A 2022 Grant for Warren County Middle School

This project’s goal is to update and supply the Pathways and Connections’ kitchen and classroom with much-needed equipment, cookware, bakeware, dinnerware, utensils, and a rolling cart/bar in order to store and sell products as students go around the school. This gives students an opportunity to learn, practice, and perform daily life skill goals per their Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). It is vital that these students learn to do as much as they can for themselves, on their own. The ultimate goal is for the students to learn how to perform everyday life skills and to be as independent as possible as adults. The Pathways and Connections classroom is self‐contained, serving multiple-disabled students. In the classroom, it is an important goal for students to learn and practice everyday living skills such as cooking, baking, running the dishwasher, running the washing machine and dryer, and folding the laundry. These students are the school’s community helpers, so they go around and gather up any towels, washcloths, or rags that teachers have, and the students take care of the items weekly; then they return the clean items back to the staff. These students are young entrepreneurs; on Fridays they operate a mobile coffee and snack cart to each grade level hallway to sell their products to the staff. This task gives them knowledge of dealing with the public, customer service, and what it means to provide a good or product to someone for payment to earn money.