Students gain skills, confidence through CPS adult program

The Canton Citizen is pleased to partner with the Canton Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee to present “Community in Unity,” a new monthly series spotlighting Canton residents of diverse backgrounds. The series will continue monthly for the remainder of 2021.

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Learning how to make a budget, preparing a meal, and helping customers in a store are a few of the skills that students in the Canton Adult Transition Program (CATP) are learning. CATP began in the fall of 2019 in the Rodman Building for young adults who are 18 to 22 years old. This year there are nine students in the program.

“It’s a post-secondary program for students to work on transitional, vocational, and independent living skills,” said Shanna Belenky, the Canton High School students services coordinator and the CATP teacher. “The students have aged out of high school. We had students who required additional support outside of high school and were not ready to graduate.”

The curriculum includes community integration, vocational and career development, work-based learning activities, a mock apartment for independent living, daily living activities, and academics. Belenky works with a full-time educational assistant and related service providers, including an occupational therapist, a physical therapist, and a speech therapist.

“(Students) acquire job skills and learning skills to develop their independence,” Belenky said.

When the program started in 2019, students worked on job skills at several businesses. At Cradles to Crayons in Boston, they sorted clothing based on size and seasonal wear. In Canton they did clerical work and data entry at Second Debut Consignment Shop, helped out at D & E Pizza & Subs, helped with Food Services across the Canton Public Schools, and sorted paint chips and mixed cans of paint at Babel’s Paint and Decorating. The Canton Public schools provided the school van for transportation.

“They ran their own café on Wednesdays,” Belenky said. “They learned how to shop, budget, cook and set a selling price.”

The students sold sandwiches and salads to teachers. Their Greek salad and the Bulldog, a tomato and mozzarella panini, were among the best selling items on their menu. They also started a dog treats business, selling the treats every few months to help fundraise for their outings. In the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led to the halt of internship placements for the students.

Belenky said that students learned and practiced many skills in the mock apartment in their classroom. The apartment has a living room space with a rug and futon, bookshelves, a closet, and an office space. Students practice making the bed, dusting and alphabetizing the books on the shelves, hanging up clothing, and filing and sorting in the office. They learned about cleaning products and what they’re used for, how to clean surfaces properly, and how to vacuum, mop a floor and use a dustpan and broom.

The students work on functional academics, using materials that are age appropriate and developmentally appropriate. “Students can become world citizens, not just Canton citizens,” Belenky said. “We read adaptive newspapers. We work on functional reading, functional math, using money, identifying numbers.”

In their work with functional writing, they learn how to compose an email with a subject, greeting, body of text, and what language to use with a friend as opposed to a boss or co-worker.

The CATP is designed to meet the needs of students with intellectual and developmental disabilities who have attended high school but have not yet earned their diploma. “We identified that this was going to be a need,” Belenky said. “We wanted to keep them in Canton so they could fully access their own community.”

Belenky and others researched other similar programs before creating CATP. “We’re working with incredible administrators who want to see the best for our kids,” she said. “It’s wonderful to work in such a supportive environment.”

Amy Maria Doris started the program in the fall of 2020. “Amy has overcome substantial medical problems,” her mother, Audrey Fleming-Doris, said. Amy, 20, was born with a chromosome deletion. By the time she was six months old, she had hydrocephalus, which is fluid on the brain; Amy could not see or hear.

Fleming-Doris reached out to doctors and others for help in Amy’s treatment. Fleming-Doris’ brother, who is a contractor, made adjustments to Amy’s crib and high chair, tilting them so that there was less pressure on her brain. Fleming-Doris’ mother and mother’s friends spent time massaging Amy’s limbs to avoid atrophy. Amy regained her sight and learned to walk. She attended preschool at the Hansen School, then went on to the Luce School, Galvin Middle School and CHS.

Amy has been in quarantine during this school year. Belenky went to her home and set up her Chromebook so that she could take part in CATP. “It’s a major help,” Fleming-Doris said. “She feels like she’s a part of it. It’s really amazing how much Amy’s motivated at this stage in her life. There’s not many programs out there that do things that help students manage the world on their own. It’s amazing what they’re doing with the program.”

Aryeh Maeir is 20 years old and has autism. He started the program in 2019 and attended in person until things shut down in March of 2020. He has attended the program in person this year for four and a half days each week.

His mother, Merilee Maeir, said that for Aryeh, one of the highlights of the CATP experience was his internship at Babel’s Paint and Decorating, where he mixed paint and interacted with customers and employees. “He was so proud of himself,” Merilee said of her son. “It would also give him purpose. He is very hardworking.”

Through the internships, Aryeh learned about the importance of staying on task, controlling the volume of his voice, and maintaining an appropriate social distance when talking to others, skills that can be a challenge for him. With the other students in the program, he learned how to handle money, make a budget, and take public transportation. “That’s what’s most important,” Merilee said, “that he manage his world.”

Merilee said that Aryeh’s CATP experience has been extremely positive. “His self-esteem went up like a rocket,” she said. “He really felt that he was contributing. These are things that will carry him well beyond his high school career.”

Belenky has seen the same changes and emotional growth in her students in the two years since CATP started. “Their confidence, self-esteem, independence, and communication skills have increased dramatically throughout their participation in the program,” she said.

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Posted by Mary Ann Price on Apr 4 2021. Filed under Features. Both comments and pings are currently closed.