Dallas ISD program helps students with special needs build skills for life after high school

There's a busy but peaceful hum that accompanies the quiet instruction in the dry-cleaning classroom at Dallas ISD's Multiple Careers Magnet Center.

For decades, it has been a place where students with disabilities learn to challenge themselves and overcome often well-intentioned low expectations.

"And so right behind you we teach customer service," instructor Timothy Brisco said, pointing to a counter that closely resembles what you'd find at your corner dry cleaners. "When the customer comes in, they learn how to speak to a customer with eye contact, and learn how to communicate with the customer."

For 17-year-old Brian Petty, time spent at "Mac-Mac," as the campus is affectionately called, feels a lot like work.

That's by design, and Petty is delighted.

"My favorite thing to do is press the clothes," Petty said with a wide smile.

He says hanging them up is pretty cool, too. After all, who doesn't value a sense of accomplishment?

Petty says working in the school's dry-cleaning shop makes him feel like an employee.

"And when I graduate high school," Petty said, "I think I want to come back here to work."

He is one of approximately 17,000 Dallas ISD students with special needs.

The everyday challenges for those students and their families can be enormous. But what about the future?

That's where Kimberly Wheeler and her team come in.

"This is not a job," said Wheeler, manager of Dallas ISD's Transition Services and the Multiple Careers Magnet Center. "It's a blessing for me to see this on a daily basis."

What she sees are students developing independence and learning valuable skills.

The campus has a simulated apartment where students practice everyday life skills. The district also offers several programs designed to prepare students for employment.

"So, we have over 60 sites in the community where our high school students go out to learn job skills," Wheeler said. "We have students in our career institutes who are also in those pathways."

According to Wheeler, some students attend Eastfield College, while others complete internships at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas in hopes of securing full-time employment.

The dry-cleaning class already serves several of the district's high school bands, helping keep their uniforms in top condition.

The community can also take advantage of the service, with most items dry-cleaned and pressed for less than $2.

The experience for the students? Priceless.

"Our staff works with them to make sure that they're able to do what we do every day," Wheeler said, "to live and be happy."

The big smiles and busy hands around the dry-cleaning classroom suggest that's happening.

"I finally have something to do in my life besides sitting at home," Petty said. "I can finally receive something in life."

Standing nearby as his student speaks, Brisco quietly reaches for a tissue, not bothering to suggest it's the steam he's wiping from his eyes.

The pride is permanent, too.

He's standing in his father's old classroom, teaching another group of young people the skills his dad once taught him.

"It's very gratifying," Brisco said. "I get up every day just to come here just to teach my kids … I love it."