A group of students from the Manteca Community Young Adult Transition Program came to the Nelson Education Center bearing a plate of homemade brownies.
They were delicious, but these brownies represent a whole lot more for the students in the program for 18- to 22-year-olds with severe needs.Earlier this school year the program received a mini grant from the San Joaquin County Office of Education. The $2,000 grant is sponsored by Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
It paid for a Community-Based Instruction project, incorporated with the belief that every student, regardless of the severity of his or her disabilities, is capable of living, working and recreating in the community.
Students learned by doing, from going to the grocery store to buy a list of ingredients from a recipe, to cooking meals at home, to developing housekeeping skills.
(Pictured, from left, back row: Staff Secretary Sarah Almquist; students Daniel, 20, and Salvador, 19; Administrative Services Coordinator Janai Stanton; Teacher Carole McNair; Classroom Assistant Lynette Vickers; students Gaby, 21, and Edith, 21.)