Kent ISD — The display rack was brimming with an assortment of cards, ranging from Christmas to anniversary. One table showcased hand-crafted ornaments made of paper and clay, while another featured chocolate peanut clusters and other treats.
Continuing on at the Lincoln Developmental Center’s annual holiday market and you would see handmade soaps, spice mixes, decorated paper bags and wrapping paper all being eagerly snapped up by shoppers.
“My daughter looks forward to this every year,” said Shelley Anderson, mother of Alyssa Jepson. “It’s a great opportunity for me to get to see the other classes, which I don’t get to do, and for the kids to be able to give back with everyone just having a good time.”
LDC, which is part of the Kent ISD Lincoln campus, serves students in kindergarten through age 26 whose needs are in the areas of severe multiple impairment, cognitive impairment and autism spectrum disorder.
Students who are considered to be in the eighth grade and older, ages 14-26, are invited to help run a booth during the Holiday Market, said special education teacher Jessie Rogers, who helped coordinate the event.
Once in eighth grade, students are in the transition aged classes, where they receive support about adult living, getting ready for employment, community participation and postsecondary education and training.The holiday market, which is in its third year, is a great opportunity, both in prepping and working the day of, for the students to work on those life skills, Rogers said.
“In the transition aged classrooms, which host the event, we are focused on what job skills we might need,” Rogers said. “We are looking at what brings the student joy and what they would like to do in the future.”
Students fill different posts ranging from greeting to collecting money. Some of the students who are nonverbal used electronics such as tablets to communicate with customers.
Greeter Jack Bulkowski said “hello” through a tablet he had, while Cole Nogar encouraged shoppers by pressing a button that had such phrases as “buy more.”
‘Crafting’ All Kinds of Skills
Most items at the holiday market were either made by the students or the students collaborated with educators. For example, educators made the soaps that were for sale, with the students helping to create the labels by using shaving cream and paint to make a marbling effect on paper.
Principal Todd Jones said doing such craft activities helps students with fine and gross motor skills.
In fact, many of the classes at Lincoln Developmental Center have small businesses, Rogers said. The transition-aged classrooms make and sell cards throughout the year. The money raised is put back in the program, Rogers said, adding that they were recently able to purchase a signature stamp used on the back of the cards.
The holiday market helps with building communication skills along with requiring math skills for counting money, Jones said.
“So she purchased $3 in items and gave us $5,” said Jaime Thomasma, an instructional support specialist, after a customer handed her a five-dollar bill. “How much do we give back?”
One of the students, through a counting machine, responded “two.”
Alyssa had her tray full of Christmas gifts. As she waited in line for wrapping, she said she enjoyed making and participating in the holiday market. She especially liked picking out her own Christmas presents, she said.
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