By Joe Rodriguez, the Wichita Eagle, May 26, 2009
WICHITA - Come this fall, more Wichita high school students with disabilities will be able to take an elective class that seeks to better prepare them for the workplace.
The class, "Soaring to New Heights," launched this semester in three high schools -- North, Southeast and East. The course, aimed at better preparing students for employment and improving their self-advocacy skills, will expand to West, Northwest, South and Heights high schools and Sowers Special Education Center for the fall semester.
It's intended for juniors who have either a physical or mental disability, and is a partnership between the Wichita school district, Kansas Rehabilitation Services (part of the state's Department of Social and Rehabilitative Services), the University of Kansas and the Kansas Health Policy Authority.
"We know that the transition from high school into the adult world is difficult for lots of kids," said Tom Racunas, director of transition services in the division of special education and support services for the Wichita school district. "For kids with disabilities and kids with disabilities who don't have certain skill sets... finding their niche, garnering the services and support they need in order to be successful, it's not going to come naturally."
Racunas said that Wichita high schools do have some similar classes for students with disabilities, but that the new class "is an upgrade," in part because it's research based.
It's based on a curriculum developed by the University of Kansas and SRS.
"I think another component we're adding in here is helping kids understand the services and support that are available to them as an adult with disabilities," Racunas said.
The program was adapted from a similar program developed by KU and SRS for adults.
In the youth program, instructors help students do things such as put together a resume, develop a mission statement and specific goals, and teach them to be better self-advocates.
"In many cases, we work with students towards vocational training, college, or for some who really just want to go directly into employment, to help them with that, too," said Paul Meals, program administrator for Kansas Rehabilitation Services.
It's a population that teacher Chuck Ledford said needs specialized instruction on such issues.
Citing statistical information that he has gathered, up to 70 percent of students with disabilities are either unemployed or underemployed within two years following their high school graduation.
"That's pretty astounding," he said.
He hopes the class can help make a difference, though.
Some say it already has.
Kenneth Broadfoot, 18, a student at Southeast High, said the class has showed him how to do things such as setting life goals, developing a mission statement and putting together a resume -- things he's never done before.
"Now I known I can get a job," he said.
And he said that's given him the confidence that he'll land a job and reach his goals -- one of which is to join the U.S. Army and to adopt a child because he was adopted.
"That's what I've been told my (whole) life is, 'You're not going to make it, Kenny, because you have these problems,' " he said. "What I've told myself is, 'I'm going to make it.' "
Ledford, the course instructor, said goal-setting is important.
"To develop self-advocacy, you've got to know where you want to go," Ledford said. "And so that's what we've really focused on this semester."
Each class at the three high schools has about 10 students. Ledford said other teachers will teach the class at the schools where it is expanding in the fall.
Michael Donnelly, director of Kansas Rehabilitation Services, said the program has funding for at least three years. He estimates that the class will reach as many as 500 students during that period.
Officials will monitor results such as job placements to determine how successful the class is. He's confident the program can extend beyond three years.
"If we see the kind of success we anticipate, I don't think that will be a question," he said. The school district "is going to want to do it, teachers are going to want to do it, students are going to want to have it."
Reach Joe Rodriguez at 316-268-6644 or jrodriguez@wichitaeagle.com.