Six Parsons High School students had the chance Nov. 10 to head to Kansas City to participate in the Kansas Job Olympics.
Job Olympics is a competition developed to promote transition and employability skills for a broad spectrum of high school students in Special Education (SPED). Job Olympics brings together over 500 students from 40 different schools throughout the area. Competitions representing actual job and employment situations are judged by businesspeople from the community and professionals in education.
“We have about 50 kids participating in it from the seven districts in Tri-County Special Education Cooperative -Parsons, Cherryvale, Neodesha, Fredonia, Independence, Caney and Coffeyville,” said Tri-County Special Education Secondary Coordinator Sherry Dunlay.
Job Olympics was started about eight or nine years ago and has taken place every year except during COVID.
“We are just trying to get our students that experience of some job skills they might need, and some living skills they might need later, so it’s like a little competition,” Dunlay said. “They don’t get to do a lot of competitions and win prizes and things like that, so we developed this.”
The competitions have changed since Job Olympics first began. Jobs in the competition have been altered to better fit students’ abilities. Most competitions are based on manual jobs. Competitions include categories like bagging groceries; custodial; making change at a store, bussing, cleaning, and setting up tables; stuffing envelopes and labeling; and product matching, like in stocking a hardware store and putting hardware in the right bins.
“Last year we had an area for construction, and they made flower boxes. We had everything cut and they just had to put it together. We didn’t do it this year, but we might do something like that again in the future,” she said.
“Basic and advanced students also do an interview. They don’t have a resume, but they do have to have a little information, kind of,” Dunlay said. “The lowest level, intensive, we don’t make do an interview.
“There is coin recognition for lower-level students and silverware matching/separating. They also do bag stuffing, like putting four different items in every bag.”
The hope is, with basic skills, businesses in the students’ hometowns will give them a chance to work at a job, put those skills into action participating in the work community, and allowing some independence.
In the competition students are timed. Top districts and students are honored at a ceremony at the end of the day.
Tyler Gitchell worked very hard on the separating silverware, and he was really glad he didn't make a mistake. He also liked introducing himself at each event.
Greysen Stenstrom was very excited when he matched the correct cans but said while he liked the competition, the best thing about Job Olympics was the baked potato at lunch.
PHS SPED students used to be able to practice and hone their skills more when they operated the Viking Store, off the commons area.
Dunlay said it taught the students inventory and sales, cleaning, and more.
Where the store was, is now being used for storage. Dunlay said they received permission to open the store again, and they want to, they just have to get people to clean the room out and find the time to get everything in order to start it up again.
“That’s what we want to do,” Dunlay said. “This is curriculum for us. It’s not just a money maker.”
Dunlay said they’d like to incorporate The Magic Bean coffee sales at the high school into the store too, since it is kind of an established place within the school people could stop at to buy the coffee. The store would sell a variety of other items, too.
“We’ve just got to get it going,” Dunlay said.
