THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 31, 1996 TAG: 9603310048
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By DENISE WATSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
One 14-year-old Western Branch Middle School student knows, really knows, what he wants to be 10 years from now.
``A garbage collector,'' the brown-haired kid said as others around him in the special-education class did a double-take.
``What? You like messing with trash?'' another student asked.
``Naw,'' the 14-year-old said. ``Garbage collectors make good money.''
His teacher, Chloe Jones, nodded in agreement.
``They sure do. There isn't anything wrong with being a garbage collector.''
It's the type of message Jones has stressed for years as a resource teacher for students with learning disabilities and one she's happy a few of her students have grasped. Many of them have neurological and emotional learning blocks which will keep them from becoming degreed professors, Supreme Court Justices or big-bucks plastic surgeons.
``I try to encourage them to be the best they can be with everything,'' Jones said.
``But the reality is that some of the students are hyperactive and it's difficult for them to comprehend a lot of material. . . . Some just don't have the concentration it takes to make it through college.''
Thus, each month, Jones brings in guest speakers - bus drivers, barbers, military recruiters - who can talk about career opportunities that require little or no post-high school education.
``We have the regular career days where we introduce students to the doctor, lawyer . . . but that might not help these kids,'' Jones said.
``Maybe they won't be the doctor, but maybe they can work with medical records. . . . We have some students who won't make it out of high school. But we have to give them skills and options so that they can still support themselves and be productive citizens.''
Local school systems have transition specialists, who work with teachers, parents and students to find special classes and services to help disabled students do well in school. Chesapeake's specialists work with about 800 middle and high school special-needs students.
``We begin working with students around age 14 because we realized that was the age many special-education kids were dropping out, weren't even making it to high school,'' said Emily Riddick, one of Chesapeake's transition specialists.
``They didn't have classes tailored to their needs. The students were being stuck in academic classes but they had a problem with academics.''
Recently, Chesapeake teamed with Norfolk Public Schools and sponsored an ``Information Night'' to provide where-to and how-to information for special-needs students. Businesses and community service representatives, such as those with the Bridge Academy, a job-training program, talked to parents and students about jobs and special services available while the students are in school, and afterward.
``If the child is learning disabled or not, we have to prepare them to transition from school to adult life,'' Riddick said.
``For some students, that means teaching them how to live from day-to-day. It might not be appropriate for some of these kids to sit in a social studies class. It's nice, but it's not what they need to survive as an adult.''
What they need, according to Jones' class, are jobs that get them outdoors, do not require paperwork, and bring in ``good money.''
Recently, the students used the ``Virginia View Career Search,'' a computer program that compiles a list of possible jobs that match personality characteristics typed into the computer. Jones will help the students plan future classes, find special services - whatever necessary to persue their career choices.
According to the computerized career search, there is a possible veterinarian, mechanic, health-care facility administrator and cab driver in the class. by CNB