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Aspen School District has expanded its programs this year for students and young adults with disabilities.
The new curriculum focuses on skills such as writing a resume and preparing for an interview that will help participants get jobs in the community and prepare them for adulthood.
As part of the program, students attended a job training workshop at the Bluebird Cafe in Glenwood Springs on Sept. 20.
Twin sisters Janette and Jakaline Keller were busy making drinks behind the counter while Theodore Stiller, who goes by Teddy, explained what they were doing.
“We're learning how to take orders and how to run an espresso machine,” he said.
Barista Sophia Williams was there to offer guidance and answer questions as the Keller sisters made their first pumpkin spice latte.
Both sisters recently graduated from Aspen High School and are participants in PeAk Futures, one of the school district’s two newly expanded programs.
The free PeAk Futures program is for 18- to 21-year-olds transitioning out of high school who have an Individualized Education Plan, or an IEP.
Colorado law requires public school districts to offer this kind of transition program for students with IEPs.
Previously, the Aspen School District worked with other schools in the area to offer services for this age group, but demand has been growing.
With help from the resource center Aspen Family Connections, special education teacher Tara Valentino decided to set up the new curriculum earlier this year.
“We’re taking kids into the community, doing more life skills, independent living skills and workplace readiness, and really focusing on developing resumes and interview skills as well,” Valentino said.
The school district is also partnering with local disability advocacy nonprofit Cook Inclusive to help provide services like matching participants with employers and job coaches. The nonprofit receives funding for its services from the state’s Division of Vocational Rehabilitation.
Cook Inclusive founder Kaleb Cook helped set up the recent training workshop at the Bluebird Cafe.
While the trainings help students gain employable skills, Cook also hopes the sessions will encourage businesses to hire young people with disabilities.
“These kids are competent, these kids can do their job and they can do it really well,” he said. “And it makes your business look better. It diversifies your workforce and it really brings in people that are going to stay.”
With ongoing worker shortages, Cook believes that matching the right business with a person who has a disability is a win-win for the employee and the employer.
“I think a lot of times we sit here and get confused (about) solutions on, ‘Why can't we keep people around, and what is the way we're going to be able to have a sufficient workforce long term?’ And the answer's in front of us: It's kids with disabilities, it's people with disabilities who are looking for employment,” Cook said.
According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for people with disabilities was about twice as high last year than it was for people who did not have a disability.
Aspen high graduate Janette Keller likes that the program has exposed her to different work environments like the cafe to help her figure out what kinds of jobs she does — and doesn’t — want to have in the future.
“I don't want to work with so many people yelling at me like, ‘Oh, my latte is upside down.’ It's like, ‘No it's fine,’” Keller said. “What I like to do is work with kids. I like to work with kindergarteners.”
As part of the program this summer, Janette worked as a camp counselor at Ajax Adventure Camp while her sister Jakaline worked at Theatre Aspen.
“With this experience, there's some ups and downs to it,” she said. “But the plus side is that, ‘Hey, I get to spend time in the community. I can be with others.’”
Jakaline has also learned a lot of practical life skills, like how to manage the pay she earns.
“I’m being more smart with money because before I would just spend like crazy, but now it's like, 'Oh hey, you gotta watch out, this is the real life,’” she said.
The Aspen School District also expanded its Transition program earlier this year for 15- to 18-year-olds with IEPs who are still in high school.
Teddy Stiller, who is 16, gets to participate in a lot of the same experiences as his older peers in PeAk Futures, such as the recent cafe training.
“I think it's a really good program,” he said. “It just helps us get jobs in the community and help us with our day-to-day lives.”
Teddy has autism, and his mom Michelle Stiller said his path is different from some of his neurotypical peers who are starting to apply for college.
“As we got to sort of junior year academics and high-level learning, it became more frustrating and we knew very quickly we had to pivot and get him into the real world, doing what he likes to do best, which is buying and selling items on eBay, going to thrift stores and storage auctions,” she said. “And we needed to be able to find him the right support to do all this.”
Michelle said her son Teddy is excited to start working at Walmart in Glenwood Springs soon. He’ll also be matched with a job coach through Cook Inclusive.
“They will teach him how to work successfully at a job, everything from getting to that job on public transit, to dressing for the job, and behaving in a certain way at a job,” she said. “These are things that come naturally to kids who don't have autism.”
As a special education teacher and coordinator for these transition services, Tara Valentino has known Teddy and many of his peers for years, and she’s noticed a lot of program participants are now taking charge and advocating for what they want to do with their futures.
“They're engaging in meaningful experiences that are going to support them for the rest of their lives,” she said. “And so I think that’s my major thing from watching their growth, is just the amount of happiness that they have.”
Back at the cafe, the Keller sisters were reflecting on the program and thinking about the future as they made one last mocha latte for a customer.
Even though Janette doesn’t want to work at a coffee shop in the future, she’s proud of the variety of work experiences she’s gotten through the program.
“I can finally shine in a place that's like, I'm a shooting star,” she said. “I can keep my head up high and just feel like I'm a proud princess or a queen or king.”
For her part, her sister Jakaline said she’s enjoyed working in a cafe, but she’s ready to try something new.
She recently participated in wilderness first aid training and hopes to work with Challenge Aspen and the Aspen Skiing Company this winter to learn what it’s like to be a ski patroller.
