Recently, student Daniel Roquemore made shelf tags to help the David Powell Food Bank organize its donations. The tags separate the different canned foods and help volunteers find the shelves that need to be restocked faster. Roquemore is part of the life skills class where students get experience doing different jobs and activities. 

“The whole point is for the community to see this population as employable,” life skills teacher Lauren Backer said. “While our students need services, they are not just there to be served but to serve.”

The life skills class is a system which helps kids with disabilities and special needs have a place to learn and grow. They do different activities for their students to help them prepare for life out of high school.

“They learn real job skills, and I believe they also learn about themselves too,” food bank volunteer Larry Wilson said. “I can see in their faces the pride they take in doing any and every job I give them. People don’t realize they are capable of doing the same work I do or anyone else does.”

Students do other jobs such as going to Doc’s Pizza to help fold pizza boxes, going to Petty’s where they help fold and wrap silverware and running a coffee and tea cart for teachers. This helps fine tune motor, language, and application skills.

“I want people to understand that while special needs people have special needs, they also have special things to offer,” Backer said. “The [life skills students] have something meaningful to contribute and bring something really special to your business.”