ON-THE-JOB SCHOOLING

By Elise Franco

Austintown special-needs students learn workforce skills at businesses

Students work at a different community business every nine weeks.

Teaching students with multiple disabilities the skills they’ll use when they join the work force is something employees at Brudders Wood Fire Grille and Bar say they are proud to do.

Karen Marra, intervention specialist for Mahoning County Educational Service Center, said she teaches a transition class at Austintown Fitch High School for students ages 17-22 who have multiple disabilities.

She said the disabilities range from Down syndrome to cerebral palsy to behavioral problems.

“The class is partly in the school, but the focus is out in the community,” Marra said. “They learn skills that will help them transition from school to work.”

Part of the class curriculum includes employing class members at businesses around the community for nine-week periods, she said.

The most recent business to open its doors was Brudders, 920 N. Canfield-Niles Road.

Robert Gonzalez, manager, said bringing the students into the restaurant was a “no-brainer.”

“Our business is in the community,” he said. “These kids are a part of the community, too.”

At 9:30 a.m. each Tuesday, the class of six arrives and begins duties.

Marra said the work includes food preparation, sweeping and cleaning tables and floors, filling condiments and washing dishes.

“Any type of repetitive job that no one else wants to do, our kids love,” she said. “They want to do it.”

Gonzalez said he’s been impressed by the students’ abilities.

“They do more than what we ever thought,” he said. “It’s been great watching them grow from what they did when they first started to now.”

Ashley Myers, 21, of Austintown, said she loves being able to help make croutons and organize.

“This job teaches me to really use my head,” she said.

Marra said for the most part Myers works on her own and needs little supervision to accomplish her tasks.

Terry Crogan, 20, of Youngstown, said he takes pride in making the morning coffee and stocking paper products.

He said most of all he loves working with Kristina Lucarell, a server who has become a mentor to Crogan.

Lucarell, 26, of Canfield, said she started by showing Crogan how to properly do each of his tasks, but now he barely needs her direction.

“He comes in every Tuesday and automatically knows what to do,” she said.

Marra said Myers and Crogan are just two examples of why learning work skills early is important for these students’ development.

“This is what they need to do in order to be competitive in the job market,” she said. “They’re learning how to do that here.”

Marra said inside the classroom the students learn cooking and cleaning skills, as well as how to use and manage money.

She said the students will be working the next nine weeks at two Canfield businesses — Dairy Queen on South Broad Street and The Hampton Inn and Suites, on Ironwood Boulevard.

“They get the best of both worlds,” Marra said. “They’re in a school environment, and they get to go out and work within the community.”

efranco@vindy.com