Madison Shumway
Life Editor
Transitioning from high school to “the real world” can be hard.
When rent checks, job interviews and laundry duties become a reality, most everyone struggles.
That near universal challenge can be especially difficult for special needs students, who benefit from additional training in the social and independent living skills necessary to thrive in adult life.
The Vocational Opportunities and Independence through Community-based Education transition program provides these services for 18-to-21-year-old graduates from School District #25. The students served are part of their schools’ Extended Resource and Developmental Learning programs, and, as part of VOICE, they interact with ISU students their own age.
“The biggest value [of the program] comes from having VOICE students observe and develop friendships with students their age,” said Martha Fae Frymire, a school district #25 employee involved with the program from its infancy.
“Volunteers share their interests and hobbies — sports, music, science, the arts … This widens horizons and opens new ideas and activities for VOICE students to consider.”
Federal law states that students should be served from ages 3 to 21, so many of the program’s participants stay in high school a few extra years, retaking favorite classes like teen living and P.E.
After they fulfill graduation requirements and either reach the maximum age or decide to progress from high school, VOICE students learn about work ethics, job exploration and resume-building, social and communication skills, safety and self-advocacy, cooking, laundry and other household skills, health and hygiene and money and finance.
The goal is to help students achieve independent functioning, and research shows that’s best accomplished in the community with peers their age.
That’s where the VOICE partnership between school district #25 and Idaho State University comes in.
The program began in 2011, and in 2013 VOICE partnered with the College of Education at ISU. The program’s headquarters are now in Albion Hall.
VOICE always needs student volunteers to simply hang out with its participants, with friendship and peer mentoring one of the most valuable facets of the program.
“Volunteers have said that they learned a lot about themselves and about individuals with disabilities,” Frymire said. “Volunteers come and have lunch with us, go out to eat with us and play games or do activities. They can bring their interests and ideas to provide new variety.”
ISU students in the College of Education work closely with VOICE students, and students from other disciplines, for example sports science, speech and language and physical therapy, can also benefit from involvement with the program, Frymire said.
VOICE also provides opportunities besides the friendship and mentoring role. The program is seeking a CPI student or volunteer for job coaching and assisting with physical therapy for approximately four hours a week.
Students interested in volunteering with the program can contact (208)223-2031 or visit VOICE at Albion Hall.
