Juniors Hannah McLoed, Halee Evans, Adam Budimlija and sophomore Tucker Tibbits play Marco Polo in the pool on Friday Jan. 28.
Peers in Learning class goes swimming at Lenexa Rec Center
The class centers around the learning of special needs students along with the guidance and role modeling provided to them from their peers
Peers in Learning is a class led by special education instructor Sara Evans that allows students known as “peers” to be a role model and friend to special needs students.
According to Sara, the peers “model what it’s like to be a student” so it’s important for them to set a good example for the entire class time.
Sara has two different roles when teaching her class, depending if she’s teaching the peers or special needs students.
“I’m more of a teacher to my students,” Sara said. “I’m a mentor to the peers in the class, trying to mentor them and to interact with our students.”
During the day, special needs students often don’t have the opportunity to take normal classes like the peers do. So when the peers get to hang out with them, it’s a cherished time.
“[The peers] model friendships and give our kids peers to hang out with during the day since they don’t get to generate any regular classes,” Sara said.
The class still teaches the special needs students courses similar to the peers’ other classes, but is also focused on preparing the students for life after high school.
“We teach [the students] how to value a budget, cooking, cleaning, basically daily life skills to try to get them to be more independent, and live alone in the future,” Sara said.
One of the peers in the Peers in Learning class is junior Halee Evans, Sara’s daughter.
Halee likes the many ways there are to be involved in the class, such as fun field trips like going to the pool at the Lenexa Rec Center.
“I like how hands-on [Peers in Learning] is and how we also get to be involved,” Halee said.
For the class, there are different classes to be involved in.
“I’m in the peer PE class so we usually play games that are tailored to the students a little bit like basketball and kickball,” Halee said.
Sophomore Tucker Tibbits is a special needs student who enjoys class time with his peers and teachers.
Tibbits says likes “[hanging out with] Jackson [Stutheit],” and “Robyn [Bishop]” in the class.
Tibbits learns subjects other students do such as math, reading, science, and social studies, saying he enjoys to “[learn] math.”
Sara enjoys working with the students, as she witnesses their improvements and the relationship they have with one another is different than any other.
“I love working with students with special needs,” Sara said. “There’s just something very rewarding about seeing the different strides that they can make, any progress that they make, and they’re just always very grateful and appreciative.”