You see them in the halls, after school at Best Buddies, and working in the cafeteria, but the friendly students enrolled in the Vocational Life Skills Program at Scituate High School are even more involved than you know. The 17 students from 7 surrounding districts come together each day to learn and grow with the support offered at SHS.
The Vocational Life Skills Program is an all-encompassing curriculum that aims to prepare students for independent living, future employment, and life after high school. The day to day class activities are a combination of social and life skills. For example, following conversational rules and understanding expected behavior are two aspects which are largely focused on within the program. The life skills aspect of the program includes cooking, physical education, music, and other electives students that interest students. They are very invested in their lessons and student Matthew Flanagan said the best part of school is “being with my old friends and going to music because music is my life.”
The important lessons students learn in the classroom are put to the test when they go on their community based field trips. Each winter the students go to Target to purchase holiday gifts for their friends and family. At Target they are able to showcase skills they have learned in the classroom in a public setting. Another largely popular field trip was to the Scituate Rod and Gun Club where students learned how to fish. They were taught how to bait a hook and reel in fish, all while practicing motor and social skills.
Once students have reached their final years in the program, their skills are truly challenged when they travel together to Disney World. One of the two main teachers, Julie Meredith, said, “The best part about what we do here is to try to prepare these students to be as independent as possible for the world of work and independent living. For each student that’s different, but we try to push their absolute potential and when we go to Disney you see them do it. Everything this program does is put to the test in Disney and it’s the best place ever.”
While in the program, students also gain work experience through jobs sites around Scituate and its neighboring towns. Students do a variety of jobs from cleaning cages at Weir River Farm, to bussing at T. K. O’Malley’s. Catherine Waters has an impressive resume, having worked at Maria’s, Salon Taj, Weir River Farm, the Village Market, and the Inn at Scituate Harbor. For Sarah Ann West, her favorite job is cleaning up tables in the cafeteria. The students clearly have lots of job experience under their belt.
For the two head teachers, six job coaches, and vocational coordinator, these students are more than just faces in a classroom. They form a close-knit community that celebrates each person as an individual and supports one another like a family. The students not only feel at home in the classroom but in the school in general. Ms. Meredith said, “Scituate High School is so great at having them feel truly, genuinely accepted and involved in being part of the school.”
The Vocational Life Skills Program has a strong impact on its students and inspires them to work their hardest. Chris Michaud described the program best when he said, “My favorite part of coming to school is to prove my potential. Doing what I can.”