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It’s that time of year again, when our graduating seniors are taking their final exams, saying goodbye to high school and starting to plan for college, or the military, or a job in the skilled trades. Those are great options for most of our district’s seniors, but what about those who are “graduating” from one of the high schools’ special education classes? Those same options are really not available to them.

Thanks to a collaborative program between the Webster Central School District (CSD) and St. John Fisher University, those students are not cast out rudderless into the professional world. Instead, they can continue their education and learn important life skills at the Webster Postsecondary Program.

The program, now in its 13th year, serves as a transitional step for special education students ages 18 to 22. Its mission is to assist young adults with disabilities to strengthen their daily living, social/personal, and occupational skills, with the ultimate goal to guide their transition to living as independently as possible.

Three districts participate in the program: Webster, Brighton and West Irondequoit. Webster special education teacher Jen Hackett describes it as “kind of like a mini-community before (the students) hit the big community.”

Classes follow the regular Webster CSD calendar, and each week focus on a different set of life skills. They’re the kinds of skills which most of us take for granted and are critical to living in the greater society — like sending emails, opening and maintaining a bank account, taking a bus and making a 911 call — but which can be challenging for these young adults. Other lessons focus on eating healthy foods, managing personal space, improving communication skills and honing their workplace skills. And because taking care of yourself is equally important, there’s also time set aside every week for exercise — walking or working out in the weight room.

Every Friday, the theme culminates in a group activity which reinforce the week’s lessons, like going to a restaurant and ordering from a menu, or visiting the 911 call center and practicing making a 911 call.

It’s all about introducing functional skills, then practicing them a lot and role-playing so the students feel confident and comfortable interacting in the greater society.

One of the most important parts of every day, however, happens most afternoons, when the students leave the classroom and take buses to work actual jobs. Several local businesses partner with the program to provide practical work experience, including Bill Grays, Walmart, the YMCA, St. John Fisher and CDS Monarch.

In every instance, it’s been a win/win situation for everyone.

“We have some really hard-working students here,” Hackett said. “Our employers tell us they’re always on time, and they work harder than other students because they take it seriously and are reliable. … They have great skills and they take a lot of pride in their work.”

And that’s what it’s all about: helping these kids acquire the life skills that will lead them to fulfilling, independent lives.

“If you ask the students, they want to be independent,” Hackett said. “It’s about self-determination and helping students to figure out what they want in their life. It’s whatever their real dreams are and helping them to get to their dreams.”

Hackett would love to hear from any business owners who would like to provide work opportunities for students in the WSCD Postsecondary Program. Even one-time projects would work, like setting up for a big event (like a grand opening), doing some landscaping or assembling a mailing.

“We like to give them a taste of different jobs,” Hackett said. Job coaching will be provided, as well as transportation to and from the job site.

If you’re interested in partnering with the WCSD for this great program, email Jen Hackett at Jen_hackett@webstercsd.org.

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email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Instagram and Threads (@missyblog)

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(posted 6/10/2024)

Tags: Missy Rosenberry, Webster Central Schools, Webster NY

If you happened to be driving by Webster Thomas High School on Wednesday morning, you might have been alarmed to see dozens of firefighters, police officers, EMTs and their emergency vehicles swarming around what appeared to be a horrific accident that had just occurred in front of the school.

The realistic accident scene was actually a very carefully arranged and pre-planned mock DWI scenario. It’s organized bi-annually by our local emergency responders as a training exercise, and hosted by the school district during prom and graduation party season as a serious, real-life lesson for our students.

The scene imagined a two-car accident, caused when a high school student was driving drunk. He rear-ended another car and drove it into a tree, seriously injuring several unrestrained passengers and killing another. (If that scenario sounds familiar, it was designed to mimic a fatal accident which actually happened in Hilton last weekend.)

About 600 juniors and seniors silently watched as, one by one, emergency workers extracted the injured passengers and took them to a waiting ambulance. It was slow going. Windows had to be smashed. The windshields of both cars had to be cut completely off, and the Jaws of Life had to be used to extract several of the passengers.

The drunk driver was unscathed, and with some assistance was able to get out of the car. His passengers, however, most of whom were unrestrained, were taken away on backboards. And the front seat passenger in the car he had hit was dead.

As the firefighters were removing doors and cutting the roof off one car, the driver was taken aside by a police officer, given a field sobriety test and arrested.

The whole scenario only took about 45 minutes, but for these high school students, they might be among the most important 45 minutes of their lives.

Speaking as a mother, I hope the message being shared that day sunk in at least a little bit with everyone. But I know that young people tend to think they’re invincible. Bad stuff like that can happen to someone else, but never to me.

But I couldn’t help thinking back to one of these mock DWI presentations I watched many years ago when I was working at Thomas. In addition to the student actors, the school had brought in the mother of the driver who “died.” She was standing on the school’s front walk when a police officer told her that her son had not survived. As any mother would when given that news, she collapsed with grief. As I watched, I found it easy to imagine how devastated she was, to feel the searing pain of losing a child.

If you have a high school student or know of one, perhaps you can impress that perspective upon him or her: you might think it’s OK to be cavalier with your life, cut corners and take chances. But think of how your parents would feel if a police officer came to their door and told them you were not coming home.

Ever.

See lots more pictures from the demonstration in this slideshow:

The mock DWI demonstration was repeated at Webster Schroeder High School on Friday.

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email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Instagram and Threads (@missyblog)

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

(posted 6/8/2024)

Tags: Missy Rosenberry, Webster Central Schools, Webster NY