News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Students in the Upperman High School Life Skills Class selling Christmas planters to raise funds for the course.
Special Education Teacher Allyssa Peters said her students paint the planters and then she and her assistant put faces on them. Peters said she decided to sell Christmas planters so all of her students could be involved because the planters are easy to paint.
“It helps them gain their work skills,” Peters said. “When they go out into the real world I want them to know, oh, my boss has asked me to complete a project and I know and have the confidence that I can complete projects in order to gain money needed for necessary things.”
Peters said the money earned from the planters will go towards field trips, supplies, and other costs needed for the class. Peters said the class requires unique materials such as clothes so students can practice tasks like folding and ironing laundry.
“We work on work skills,” Peters said. “They go out on jobs and they go and they work with a job coach to try to help them in order to get a job once they leave high school. We also work on learning how to cook, learning how to do laundry, and several different things like that. Learning money skills.”
Peters said the planters will be filled with candy to combine her students’ love for sweets and gardening. Peters said she hopes the students learn more about the importance of putting in effort to gain recognition for their work.
“That way they can live as an ordinary life as anybody else,” Peters said. “My kids are great and they’re very exceptional and very hard workers so I just want them to know that they can do anything they set their minds to.”
Peters said anyone interested in buying a planter can call Upperman High School to place an order. Peters said small planters cost five dollars and large planters cost twelve, but all orders have to be in by Friday.
“We’re selling a large and small version of (a) snowman, the Grinch, and the gingerbread man,” Peters said.
