Last fall, I was offered an opportunity that I had never even imagined, and it terrified me.
When I went to interview Kate Skinner, a teacher at the Community Transition Program , I was expecting to come away with a few memorable quotes and a lead for my story. Instead, she invited me to come along with the group for a “day in the life” of a CTP student and teacher.
As a program that facilitates the transition from school to adult life for students with special needs, this should have been an awesome opportunity for a journalist who is seeking a story. However, I almost chose to ignore it because of my own bias. To be honest, I hadn’t interacted with a lot of people with special needs in my life. The idea was nerve-racking, as I imagined how difficult it would be to talk to the students in the CTP. However, I chose to go anyway.
When another journalist from The Whirlwind, freshman Bella Deleon Guerrero, and I arrived at the building on the big day, they were just beginning their daily morning meeting. As Guerrero and I clung to the back corner, nervously scribbling notes, the students answered questions about accountability. Some students needed help from tablets or encouragement from teachers, while others had no shortage of ideas to contribute to the discussion of accountability. In just 30 minutes, I began to realize how general the term “special needs” was. There were so many unique personalities, and it felt wrong to put such a general label on all of the individuals in the room.
After the morning meeting, Guerrero and I travelled to Linn-Benton Community College with a small group of students and a couple of teachers from the CTP. This was my absolute favorite part of the day because we got to meet the students on a more personal level rather than observe from the corner. It was here that Guerrero and I got to know a second-year student, Chris Harrelson. Though Harrelson was mostly non-verbal, he communicated by showing us his TikTok account and his impressive digital and hand-drawn art. The three of us conversed for upwards of 30 minutes, and Harrelson had to be one of the most interesting people I have ever met. He was bold and creative, and despite being mostly nonverbal, he had so many things to say.
For the rest of the day, I couldn’t shake that incredible interaction. After travelling to LBCC, Guerrero and I went with several students and teachers to Winco to shop for ingredients to make cookies, which they would sell through the Sunshine Bakery at West Albany High School. At Winco, I tried my absolute best to get to know each of the students with us. On the surface, they might seem “other” to a lot of people, but each student I talked to had their own unique story to tell. I left the CTP building with a few memorable quotes and a lead for my story, but I also took home a changed perspective.
