Students with special needs are acquiring new skills to ready themselves for the workforce after high school thanks to the new PAES (Practical Assessment Exploration System) Lab at Apollo and Tech High Schools. The lab is a simulated work environment where students can explore interests and discover strengths.
“There are five different areas that PAES looks at: processing and production, construction and industrial, consumer service, business and marketing, and computer technology,” explains Special Education Supervisor Dani Mehr. “So, there is a wide range of tasks and activities around those five areas that students advance through.”
The lab accommodates a variety of students with disabilities. Students with cognitive disabilities all the way to students on the autism spectrum or with emotional behavioral disorders use the lab to discover new possibilities for their future.
“Tasks are ranked by difficulty … The program is designed to meet students where they are at,” says Mehr, “and help them grow to their fullest potential.”
The PAES Lab is built into a student’s everyday schedule.
EBD (Emotional Behavior Disorder) special education teacher Megan Ertl describes the PAES Lab as a learning environment that supports real-world skills.
“It’s for students who aren’t quite ready for independent work life and maybe don’t know what they want to get into,” says Ertl. “But they may find out that ‘I really like this.’ or ‘I’m really good at this.’ And that can guide us to push them into some independent work outside of the school day.”
Students working in the lab learn real-life skills in addition to work related skills. They learn to measure and cook food, sew, clean, count money and more.
“The PAES Lab gives them the independence … and power,” smiles Ertl. “It’s driven by the student.”
Jeremiah McGee is a freshman who works in the lab daily and he feels the lab is like a real job outside of school.
McGee believes he can carry what he’s learned to a job after graduation. He says, “I’m working hard. And I think it’s going to be more challenging out in the world, but this is getting me ready.”
Thus far, McGee has learned to sew, measure ingredients for cooking, calculate and count money and that he is a master at puzzles. He’s also learned how to use a saw.
“I cut it [wood] and measured it,” describes McGee. “Now, I’m going to make a shelf out of it.”
Once he’s done with his shelf, McGee wants to make cookies with his new cooking skills.
“I think as we’re trying to get more students out into the work world to support our community – to be at those jobs,” explains Ertl, “we do need to give them the skills … to prepare them. We can be sending out … lots of kids who have lots of skills ready for the work world. Our community is going to benefit.”
The investment into the PAES Lab for Apollo and Tech students is paying off–ensuring their future in the workplace and giving them a newfound independence.
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