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Schools

Kids make friends as they learn skills

Dixie Hollins High School students work at an assisted living facility two days each week to prepare for the working world.

By RITA FARLOW
Published January 17, 2007

They're known as "the Dixie kids."

That's what the folks at Summerville at Pinellas Park assisted living facility call Ruth Dobkin's mentally handicapped students from Dixie Hollins High School in St. Petersburg.

The students go to Summerville two days each week to help with laundry, activities, maintenance, housekeeping and dining as part of their work study program.

"They're very, very good helpers. They're so eager to learn," said maintenance assistant Dan Rentsch.

The community-based instruction class is designed to teach the students job skills.

"It's basically to get them ready for the job world. We want them to obtain general vocational skills that can be transferred to any job," said Dobkin, an exceptional student education teacher at Dixie Hollins.

The students learn specific tasks as well as general tips for getting a job done. "We want them to learn how to take criticism and do better, how to find the materials they'll need for their job independently, how to work with speed and accuracy, how to verbalize appropriately at the job," Dobkin said.

The kids rotate departments at the end of each grading period to expose them to as many skills as possible. Dobkin said the majority of the kids she has seen graduate from the program have gone on to find employment.

Junior Greg McIntyre, 19, said maintenance workers at Summerville taught him how to change light bulbs and air filters. "It's a good job to learn," he said.

The students also go to Tyrone Elementary School two days a week to work in the kitchen and as classroom assistants.

Last week, the students got together with some of Summerville's residents for a morning of bowling and fellowship at Seminole Lanes, where the kids practice for the Special Olympics throughout the fall semester.

Summerville resident Lois Pittman said she was happy to revive one of her favorite pastimes while getting to know some of the kids better, too. What does she like most about "the Dixie kids"?

"They're nice to me," Pittman said.

[Last modified January 17, 2007, 06:30:14]