DIANE MAKAR MURPHY Special education students work behind scenes

The musical "Hello Dolly" opens Friday at Boardman High School. Cars will crowd the parking lot. People will pour into the 2-year-old theater -- the theater big enough to hold all the kids, parents, aunts, grandmas and grandpas who've been told, "Come! It was hard work!"
And it was -- for a lot more people than you may realize. Among them are the students in Donnis Kaut's special education class, who've made a habit of helping with Boardman High's plays.
Two corridors before the entrance to that fabulous theater is a room with a refrigerator, stove, microwave, computers, desks, tables and chairs. It's a classroom, of course, but you might also call it a life skills room.
This year, the nine students (who learn everything but physical education in that room) handled "Hello Dolly's" bulk mailing.
They sat at three tables "folding and stacking," Kaut said. One student, Rachelle Handel, undeterred by blindness, stuffed the envelopes essential to publicizing the play.
In other years, Kaut's kids have assisted their classroom aide, Janet Scali, as she worked on various production costumes. "They helped carry the costumes upstairs, separate pieces, hang clothes and sort," Scali said.
Other tasks
Helping with the high school's theatrical productions is just one task Kaut and Scali's students tackle successfully. During a recent volunteer effort, they separated hundreds of tickets along their perforated edges as part of the school levy drive.
"We do a lot of functional things in here," Kaut said. "We try to participate in activities that will teach [our students] things they can use. We do a lot of fund-raisers. We're selling pumpkin rolls, for example. The kids take orders."
The students also do a lot for their school. They collect attendance cards, sort them and deliver them to the office. Some of the kids work in the cafeteria, like Matthew Neff, who said he "clears trays and sweeps."
"In March, they sell Easter candy," Scali added.
The students get training in the community, too, spending some fun work time at the Dairy Queen in North Lima. Neff showed off photos of his successful treat making.
Works skills
Some might think the tasks are far removed from school, but Kaut disagrees. "Others are benefiting, of course, but they're doing us a service as well. The students get work skills. It's preparing them for graduation," she said. "People think it's negative to sweep, but that may be something they might do on a job."
In fact, as Matt pointed out, "It's fun." He enjoys it, and he's learning something beyond academics, which, not so incidentally, the students also focus on.
The class has had as many as 15 students; they may stay until they are 22. Most graduate when they have achieved the goals they, their teachers, therapists and parents have set for them.
Kaut and Scali are assisted by several volunteer aides from the general student body. "They're wonderful," Scali said of the kids who volunteer with the Council for Exceptional Children. Two class members also have personal adult aides. Moreover, they have one another. Matt, for instance, sits by and encourages Rachelle.
These kids work hard, whether it's publicizing "Hello Dolly" or learning to read, or even learning to read in Braille.
Is it ever depressing watching their challenges?
"Some days you have everything. At times it's uplifting, seeing them in the community," Scali said, then paused to think. "I can't say it's ever depressing."
"Oh no," Kaut agreed. "It's too much fun. You can't feel sad."
So, if you are in the mood for a little uplifting theater, and you take in "Hello Dolly" this weekend or next, be sure to reserve a little applause not just for the hard-working people on-stage and backstage. Give a little ovation to Kaut and Scali's students.
murphy@vindy.com