GAIL WHITE Home teaches life skills in real-life setting

As I walk into the Shepherd House in Salem, I can hear the bustle of students moving around in the kitchen.
"What are the ingredients?" Dolores Scott, Columbiana County transition services teacher, asks her students sitting around the kitchen table.
As the students rattle off the list of ingredients, I become amazed at the level of comfort I feel in this place.
In the past, the transition students have been taught housekeeping skills, cooking and grooming habits in their classroom at Salem High School.
For the first time, these 18- to 22-year-old young adults with special needs are learning life skills in a real-life setting -- a home.
The Shepherd House is a joint effort between the Columbiana County Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities and Columbiana County Educational Services. The program helps these young adults transition from school to work.
"It is our expectation that students who participate in transition services will leave school better prepared to become a vital part of the community," explains Susan Wenderoth, coordinator of transitions services.
Dolores continues with her cooking lesson.
"How much evaporated milk will you use?" she asks.
"Twelve ounces," a student answers.
"How will you measure that?" Dolores asks.
There is a pause. They had discussed teaspoons and cups, but ounces?
"Use the whole can," John Elosh announces.
"How did you know that?" Dolores smiles with pride.
"It says so on the can," John responds, trying to hide his pride.
It may not seem like a big deal, but it is.
Improvement
The students in transition services have difficulty translating book knowledge into practical uses.
Since the students have been spending their school days at the Shepherd House, the teachers have noticed a profound increase in the students' abilities to apply the life skills they have been teaching.
"It used to seem like we were playing," Dolores says. "Now, they are doing things for real."
This accomplishment in and of itself is enough to call the Shepherd House experiment a success. But another facet of Shepherd House has surfaced that no teacher, coordinator or administrator could have anticipated.
These students have developed a sense of ownership and responsibility for this home.
They take pride in caring for the lawn. They launder the towels and clothes with pleasure. They clean meticulously.
"One day, we had a whole group of kids here," Dolores recalls. "When they left, these kids got out the sweeper and cleaned everything up."
Dolores would have instructed the students to do these housekeeping chores, but she didn't have to. It was her teaching that enabled them to do these tasks, but it was the students' pride that had them cleaning up without being asked.
Back in the kitchen, the students break up into pairs to prepare their dish.
Carli Cope's partner, Terry Krepps, is absent. That doesn't stop Carli. She is a pro in the kitchen.
Thomas Baun and Matt Bland follow her lead, informing me they already have made baked beans and Kool-Aid for lunch.
Attitudes
Ray DeWalt stops in the middle of his mixing to attend to the clothes dryer.
Becky Ray admits her favorite part of cooking is eating.
She and Rosie Schehl chatter happily as they measure and pour, while Matt Ray and Mike Zepernick take a more serious approach.
What is this delectable dish these students are preparing?
Pumpkin pies -- five of them. They are to be eaten at a Thanksgiving feast these Educational Service Center students will be sharing with their MR/DD counterparts.
Twenty-four students and nine staff members will gather together and give thanks for their blessings.
The Shepherd House will be at the top of their list.
gwhite@vindy.com