Vocational Training for Students with Diverse Needs

Pittsburgh stands as a testament to the sweat and determination of the blue-collar workforce who forged this city’s birth as a steel town. Even as the region modernized, the city continues to champion the ongoing work of its laborers through robust vocational training programs. Schools like the A.W. Beattie Career Center, Forbes Road Career and Technology Center, and McKeesport Area Technology Center stand as beacons, guiding the next generation toward careers in the trades, honoring the tradition of hard work and craftsmanship that has defined this region for generations.

The AIU-operated special education schools extend prevocational learning opportunities to students while catering to their unique abilities and aspirations. Such training “starts the basis for what future employment will be,” said Kelli O’Keefe, a prevocational teacher at Sunrise School, which provides prevocational programs in clerical work, food service, and industrial arts.

O’Keefe and her colleagues use an assessment system to determine which career fields students will enjoy and perform well. Once a range of interests are determined, students are put through their paces with hands-on skills training and behavioral development. Both aspects play crucial roles to long-term career success.

Students assist with reading to students as well as assembling and serving meals in accordance with childcare standards established by the American Red Cross.

Students in the child development vocational program at Mon Valley School put their training to the test each day with their younger peers in the school building.

Automotive Technology Teacher Joshua McMillen assists a student in repairing a vehicle body. Students in the class learn all the essential skills to help a mechanic in an auto shop.

For decades, countless students across Allegheny County have made their way through some level of prevocational training at Mon Valley School, which provides special education services to students ages 5-21 at its expansive campus in Pleasant Hills. All full-time students at Mon Valley are enrolled with an individualized education plan, or IEP. For students aged 15-21, AIU staff and IEP stakeholders conduct an extensive identification process for strengths in certain aptitudes. Those students then have a portion of their day dedicated to a trade aligned with their identified strengths. Some nearby school districts provide busing for their students to take advantage of this specialized instruction.

The Mon Valley Food Service Program allows students to explore and refine their culinary skills in a fully furnished restaurant-grade kitchen. Students adhere to strict standards for food safety before, during, and after class.

Creating and assembling every part of a functional object — from chair legs to leveling concrete for a new curb — is what the Industrial Production and Maintenance prevocational program at Mon Valley School is all about.

Students in the nurse’s aide prevocational program learn skills in caring for infants, children, and adult patients and train to provide that care in a fast-paced medical environment.

This rapidly evolving realm of special education has expanded the possibilities toward fostering practical skills that empower students with diverse needs to thrive in the workforce. Students also develop often overlooked skills, such as endorsing checks, cursive writing, and how to clock in and out of shifts. This emphasis on so-called soft skills and applying critical thinking skills go a long way to enable students to succeed in many of these programs.

In Mon Valley’s latest prevocational program, manufacturing and design, students put their creativity first across all stages of merchandise production. Students gain experience using industry-standard software and hardware, such as Adobe Creative Suite and Glowforge 3D printers.

-- By Junior Gonzalez