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News – Storyboard Help wanted  East
High 12th-grader Anthony Merlitti dreams of graduating high school and enrolling
at The University of Akron where he will study and play baseball. He is thinking
catcher or first base. Anthony is one of more than 4,800 special education
students enrolled at Akron Public Schools this year. "Special education" may
define Anthony's disability, but it certainly does not define Anthony.
Anthony is employed by Akron Public Schools pre-vocational work program, which pairs high school special education students with their elementary peers for lunch and recess duty. For two periods each day, Anthony works as a lunch and recess assistant; and he sets up and cleans the lunchroom at Barrett Academy. At Barrett, 18 percent of the students are disabled, including a number who are severely limited in their communication and mobility skills. Many learn in regular classes with the help of interpreters, tutors, speech/language pathologists, special education teachers, and, of course, their high school friends.
"Students receive high school credit and get paid for the work they do here," explains Carol Jones, another program supervisor. "My goal is to assign them to any job in the building ― working with other students, office help, anything."  To
be accepted into the program, the high school teacher makes a recommendation
based on a student's work habits. Teachers get weekly evaluations from Barrett
so they know what to emphasize and work on in the classroom. Pre-vocational
students are evaluated on their ability to comply with requests, clean up,
supervise at recess and lunch, set up the room, and attendance.
"At the beginning of the year, we match the older kids with the younger kids based on their experience, ability level and interaction with each other," says Jones. "When the second semester starts, we'll rematch students so they gain new experiences. Some will get 'promoted' to office work or working with needier children. That's a big deal. They're proud of their work." "Their confidence and self-esteem grows so much in this program," confirms Burcham. "At their high schools, the kids stand out because of their disabilities; but, at Barrett, they fit right in. Younger students look up to the older kids. Our kids have skills that are valued. They're proud to be working and succeeding."High school students learn supervisory and parenting skills as well as how to follow directions - expertise that translates into real-world jobs. After gaining work experience at Barrett, a job transition coordinator places students in jobs at nursing homes, offices, fast-food restaurants, Goodwill and the Salvation Army. Currently, two former students are studying early-childhood development at Stark Tech. After graduation, they plan to build on the skills they learned in the pre-vocational work program by working with other handicapped children.
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"Our
pre-vocational students have a wide range of skills," says Mitzie Burcham, one
of the program supervisors at Barrett. "In everyday life they are often
treated like they can't do or learn much. They come to Barrett and realize they
can learn and help." 
"We
want students to leave us with as many independent, functional skills as
possible," says Burcham. "Our ultimate goal is to see our kids out in the real
world working and taking care of themselves. Our students are smart. Just have
patience, and give them a chance and the time to learn."