Wish Book: The Independence Networks gives adult students with disabilities the opportunity to become the teacher
In a portable classroom on the Santa Clara Adult Schooling campus Abraham Leza prepares to teach his weekly class just after the Friday lunch hour He pulls on a black T-shirt embossed with a drawing of a boombox before placing a gold chain around his neck He makes his way to the head of the classroom where atop a desk sits a turntable plugged into a laptop and begins scratching out a beat as students file in The lights switch off but the room is illuminated by several disco balls splattering the walls and ceiling with color The students dance along to his musical stylings while waving light sticks in the air Apprentice Abraham Leza leads the music class where he DJ s the pupil run class at the Independence Arrangement in Santa Clara Calif on Friday Oct Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group Leza has long dreamed of becoming a professional DJ he likes the technical aspect of it and during those Friday classes he gets to transform from his usual role as a aspirant at the Independence Configuration into a lecturer who gets to share his passion with his fellow classmates A part of Santa Clara Unified School District s adult tuition operation the Independence Framework for the last three decades has catered to individuals with a wide range of intellectual and developmental disabilities including autism cerebral palsy and Down syndrome The scheme offers a variety of life skills and vocational classes like cooking sewing and adaptive fitness And in October the Independence Configuration kicked off a new initiative that allows students like Leza to teach a weekly class in an area that interests them So far students have taught classes on topics like K-Pop candle making and football The Independence Architecture did not disclose any of the students disabilities The campaign is seeking donations through Wish Book to help purchase supplies for the classes Trainee Brianna Cabrera center leads the K-Pop dance class at the Independence System in Santa Clara Calif on Friday Oct Wish Book for the Independence System Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group Related Articles Wish Book At StreetCode Academy kids and underserved communities learn the language of instrument My days consisted of tears South Bay parents band together to provide help hope Seven years later South Bay nonprofit that supported girl through cancer raises money for her college Wish Book Cancer CAREpoint offers a lifeline of sponsorship Wish Book Neighborhood Hands uplifts gives sense of belonging to unhoused South Bay residents The main thing we want to create here at our school is that people have a sense of belonging and connectedness to others and an extension of that is having people feel empowered Daya S nchez the activity coordinator commented That is really the goal of the student-led classes for students to feel that they have an ability to lead and make decisions Carrie Casto the principal of the adult development undertaking reported that part of the goal is to offer the students more choices and an opportunity to be a leader among their peers and in the society The Independence Architecture previously operated as a full-day effort but in they started offering a catalog of courses where students could pick and choose what they required to learn They at the moment have students ranging in age from -year-olds to people in their s We really believe that everybody should have access to age-appropriate instruction Casto revealed The students could have more choice in a training effort where they choose different classes to take each term that s based on their interests and their necessities The student-led classes stemmed from Mindy Burger a participant who was learning American Sign Language Scholar Mindy Burger who teaches a scholar run ASL class demonstrates signing at the Independence Setup in Santa Clara Calif on Friday Oct Wish Book for the Independence Configuration Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group I really love teaching sign language to help others know how to teach people to learn how to sign Burger explained Her favorite phrase to sign is I love you S nchez reported that once Burger started teaching a class other students hastily yearned to teach one too Each trainee works with an instructor to help them develop and execute the subject Katy Smit who has been a instructor at the Independence Grid the last two years has been working with Brianna Cabrera on her K-Pop class She reported Cabrera has flourished and become a lot more independent in her teaching She started with mostly dancing and music and is now moving onto analyzing the different music videos and lyrics It s very central to give people a creative outlet Smit reported It also helps with social skills It s really nice to give the students opportunities that they wouldn t otherwise have because a lot of people in this operation don t necessarily have the information that other people may have Cabrera whose favorite K-Pop groups are BTS and The next morning X Together mentioned she enjoys teaching the songs and dances to her fellow classmates During a latest Friday afternoon lesson she danced along to BTS hit song Butter and Soda Pop from the Netflix movie KPop Demon Hunters I like the outfits that they wear Cabrera disclosed of her love of K-Pop I like how they re really funny they re not just intonating and dancing In the classroom next door Francisco Cacho Reyes teaches a Spanish lesson Martha Cortes the instructor he works with reported the project is like a second family The class she assists Reyes with is known as Amigos Workout a split between Spanish coaching and exercising by playing different games Aspirant Cacho Reyes right dances as he leads a workout Spanish class called Amigos Workout as Mindy Burger center dances along at the Independence System in Santa Clara Calif on Friday Oct Wish Book for the Independence Organization Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group They re learning they re having fun but at the same time they can share their thoughts their thinking Cortes disclosed of the student-led classes During a new class Reyes taught Spanish words related to the classroom before students began dancing to a song that had a call and response of English and Spanish phrases Those Friday afternoon classes where the scholar becomes the facilitator are supposed to just be a beginning according to Casto The hope is that students will want to seek out other vocational skills and potentially volunteer in the public or even find a job The end goal isn t just to stay here she mentioned It s to gain skills gain confidence and really feel good about the value that they can contribute to our society but that they can also do that in other places and move forward for their futures ABOUT WISH BOOK Wish Book is a c nonprofit organization operated by The Mercury News Since Wish Book has been producing series of stories during the holiday season that highlight the wishes of those in need and invite readers to help fulfill them WISH Donations to Independent Framework Santa Clara Unified School District will be used to buy supplies for the student-led classes and to encouragement locality outings related to what is being taught in class Goal HOW TO GIVE Donate at wishbook mercurynews com donate or mail in this form ONLINE EXTRA Read other Wish Book stories view photos and video at wishbook mercurynews com Pupil Cacho Reyes leads a workout Spanish class called Amigos Workout at the Independence Grid in Santa Clara Calif on Friday Oct Wish Book for the Independence Framework Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group Pupil Brandon Lopez leads a candle making class at the Independence Infrastructure in Santa Clara Calif on Friday Oct Wish Book for the Independence Structure Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group Learner Abraham Leza left gets a fist bump from educator Katy Smit after he lead the music class where he DJ s the learner run class at the Independence Grid in Santa Clara Calif on Friday Oct Wish Book for the Independence Grid Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group Adult Ed principal Carrie Casto talks about the candidate run classes at the Independence Arrangement in Santa Clara Calif on Friday Oct Wish Book for the Independence Infrastructure Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group Mireya S nchez left Independence Setup venture coordinator helps Abraham Leza lead the music class where he DJ s the apprentice run class at the Independence System in Santa Clara Calif on Friday Oct Wish Book for the Independence Arrangement Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group Pupil Abraham Leza puts on his bling before leadting the music class where he DJ s the learner run class at the Independence Configuration in Santa Clara Calif on Friday Oct Wish Book for the Independence Architecture Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group Show Caption of Attendee Cacho Reyes leads a workout Spanish class called Amigos Workout at the Independence Architecture in Santa Clara Calif on Friday Oct Wish Book for the Independence Architecture Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News 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