The average Pleasant Valley student likes takes the services readily provided to them each school day for granted. But if one wanted to understand how our school survives day-to-day, they need not look further than the special education program.
One of the main ways the level three special education department aids our school is by operating a student-run lunch service called the PV Bistro where students prepare and serve meals to staff each Friday. Teachers who purchase from the PV Bistro receive a delicious meal, a student-told joke and an accepting welcome.
The founder of the PV Bistro, Gina Meadows, spoke about her students’ roles in running the lunch service. “I thought we could do it once a week and then the kids can look up the recipes, write the grocery lists, go shopping and cook,” she explained.
The PV Bistro does more than help staff; it allows our school’s exceptional learners to strengthen their abilities and practice independent living. Meadows described the experiences students obtain through managing the restaurant. “They learn life skills like how to go grocery shopping, how to put groceries away, how to look for a recipe and adjust a recipe,” she recounted.
Most importantly, all parties involved with the PV Bistro exit the experience with a sincere feeling of appreciation. Staff appreciate the meals created for them, and Meadows expressed her students’ cheerful feelings about the process. “The most amazing piece of it is how special they feel when teachers come,” she said.
Aside from the PV Bistro, exceptional students lend a helping hand to our school community in several other ways. They handle washing laundry for the food prep classes, athletic department and cafeteria. Without their services, multiple branches within our school would be left searching for extra time to execute additional tasks.
Physical education teacher Jane Wheeler discussed the importance of exceptional students’ work for educators. “It’s really nice to have students to help out because there are some schools where the teacher has to do everything like has to do her laundry or has to clean more in her room than we have to do. So anything they can take off our plate is helpful for teaching,” she shared.
Special education students impressively aid our school; even more, they deliver mail intended for employees of the school. Meadows illustrated one particular student’s role in this form of aiding our school community. “After laundry, Sam will go and put mail in everybody’s mailbox,” she said.
However, maintaining support services like the PV Bistro became difficult when COVID-19 hindered the 2020-2021 school year. So, the special education department brainstormed unique ways to involve their students and the school community.
They landed on selling t-shirts created and designed by students, so they bought a heat-press and got to work. Meadows conveyed her surprise at the success their new endeavor encountered. “We ended up making over a hundred t-shirts. I thought, ‘Oh my gosh we’re never going to be able to do this,’ but we did,” she exclaimed.
The apparel business doubled in importance this year when a former special education teacher’s child ended up in the hospital due to Trisomy 18. Exceptional learners worked to create a t-shirt design relating to the family and their situation. Meadows disclosed her students’ commitment to helping the community and their former teacher. “We thought what can we do for him, so we placed a t-shirt order to fundraise,” she said
Even after all her program and students have done for the school community, Meadows upheld gratitude and thanked the school population for supporting her students. “We’re very impressed with the PV peers and staff, and all their acceptance, kindness and how they genuinely treat our students like they belong,” she expressed.
PV’s exceptional students are the undercover leaders of our school and are deserving of all recognition granted to them.
Kora Ruff • Apr 7, 2022 at 11:08 am
This is a great article! I did not know about this program and what it does for the students and staff. This is a good way to shed light on this program.
Mattie • Apr 1, 2022 at 10:01 am
This is such a good article. I didn’t realize that this program did so much for the school. I also love how you included examples of what people do to show how impactful this program is to our school!
Jaxson Sutter • Mar 25, 2022 at 8:54 pm
Really interesting article! I didn’t know this program did so much for our school, it’s a great program. It was nice to learn more about this program I didn’t know as much about.