A junior high school program that brings classroom assistance to special-needs students in the Pickerington Local School District has brought benefits to "typical" peers, as well.
At Rule (3) on April 20, seventh- and eighth-graders from Lakeview Junior High School clamored about several bowling alley lanes, often in pairs, to the sounds of crashing pins and cheers.
The celebratory field trip involved students from Lakeview's Multiple Disabilities and Intellectual Disabilities units, as well as students who don't have disabilities but who spent the year helping those who do through a peer-collaboration program.
Wendy Poston, a multiple disabilities program teacher at the school, said the trip was designed for special-needs students and Lakeview to show appreciation for the work of the peer helpers.
But to some of those typical students who provide help -- everything from keeping peers with moderate to severe disabilities from conditions such as autism, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome on task with classroom work, to help with lunch and the occasional wardrobe malfunction -- it was icing on the cake to a worthwhile experience.
"I always loved helping those kids just so much, from going in and working with them to seeing their smiles," said Drake Collins, a seventh-grader. "I always look forward to going every day."
J.J. Groves, another seventh-grader who signed up to help through the peer-collaboration elective program said, "It's just been amazing. I've met kids that just brighten my day."
Poston, fellow Lakeview multiple disabilities teacher Rachel Zelle and intellectual disabilities teacher Tara Ruckman, said those students' comments are indicative of the virtues of the peer program.
Poston said with just one teacher per MD and ID class and one to two paraprofessionals assigned to each classroom, classes couldn't run as smoothly without the peer helpers' assistance.
She also believes peer interactions bolster special needs students' learning opportunities and socialization skills.
Conversely, Poston said, peer helpers learn about everything from special needs conditions to service to others.
"(Typical students) are giving an hour of their day to help special-needs students," she said.
"The peers get to know all of (the special- needs students') personal needs, their dietary needs.
"It matures them very quickly. A lot of these special-needs kids just could not function without them, and they develop intense friendships."
Zelle was inspired to be a special-education teacher after taking similar peer-collaboration classes while in high school in Massachusetts.
She said she's seen significant growth in her students thanks to their relationships with typical peers.
"A lot of these kids need someone beside them to keep them on task and be supportive," Zelle said. "Their communications skills are lower, but having a peer helps them to come out of their shells and talk."
Lakeview has maintained a peer-collaboration program for its special-needs classes for three years.
The MD and ID teachers credited Principal Pam Bertke and Special Education Coordinator Brittany Turnball for implementing and fostering the program.
"It just continues to build each year," Ruckman said.
"We get more and more applications that continue to build, and more and more interaction."
Collins, Groves and Lakeview eighth-grader Katie Nash, another peer helper, each said they have multiple career interests moving forward.
Among them, they all said, is special education, and they agreed those interests were instilled through the peer-collaboration program.
"I had not been very surrounded by (people with special needs) before," Nash said.
"I worked with some autistic kids and liked doing that, seeing their perspectives and how they see the world. I'm very close with them.
"You can't really do peer collaboration in ninth grade, which I was really upset about. But I'll do it from 10th grade on," she said.
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