Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine – A unique exchange program with seventh-graders at Presque Isle Middle School (PIMS) and teens from the Opportunity Training Center (OTC) is celebrating the students’ similarities rather than acknowledging their differences.
OTC is a special purpose private school (grades K-12) that serves students with moderate to severe disabilities from surrounding school districts. Teaching focuses on fine and gross motor skills, self help skills and academic development. The students are prepared for inclusion in public schools and provided with the skills they need to be more independent when they leave OTC.
According to Kevin Sipe, social studies teacher at PIMS, he and Steve Richard, executive director of the Central Aroostook ARC, which oversees OTC, decided years ago to “get the two schools together.”
“[We wanted to do that] since many of the students were the same age and shared a lot of the same experiences, but these kids would see each other out in the community and not know who they were because they didn’t go to the same school,” said Sipe. “We decided to do units back and forth where our students would go there to do activities, and their students would come here to do activities. In previous years, at the end of the school year, we’ve gone up to OTC to have a barbecue. We found that kids would see each other out in the community … at the movies, for example, and they’d know each other and say ‘Hi,’ and share that experience.”
The arrangement began about 20 years ago and was done for several years.
“I let the ball drop and we didn’t do it for a number of years,” said Sipe. “We started it up again and this is probably the fifth year that we’ve been doing it again.”
Sipe said his seventh-graders have enjoyed working with OTC’s students.
“It used to be that I would have Steve come down and do a presentation for our students, but the last two years, I just treat it as if they’re just students coming down [to our school],” he said. “I tell my students what OTC is, the population that OTC deals with, and that there are students of all different varying abilities within that group, but I decided rather than emphasizing the differences, I’ve always emphasized, ‘These are students your age who you don’t know because they go to a different school than you.’ I find for my students it’s no problem. They don’t seem to be nervous or judgmental … they just jump right in.”
The students worked on projects dealing with Great Britain.
“Whatever unit we’re doing at the time, we adapt lessons and activities to that unit,” Sipe said. “We happen to be studying Great Britain right now, and OTC is really good about following our lead, so they did lessons on Henry VIII and castles that fit into what we’re doing.”
Activities last week included making clay castles, creating a personal crest, an Internet activity involving castles, and cooking.
“OTC always does the cooking activity,” said Sipe. “Their students do a lot of work with life skills, so they brought everything with them and cooked English oat cakes, or pancakes, which is something the poor people in England ate. They cook all the time at OTC and some of our students have never cooked a thing. The OTC students were the ones flipping the pancakes and ran the show. That was good to see.”
Sipe said he was pleased with how well the project went this year.
“Our students have really enjoyed it,” he said. “I noticed when they were doing the castle activity that you had these kids who never really knew each other and they’re all sitting together, laughing and giggling, and having a good time. It’s been going very well.”
Michele Blackstone, special education teacher at OTC, said her students thoroughly enjoyed working with the PIMS students.
“I have several students where this is their first year coming to the middle school, and I have two or three students who have been here in the past,” she said. “They absolutely love it and really look forward to it. A couple weeks in advance we align our curriculum to go along with what PIMS is doing which this year is medieval England, so we read Henry VIII before we came.
“I’ve always been impressed with how open and receptive the middle school students are. They are so welcoming and the kids just blend in. It seems to work really well,” said Blackstone. “It’s a really positive experience and a totally different atmosphere.”
Milford Helton and Levi Olsen, who both attend OTC, were excited to partner up with the middle school students.
“I liked making a castle and cooking. We made pancakes. I’m not a good cook, but it was fun,” said Helton. “On my crest, for my favorite things I drew sports, animals and a smiley face, and for the stuff I’m fearful of I put a roller coaster and jumping off buildings.
“It’s been awesome,” he said. “I really liked making the castle. That was my favorite activity. We studied castles beforehand, so I had an idea what it should look like. I like making stuff. I knew two of the middle school kids and met a lot more. It’s nice meeting new people, and I had fun.”
Olsen previously attended PIMS.
“I got to see some people that I haven’t seen in a while like Mrs. [Gail] Hagelstein, library/media specialist, Assistant Principal Mrs. [Barbara] Bartlett and Principal Mrs. [Anne] Blanchard,” he said. “It was nice to see them again.
“I liked making the castle. I like doing stuff with my hands,” he said. “It’s been fun.”
PIMS students Bonnie Corey and Mikey Michaud found the exchange to be very rewarding.
“They’re really nice students and just great to work with,” said Corey. “I thought it was really fun. It gives us a chance to meet new people who are the same age as us. It’s nice to know them because we see them at places, but never knew them before.”
“I’ve gotten to know the OTC kids pretty quick,” said Michaud. “You can make friends with anyone. I hope they do this again next year. It’s so fun getting to meet everyone.”
Seventh-grade social studies teacher Jay Blackstone is also involved in the program and is working with OTC students in his classroom this week.
Sipe and Blackstone hope to continue the exchange program next year but meet more than just once.
