Brett Blankley – Special Education Internship

Hello, my name is Brett Blankley and I have been interning in the Multiple Disabilities room (MDS) at Garden Spot High School for the second semester of my senior year. Each day I had my internship from 9:05 to 10:30. I worked with my mentor, Jennifer Stauffer, and many other teachers and para-educators.

Each day I helped the students in the class by doing tasks for them that they weren’t able to do independently. I was assigned to help them with gym and art which they have every day. As I start my day (9:05) they are all ready to go to the gym, so I grab one of the wheelchairs and we move all the students over to the gym where they do many activities with the PE teacher, Julie Groft until (9:50).  She plans activities that all of the students are physically able to do.

Next, we move to art which is held in the back of the MDS classroom. Each day we have art with Edgar Rodriguez who is an art teacher at Garden Spot. The students start art at (9:55) and each day they do something different which is fun for both the students and the staff. Most of the time the students need assistance to complete the projects.  We use the hand-over-hand technique so that way each student can still experience all of the steps of completing their project. They finish the art day at about (10:30).

Overall, this internship has been amazing, and I may peruse a career in it. I have gained so much respect for the people that work with these students each day and I have gained my lessons by observing some of the tasks they do each day. I am thankful that I got to work with such helpful staff and some amazing students who helped me each day to become a better intern and person.