In the middle of the E200 hallway stands a wonderful classroom filled with an abundance of love, comfort and smiles: the AS Special Education Class. I had the privilege of getting to speak with many of the students in this room, which allowed me to get to know these students on a personal level and even form relationships with some of them. Amidst the hectic chaos of the high school, I can genuinely say that conversing with these students was so very special to me, as now I understand what happens in this incredibly magical classroom.
For legal reasons, I could not name the students whom I had the pleasure of meeting. Therefore, I tried to write about them as descriptively as possible in order to capture their incredible character.
I spoke with an 18 year old boy first. Though more introverted, he always remains with the same warm smile on his face. Action figures in hand, he told me that he enjoys playing with them frequently. This student left an impression on me for his clever sense of humor, in which he would crack jokes with the adult educators in the room that helped him. He informed me that his favorite subject is math and that he was currently learning addition, subtraction, multiplication and numbers involving the use of rulers.
I then had the pleasure of speaking with a 15 year old student, who immediately brought a smile to my face. He is incredibly soft spoken and has a sweet, gentle disposition. He informed me that basketball is his favorite sport to play and that he thoroughly enjoys math. He loves Wilson for the people–specifically those that help him, including his teachers and his student helpers. Mrs. Thomas, one of the class’s many talented paraeducators, told me that this student regularly makes songs out of the things he sees in the classroom, which demonstrates his remarkable musical abilities.
After my conversation with this student, I then moved into a smaller room with four other students. Mrs. Deborah Allison, an exceptional teacher whom I’ve had the privilege of forming a close relationship with throughout the school year, ran an intimate lesson called “Functional Cooking,” in which students would go through the lengthy process of cooking something (in this case, brownies and sugar cookies to celebrate Easter). This included copying down recipes, going to the grocery store and the ultimate goal: performing the cooking. Functional Cooking would continue to be a week-long process that strengthened reading and writing skills, practiced social and problem solving skills and even taught valuable cooking skills. The students in this room were seated at a small wooden table in a circular shape, which allowed for an interactive experience in which students could ask and answer questions.
After Functional Cooking, I went back to my classes; however, I returned back to room E204 at the end of the day, which allowed me to speak with more students. I was encouraged to converse with an 18 year old student, who immediately struck me for his hilariously witty sense of humor. This student, who is incredibly personable and mature, described his love for Wilson by saying he loved “how diverse” its population is. He takes several “inclusion” classes, such as Mr. Bohl’s reading class and Mr. Miller’s “Life Ready” class. He has very close relationships with Mrs. Allison and Miss Lawrence, as he enjoys calling Mrs. Allison nicknames and even describes Miss Lawrence as a helpful “voice of reason.” Though this student does not participate in Unified Sports, he does plan on joining the school’s Chess Club. He is very well-spoken, having told me what he has been learning in class, including how to cook new recipes, using new reading strategies and topics in gym and art.
Briefly, I spoke with two more students. One student, age 16, is heavily interested in cooking and art. He thoroughly enjoys Functional Cooking. Mrs. Allison informed me that he even took an inclusion class last year with cooking teacher Mrs. Shaak. Additionally, he loves art, as he constantly finds himself drawing and painting for fun. Similar to this student, the other male student I spoke with is also very artistic–specifically with his love for theater. He described theater as “his passion” and has done several of the Wilson Theater Company productions, including being a part of the Ensemble in The Little Mermaid. This student is very sarcastic and constantly makes funny jokes.
I ended my day by speaking with three more students, all fascinating and extremely well-versed in their own ways. One boy, age 16, is incredibly well spoken and stands out to me for his warm, enthusiastic personality. He loves Wilson for its large variety of opportunities, including playing in the gym, swimming at the pool, singing in choir and more. His interests run in many different areas; for one, he is involved in Unified Sports and loves running short distances. He also enjoys playing on his computer and socializing with his close friends, whom he listed as other students in the class. He loves to play baseball, his favorite position being catcher. He expressed his sincere gratitude for the people who helped him in his class and stated that they were willing to assist him with anything ranging from tying his shoes to teaching math lessons. He is extremely kindhearted and even thanked me for speaking with him.
A kindhearted male student was the next person I conversed with, who is very witty and articulate. He informed me that his favorite subject is science, and he particularly remembered enjoying performing a frog dissection in a middle school science class. This student likes to spend his free time outside going to the park and riding his bike. Recently, he has been learning math and history, but specifically has been interested in learning about the history of India. Afterwards, I spoke with my last student. This boy is very polite, yet has a hilarious sense of humor. His favorite show is Spongebob Squarepants, and he enjoys eating a cheese sandwich–which he insisted is constructed of only cheese and bread–every day. Mrs. Allison told me that this student has inherited the nickname “Doodly” for his frequent love for doodling. She also informed me that during each period, if he is well behaved, he earns five minutes of computer time. He described his close relationship with his student helper, Ben, as he said Ben is very funny and spends a lot of time with him.
After reflecting on my experiences with this class, I can’t help but smile. This classroom often gets overlooked amongst the bustling chaos of Wilson High School; yet, by taking less than two hours out of my day to speak with these students individually, I learned amazing things about each and every one of them. I strongly encourage everyone to take time out of their day, whether it is small or large, in order to spread kindness to these students who are so often left unnoticed but are unique, talented, and kind-hearted individuals.
