, said Mary Pat Dye, program specialist for post-secondary programs.
"There will be independent work sites compared to an enclave, group situation," Dye said.
The goal of Transitions is for students to have a paying job by the time they graduate at age 21, Dye said.
There is a job coach to help students, but as they gain more independence, the coach eventually fades out, according to Wolfarth.
"The job of a job coach is to put themselves out of a job," she said
Students attend personal fitness and computer classes at Carroll Community College three times a week, and then return to Carroll Springs, where Transitions is based, for independent living and vocational training, Wolfarth said.
This is their overall schedule, Wolfarth said, but because most students already work part-time jobs, their schedules are individualized.
"The whole goal of Transitions Connections is that when they leave, they have a job that goes with them," Wolfarth said.
McCrae Thomas, a senior at Westminster High School, already has a job for this summer, Ensign said. He will be working at the Westminster Livestock Auction which is through the state's Division of Rehabilitation Service's summer youth employment program, she said.
Although Thomas said that he didn't enjoy high school, he did have a favorite class: technology education. From the scrap yard, Thomas restores mini bikes, which are smaller, faster and cheaper than regular bikes, he said.
Thomas will enter into the Transitions Connections Program this fall, Ensign said, but hopefully, he'll advance to the ST@CC program.
"McCrae is hooked up with most of the agencies that he needs to be employed," said Ensign.
ST@CC
A third post-secondary program was developed for students reaching for even more independence. Dye said this program, Seamless Transitions at Carroll Community was piloted for the first time this year and is being continued next year.
ST@CC is based solely at Carroll Community College, Wolfarth said, and at this point, students are completely responsible for their own transportation.
"The expectation is [for them] to be more independent," Dye said of the ST@CC students.
Students are required to have an on-campus job at the community college, and most have additional jobs within the community, Dye said.
The key to ST@CC's success this first year, said Kathleen Menasche, was aided by the dedication of the college's staff to help students learn how to do their on-campus jobs.
Menasche said she is the college administrator and contact between Carroll Community College and post-secondary programs.
Also offered by the ST@CC program are classes held at the college. One of the available classes, Self-Determination/Self-Advocacy Instruction, coaches students to stand up for themselves by using words to articulate what they need and the best way to get it, Menasche said.
Each of the secondary programs is a step up, according to Dye. But this tiered system is not made of concrete, she said, and students are allowed to move up or down to find the place that meets their needs.
"They all have an ability," Menasche said, "it's a matter of placing them where they'll be successful."
Adult agencies
The system of post-secondary programs would not be possible without the collaboration from programs such as The Arc of Carroll County, CHANGE Inc. and Target Community and Educational Services Inc., Dye said.
These are adult services that LFI students can transition into after they complete the post-secondary program, but they also work with the post-secondary programs to give them instructors inside the classroom, Dye said.
"I still don't know any program that has the collaborative agencies like we do," she said.
Vocational training and job preparedness is the focus of The Arc of Carroll County, said Danette Kelmartin, Education Partnerships Manager. The Arc provides high school post-secondary programs with teachers who teach LFI students hands-on experience in the workforce, Kelmartin said.
Looking from their side of it, Kelmartin said, many of their LFI students are better prepared for job interviews than average high school students.
Two days a week, students from the VOICE program visit the "Respite Inn," said Cathy Pass, director of the day services at CHANGE.
The Respite Inn, purchased by CHANGE for individuals who need care for a disabled family member, is also open during the day for VOICE students, said Pass.
CHANGE provides instructors who teach basic life skills such as cooking, meal planning, kitchen safety, home cleaning and personal hygiene all in an environment that is similar to the real world, Pass said.
Target also provides residential living skills for the Transitions Connections Program, said Lonyta McClain, vocation director for Target.
The goal is for LFI individuals to become self-sufficient and successful once they graduate from the post-secondary programs, McClain said. Target hopes to provide them with vocational and residential skills that will help them to be productive members in the community, she said.
The last piece of the puzzle comes from the Division of Rehabilitation Services, part of the Maryland Department of Education.
"They are a funding source," Dye said.
DORS provides the finances that enable agencies such as The Arc, CHANGE and Target to help provide post-secondary programs with instructors, said Dye.
LFI students who don't decide to attend a post-secondary program can also look to DORS for support. DORS can help individuals to receive their driver's license and look for jobs.
"We could not do these programs without the collaboration," Dye said.
