High school students will have the opportunity to support the autistic support teacher implement a social skills curriculum (2-3 days per week). 

Students will have the opportunity to partner with students with autism or an intellectual disability, in a variety of settings throughout the building, modeling appropriate behaviors. and fostering a positive atmosphere.

Students who have expressed an interest in a special education career will have the opportunity to participate in a high school course for credit that includes peers both with and without disabilities. General education students who enroll in this course will assume the role of a peer mentor and will serve more as a teaching assistant.

Students will be invited to attend a presentation by special education staff, including a transition consultant, to recruit and encourage students to participate in the program. The program will help support students with disabilities, using a secondary social skills curriculum and learning about how to use appropriate social skills with their same-age peers.

Through assigned mentor teachers, secondary students will have a hands-on experience where they will not only provide learning support for students, but also participate in relationship building activities and games throughout the six-week program.

Tutors will pair with students with disabilities in specially designed physical education class. This program will give potential future special educators opportunities for hands-on experiences in the teaching process, individual learning styles, and knowledge of different disabilities.

Students will attend seven classroom-based sessions on various topics in the special education field and then will have three sessions to volunteer in different special education classrooms, (or with related services providers), in the district. 

Students with and without disabilities work together to plan schoolwide activities and events.

The Best Buddies Club will be promoted at our Community Day in the fall. Additionally, a closet in the school stocked with clothes, shoes, and pantry items for those in need will be established and a "Different Abilities Day" that would provide information on various disabilities through hands-on activities will be provided.

Opportunities for students in grades 9-12 to experience special education leadership will be provided. Younger students can excel through working with the Best Buddies program and older students will become student teachers at the local preschool provider, the YMCA.

A Best Buddies chapter will be developed and will collaborate with local chapters to create field days and other activities on campus. Pre-service teachers and secondary students will participate in activities with individuals with disabilities who participate in the Best Buddy programs. Secondary student participants will have the opportunity to explore and experience Immaculata’s campus to acclimate them to college life.

Junior and senior high school students will be recruited to attend a seminar to become Peer Buddies. The seminar will be conducted by Penn State Harrisburg Peer Mentors who have been selected and trained by the Penn State Harrisburg Career Studies Program.

Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) will offer opportunities to current education majors to allow for experiential learning opportunities, including access to special education teachers, students with disabilities and Agora CCS campus tours. Scholarship opportunities and teacher certification exam support to college students that would like to continue their teaching degree at Widener University will also be provided.

Both secondary and post-secondary students will collaborate through mentorship and informational roundtable sessions with a culminating activity where the secondary students will have the opportunity to go on an exploratory field trip to ESU to tour the campus and gain real-world knowledge of a university setting. 

Mentorships (and activities including events, discussions, observations and resources) with in-service special education teachers in local LEAs and first year pre-service students that are interested in the field of special education will be developed.

Penn State Harrisburg (PSH) will present an overview of the Attracting Future Special Educators grant to Harrisburg SD and Steelton-Highspire SD teams for the purpose of recruiting and training junior and senior high school students to be Peer Buddies in the school district. PSH will share training materials for Peer Buddies.