Special Needs Training for Very Special High School Students
Jerry Cohen is a volunteer who spends his retirement with developmentally delayed high schoolers in Martin County, Florida. At South Fork High School, you will find a driving range, 4 holes of golf, a kitchen, and livestock. This vocational public school is unique in what it offers for the normal population of students. But for those with I.Q.’s under 70, it is the last stop before going out into the ‘real’ world. Beyond any academics, the teachers strive to make sure these kids learn about life skills such as making change, paying for electricity and rent and helping them to find a job. Jerry spends his days with the kids, teaching those who are able to swing (or rather push) a golf club, listening to and advising them or helping them work with the horses. The majority of the students in the program are from very low-income families and this organization has stepped in to help with an electric bill or a month’s rent when it was needed to keep a family afloat. Try and comprehend the extra responsibility and challenges a family with special needs children face and add to that the burden of not having enough money for even basic necessities.
Jerry and the staff want these kids to have not only life skills, but something special to look forward to. The school has put together a special needs traveling high school choir. Horse therapy is popular. What horses can teach a child about trust, bonding, creativity and responsibility is well documented. A thrift shop and selling homemade cookies baked by the students helps to supplement the extras the program so vitally needs.
Our Involvement
Some of the higher functioning students participate in a job-training program to help prepare them to enter the real world upon graduation. Special Needs Training requested a grant to pay each student a nominal amount based on the number of days the ‘interns’ work every week. A dollar a day paycheck holds more value than its financial implications might indicate. It is a source of pride for the students as well as a training tool to assist them in learning about banking and maintaining a checking account. Students who excel get paid slightly more to recognize their performance.
SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENTS
The program at South Fork High School proved more successful than anyone ever thought it could be. Overall classroom behavior has improved and the students are eager to go to work each day. The notes we have received from the kids reveal that they have used their earnings to save for field trips, pay for lunch, buy shoes, help with the phone bill at home and open up a savings account. Hands On Tzedakah is proud to fund this program which has expanded to Martin County High School. 43 students participate in this program. In January 2007 the number increases to 62 which will require an extra $1,710 for the remainder of the school year. $3,600 more gets the program off the ground for 20 more students for a school year in an additional school.
Contact Information:
Martin County Special Needs Training, Inc., 3605 S.E. Salerno Road, Stuart, Florida 34997, Contact: Jerry Cohen, (772) 463-8224; e-mail: JAC7320@aol.com
