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Working at the White County Food Pantry, Dakota Denton (left) and Kyler Hardesty grab boxes from a shopping cart to put into Charles Fetton’s vehicle. Fetton is from Monticello. Photo by W.C. Madden/News & Review
MONTICELLO — One of the special things that Twin Lakes High School does for its special education students is to help them get jobs before they are done studying at the school.
Special education students can stay another four years after they graduate before they must leave at age 22, explained Angela Dold, the jobs coach at the school for the last four years. After they graduate in the usual four years, they begin getting educated on life skills and job experience through the transition service that the school offers. “We get them ready to live on their own, too,” said Dold.
Children who are eligible for the special education program at Twin Lakes include students with many types of disabilities, including autism, blind/low vision, deaf or hard of hearing, language/speech impairment, or other health impairments. Currently, the school has 14 students in the program.
Some of the local businesses that hire special education students include Ace Hardware, Arni’s Restaurant, Subway Restaurant and Twin Lakes Pet Clinic. Dold wishes more businesses would offer jobs to the special students.
The nonprofit agencies where the students work include the United Way and the White County Food Pantry.
The students also worked at different school opportunities, including the cafeteria at Oaklawn Elementary, the Roosevelt Middle School Brew Crew, Twin Lakes Athletics and Twin Lakes Garden Club.
They can even help homeowners if they are called on. “We’re always looking for jobs to do,” said Dold. She can be contacted at adold@twinlakes.k12.in.us.
For the first time this year, a banquet was held in the cafeteria at the high school on Thursday. Twin Lakes Culinary prepared some Mexican food for the students, parents and guests, who were business owners or officials from other nonprofit agencies where the students worked.
Jay Janke, the director of the food pantry, attended dinner and gave a little speech. “We immediately fell in love with them. It’s been an amazing partnership ever since,” he explained. “We’re so blessed to be part of this program. You should be very proud of them.”
White County Food Pantry Director Jay Janke (third from left) poses with all the special needs students who worked at the pantry during the school year. Photos by W.C. Madden/News & Review
Also, speaking at the program was David Clapper, the custodian for the athletic office. “They’ve helped me out more than I’ve helped them. There were days I probably wouldn’t get far without their help,” he said.
The 14 students in the special education class this school year were each given a certificate to recognize their accomplishments at the dinner. They were Reece Bartlett, Jackson Danford, Dakota Denton, Douglas Carter Fitzpatrick, Kayden Greeno, Kyler Hardesty, Dawson Mailloux, Kai Mattingly, Cannon McKinney, Kelsie Smith, Madison Smith, Jaxon Thompson, James Tull and Noah Wells.
The director of the program is Donna Mcilrath. The teachers in the program are Tina Haworth and Renae Larimer. The paraprofessionals include Linda Brisban, Linda Hanna and Kayce Weaver.
Angela Dold (left), Connor McKinney and Madison Smith place dozens of egg cartons into plastic bags for workers to easily handle while working at the White County Food Pantry.
Haworth and Mcilrath ended the banquet by thanking everyone involved for their assistance with the program.
“Our goal is for our students to grow and to be able to be in the community and be productive citizens,” said Mcilrath.
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