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Parkrose offers LEAP program for recent high school graduates

AMBER MCKENNA
THE MID-COUNTY MEMO

Students in the LEAP Program, from right, Andrew Vetter, Charles Gellings, Jasleen Law and Ka Thao listen to a lecture on nutrition by Life Education for Adults of Parkrose Coordinator Kesia Micheletti.
TIM CURRAN/MID-COUNTY MEMO
Transitions Coordinator Kesia Micheletti, left, returns a homework assignment to LEAP student Stephenie Reynolds.
TIM CURRAN/MID-COUNTY MEMO
Two students in the LEAP Program play tag outside Mount Hood Community College's Maywood Park campus - where LEAP holds classes - demonstrating the importance of physical fitness.
AMBER MCKENNA/MID-COUNTY MEMO
Starting out her Tuesday afternoon class on exercise and healthy eating, Transitions Coordinator Kesia Micheletti softly tossed a baseball on the ground. Ten students watched it roll across the floor.

“Do I have any control of which direction the ball goes?” she questioned.

Many mumbled “Nos” broke the silence. Again, she tossed the ball, and again, in a different direction.

“Yes” one student piped loudly. The teacher had proved her point.

“Just like I choose which way I throw this ball, you have to make healthy choices,” she said. “I want you to have the knowledge so you can choose the right way.”

This classroom and these students are part of the Life Education for Adults of Parkrose. LEAP's mission is to transition students to adult life through community-based experiential learning.

Micheletti developed the program about three years ago, along with others, as a way to fill the need for this type of program in Parkrose. All states are required to have similar programs by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004, a law ensuring services to children with disabilities throughout the nation. She said the district's administrators got on board quickly. “Before, if students wanted services they were kind of out on their own,” she said.

Loretta Stites, transition specialist, said students under the age of 21 with development disabilities who live within Parkrose School District boundaries qualify for the program.

Though, Micheletti admitted, two of her students come all the way from Corbett for the classes.

The end goal for students is to learn skills allowing them to live independently and, ultimately, find employment.

Dennis Adair, a store manager at Parkrose Hardware has LEAP students interning in his store. He said it has been an overall positive and successful experience. “We start them in the freight department, sorting, SKUing items, cleaning - basic abilities that any new hire would do,” Adair said. He said there have been other students from similar programs working in the store, and that two current employees started out as transition program interns.

“One young man has been here for six years now,” he said. A number of students from various transition programs have been hired on full-time at Parkrose Hardware where they work for sometime before moving onto other jobs, Adair said. “It's great to have the help,” he said. “It's good for the kids and good for us.”

One LEAP student, Charles Gellings said he has learned how to write checks, ride a bus, and credits instructors with helping him become a self-sufficient adult, “I like all of them, they are really nice and helpful. I know how to write checks now.”

The students of LEAP are divided into two groups based on skill level - the higher skill level meets less frequently than the other group. Classes for both groups meet at the Mount Hood Community College Maywood Park campus.

One of Stites primary responsibilities is to organize work experience opportunities for the students.

“Four of the 16 students have actually gotten jobs from their intern placement,” she said.

Stites, who has worked in special education for the district for almost 10 years, said she especially enjoys watching the students develop skills over time.

“When one student first joined he was terrified of riding the bus, but now he is one of the most independent,” Stites said. “Some of these kids I've known since elementary school.”

Gwen Marinwood, social transition specialist, helps students complete tasks in the classroom and coaches some students during their work placement with problem solving. She said the work placements are all very practical in preparing the students for jobs they could hold in the future.

Another element of the program is the Friday outings, during which students are introduced to a different environment or learn a new skill.

Two LEAP students wrote about the Friday outings in the Leap Ledger, a student-written newsletter the class produces each term. They said, “Friday outings are important to LEAP because it teaches us to be in the community ... Students learn how to develop friendships and potential life-long relationships.”

Some past outings have included visiting the Japanese Gardens, touring the Portland International Airport, riding Tri-Met, roller skating, bowling, going to a matinee movie, visiting the East Portland Community Center, high school band concerts and miniature golfing.

“They get to go out in the community and interact,” Marinwood said. “They're learning how to be adults.”

The students also periodically get together with other school's transitions programs, including those at David Douglas, Centennial, and Reynolds high schools.

“We want them to feel independent, but if they need help, we're there,” Micheletti said.

This sentiment is reflected by Stites and Marinwood.

Micheletti said her favorite thing about the LEAP students it that they're happy to be in class each day.

“It's voluntary, and they're dedicated to it,” she said. “It's easy to teach kids things they want to learn.”

On the same day the baseball was used as an example, the teachers help students as they set attainable exercise goals.

A student asks a question, and Micheletti lets her know that they'll cover that topic soon. She said, “Do I ever leave you in the dark?”

The students agree, they are leaving isolation's darkness and running towards the light of independence.
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