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Transitioning to AmeriCorps: An Option for All Special Education students
by Cynthia Wetmiller

One of the key components of the transition experience for K-12 students with disabilities is the career exploration phase. Transition facilitators throughout the state are in a constant process of exposing middle and high school students to viable career opportunities that lie beyond high school graduation. While career exploration is important for all students, it is essential for students with disabilities. Why? Here are a few compelling reasons supported by the National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (http://www.ncset.org/):

1. Although there are a large variety of careers to choose from, individuals with disabilities have traditionally been limited in their career options, especially if they are unprepared for the requirements of the workplace. Career guidance is important for students' preparation to make choices relevant to their personal strengths and interests and their ability to meet workplace requirements.

2. Students with disabilities need to explore their own strengths and challenges, fully understand their disability and know about the support they need for success in the workplace.

3. It is important for students to develop self-determination skills as they prepare to shoulder more responsibility and make life decisions. Self-determination skills include self-advocacy, decision-making abilities and self-awareness.

4. Transition goals in the IEP can include work-place experiences that allow students to learn about employment settings and vocational opportunities.

5. Work-based learning offers all youth meaningful and engaging learning opportunities by connecting classroom learning to learning on job sites in the community. This kind of learning experience can help a young person make career decisions, network with potential employers, select courses of study and develop job skills relevant to future employment.

While many schools offer paid internships with for-profit businesses, several transition programs in Pennsylvania have been utilizing community-based internships at non-profit organizations to help students with disabilities learn more about careers, self-determination and other transition goals of the IEP. AmeriCorps programs throughout the state would be great partners for community-based internships! AmeriCorps programs could help transitioning students learn about careers in the non-profit sector and practice self-determination. These students could then develop important communication and decision-making skills, apply what they learn in the classroom to community needs and consider AmeriCorps as a viable post-graduate experience that can help them acclimate from the role of student to the role of contributing citizen.

Here are a few suggestions for connecting your high school special education students with AmeriCorps:

1. Visit the AmeriCorps website at http://www.americorps.org/ and download information about the AmeriCorps programs in your region.
2. Contact AmeriCorps Program Directors and discuss the idea of student internships with them.
3. Set up a job-shadowing experience so that your students and the AmeriCorps programs have a chance to "experiment" with the idea of a possible collaboration between AmeriCorps and your transition program.
4. Invite AmeriCorps members to visit your classroom, meet your students and talk about their AmeriCorps experience and AmeriCorps in general.
5. Contact the local AmeriCorps recruiter and invite him/her to visit your classroom. Recruiter information is available at the AmeriCorps website.
6. Collaborate on a service-learning project with your local AmeriCorps program. Encourage your students to plan all phases of the project in cooperation with the AmeriCorps members. MLK Day in January would be a great time to get a service-learning project going in the community with AmeriCorps. Visit http://www.mlkday.org/ for more information.

As you look towards next semester, consider an AmeriCorps collaboration of some sort for students with disabilities who are involved with transition. Who knows, today's special education students might be tomorrow's AmeriCorps members.

If you need help establishing connections with AmeriCorps, the PSLA offices in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are here to help. Send an email to psla@pitt.edu and we'll point you in the right direction.

The Pittsburgh office of the PSLA is hosting an MLK Day workshop for K-12 teachers and students to meet and learn more about getting involved with AmeriCorps for MLK Day.