By Nick Mattera
Karyn Rolling’s classroom is a place where life lessons trump history lessons, internships are mandatory, and thankfully, so are Friday lunch parties.
It is an environment conducive to much more than just learning, this is a place where student are experiencing.
“The goal is to prepare these kids to transition into the community,” Rolling said. “We are keying on improving their strengths instead of focusing on their weaknesses.”
The 14 Niagara Falls High School special education students receive a hands-on approach to learning, in an attempt to prepare them for what life might be like after graduation.
“The bottom line is these kids will most likely not be going to college,” Rolling said. “They will be entering the workforce, and this class is designed to help them be successful there.”
And it’s working.
Rolling said in the past three years students in her functional skills class have had various internships at a number of stores in the Fashion Outlets of Niagara.
“We have had kids working at Honey’s Pizzeria, Old Navy, Wimpy’s Subs and the Sports Collector’s Corner,” she said.
Donald Brown, an 18-year-old senior, discussed opportunities he has had to volunteer at Memorial Medical Center and the Salvation Army, but described the thought of possibly receiving an internship at the Sports Collector’s Corner as “awesome.”
Even on a cold and rainy Friday afternoon, Rolling’s classroom was bustling with work.
The smell of French toast was coming from a group of students preparing food for the weekly lunch party.
Across the room several students surrounded by envelopes and mail crates were working on putting together a mailing for the Niagara Falls Police Athletic League.
“It’s all about give and take,” Rolling said. “That’s something we really want to teach them. When we help P.A.L with their mailings, they in-turn allow us to use their van to take trips outside of the building.”
The class invites a guest of honor to each of their lunch-time gatherings. This week the class hosted Officers Neil Stenzel and Daniel Jones from the Niagara Falls Police Department.
Stenzel said he has watched this class over the past few years and the way these kids work impresses him.
“A lot of times you can’t sit down with kids and just talk to them,” he said. “These kids are open and talkative and they are just some of the best kids you’ll ever meet.”
While cooking may be something the class looks forward to each week, the class said they have their sights on something bigger.
Samantha MacDonald, 18, talked about how she wants to see the Statue of Liberty and the lights of Times Square.
It may become possible through Rolling’s class.
The class has established a club at the school that allows them to manage the lunchroom vending machines.
The students are required to purchase the items, stock the machine, collect the money, and, like Rolling teaches them, it’s all give and take.
“They are keeping inventory, counting money, stocking the machines, ordering products, it is a great lesson in entrepreneurial skills,” said Niagara Falls High School Principal James Spanbauer. “By running the machines the kids are learning valuable lessons.”
With the profits earned from the machines, the class is aiming for a trip to the Big Apple, and nothing that they cook up on Friday’s could taste sweeter.
“It would feel cool if we could go because we had to do all the work to get us there,” Brown said.
Rolling said her students aren’t finished there.
They also aid in various other tasks throughout the building to earn credits for senior year-related events.
Spanbauer said that they credits earned can do anything from pay for their yearbook, pay for them to go to prom or even something as basic as their cap and gown.
“Although the approach this class takes is not a traditional educational experience, it will prepare these kids for life after high school and that’s key,” Spanbauer said.
Nick Mattera is a contributor to the Gazette.
