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lockportlegend.com LIFE & ARTS
the Lockport Legend | November 22, 2017 | 17
Homer 33C students learn daily skills through hands-on learning
Students in Homer
33C program visit
St. Coletta’s once a
month
Jacquelyn Schlabach
Assistant Editor
Doing laundry can sometimes
feel like a chore.
Cooking dinner is usually a
hassle.
Students from the Specialized
Instruction Program at
Hadley Middle School and
Homer Jr. High School are
learning to do both of these
daily tasks and more once a
month at St. Coletta’s Transition
Town in Tinley Park.
To them, it’s not a chore or a
hassle — it’s fun.
Thirteen fifth- through
eighth-graders — five from
Homer Jr. High, and eight
from Hadley — began their
visits to St. Coletta’s, a nonprofit
organization that provides
resources and services
for special needs individuals,
in September. For five
hours one Wednesday a
month, the junior high and
middle school students learn
a variety of skills: measuring
ingredients, working
small appliances, sorting
clothes, treating stains and
even helping in the General
Store in St. Coletta’s Transition
Town to stock items and
manage inventory for things
that go to 25 group homes.
Their most recent visit
to the nonprofit came on
Wednesday, Nov. 15.
“I’m a big believer not just
what we do educationally for
kids, but across settings and
into the home,” said Becky
Cortesi-Caruso, director of
special services for Homer
33C.
Cortesi-Caruso developed
this program for the special
education students in partnership
with St. Coletta’s
to “give them access to life
beyond the classroom.” She
received a grant through the
state that pays for the program
and is provided at no
charge to the students.
“I know some of the parents
have reached out and
said, ‘Thank you for what
you’re doing for our kids,’
and that makes my day,”
Cortesi-Caruso said.
Brandy Kuczkowski, who
is the culinary arts instructor
manager at St. Coletta’s
and works with the seventh-
Please see 33C, 18
Sixth-grader Saja Albahlooz stocks toilet paper Wednesday, Nov. 15, during Homer 33C’s
Specialized Instruction Program’s most recent visit to St. Coletta’s Transition Town General
Store. The toilet paper will go to 25 group homes. Jacquelyn Schlabach/22nd Century Media
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