Step By Step
Program seeks more business opportunities for students
By QUALA MATOCHA lifestyle@leader-news.com

Learning Life Skills Three Life Skills classes at ECHS prepare special needs students for the work world. From left to right: Teacher Putt Orr assists student Angelica Gaona in doing the laundry (this is freshman and sophomore class); H-E-B Service Manager Annette Wied helps Alexius Simmons restock bread on the shelf (community-based vocational training class) and at top, STEP II students Monica Escamilla and Ashley Thonsgaard prepare baskets for serving food at Pizza Hut. The Step II program is always in need of businesses in which the students can work. Supervisor Barbara Hlavaty can be contacted at ECHS for additional information on how businesses can become part of this program. L-N Photos by Quala Matocha

In its third year, the STEP II program at El Campo High School is creating a liaison between students with special needs and local businesses. This year the program involves three students who are taking advantage of working in the community. STEP is the acronym for Student Transitional Education Program.

The steps leading to this program involve ECHS Life Skills classes for students ninth through 12th grade. Instruction begins with Putt Orr, who is the Life Skills teacher. Dunae Stehling is the community-based vocational training instructor for Life Skills students who are juniors and seniors. Barbara Hlavaty completes the cycle as the Step II supervisor.

"The ECHS Life Skills program provides opportunities for our special needs students to grow vocationally, socially and emotionally," Orr said. "The goal of this program is to provide students with disabilities the opportunity to learn real job skills and functional living skills to prepare them for a successful life after high school."

For the first two years, Orr's students stay on campus learning basic life skills.

In Orr's Life Skills classes, students receive lots of training.

"Our goal is to make them as independent as possible," Orr said. "They undergo a lot of training and repetition so they can achieve to the best of their ability."

The freshmen and sophomore students stay on campus, while Stehling's students have in-class instruction and job sites.

Through classroom instruction, Orr's class works on vocational skills, such as doing laundry, cooking, sewing as well as academic skills incorporated into these tasks.

"We have to think out of the box," Orr said. "We are so focused and believe that everyone should have the opportunity to be successful."

"We do a great job," she added. "Our program is more advanced than most in the state."

In Stehling's classes, community based vocational training is the main goal. The students go to job sites to receive hands-on training in specific employable skills.

Skills are incorporated each year as students from each classroom prepare baked goods and craft items to sell to the community at their annual Meadow Lane Life Skills Bazaar.

Secondly, ECHS students receive community-based instruction as they are trained in life skills in natural community environments. This training, under Stehling's guidance, involves non-paid jobs for training specific employable skills. Students participate in competitive employment opportunities. They are also integrated with nondisabled students in the classroom.

"Our goal is that these students will develop the skills to independently hold a job when they finish our program," Hlavaty said. "We want the transition from school to the real world to be as smooth as possible."

"All three programs allow students with special needs an opportunity to transition in the real world," Stehling added.

After completion of their studies at ECHS, students can enter the STEP II program to continue their skills in the workforce. STEP II is a program for students who have been in high school for four yearsm, but can stay in until they are 22.

"We have job sites in the community to teach job skills and important characteristics of a good employee," Hlavaty said. "We investigate what will be real life for the students after graduation. Then we try to match the student's and family's goals and their interests with a suitable job site."

Some job sites have included the El Campo Branch Library, Pizza Hut, Blessing Cup, Napa, WinCrest, Socca's Nursery, Los Cucos, Garden Villa and St. Andrew's Catholic Church.

"We are truly thankful for these businesses," Stehling said.

However, Hlavaty and Stehling would like students to have even more varied work-related experiences. The Step II program's goal is to incorporate as many job skills as possible for students to complete.

"We are trying to get as many sites as possible and we want to get the word out. We want to extend the work sites so students are exposed to as many job opportunities as possible," said Hlavaty. "A key to our success is cooperation from the community. Without businesses opening their doors and their hearts to us, our success would be tragically limited."

They are hoping businesses who are interested in participating in the program will come on board.

Step II students learn to ride the transit bus. They have also taken community-based outings to the Northside Center to learn how to vote.

Another goal for the Step II program is to have a building located off campus and equipped with the essentials to teach life skills, as well as a greenhouse for students to work in.

"Since horticulture is a big industry in our community, we would like to have a greenhouse operation in our future," Hlavaty said. "If we get financial backing, our dream is to have a greenhouse that we could start garden plants in. We would sell them as seedlings during the spring and fall plantings. This would be a job site for each student, several hours a week and we would still have our outside job sites for the majority of the time."

Proceeds from the greenhouse would be used for fun outings.

"For our fun activities, we enjoy eating at different restaurants in town, going bowling at El Campo Bowling Center and seeing movies at Showplace 3 Cinema. Both of which give us free or discount fees," Hlavaty said.

The Step II program and Lifes Skills classes includes students from Louise schools. Next year, they will add special needs students from Rice CISD.

"We are so thankful for the support we receive from our community," Hlavaty said. "If given the chance, our students can be more successful and more active members in our town."

If you are a business owner who is interested in providing job opportunities for STEP II students, please call Hlavaty at 979-543-6341.