This year at Weedsport Jr. /Sr. High School we have added a new addition to our school. This new addition is called the 12:1:1 program and can be found in the former Distance Learning Room. 12:1:1 stands for a maximum of twelve students with one teacher and one teacher’s aid in the classroom.   In our 12:1:1 program we have a range from seventh graders to many levels of high school age students. At Weedsport, the maximum of 12 students has not been reached yet, there are only seven students. Although for Mrs. Hinman and the rest of the 12:1:1 staff,  the seven students keep them very busy throughout the day.

The students in the 12:1:1 program have both intellectual disabilities and learning disabilities, so Mrs. Hinman focuses on modifying assignments to showcase the student’s abilities. There are quite a few classes that the 12:1:1 students will join general education in during the day like science, social studies and gym. For ELA and math classes they return to the 12:1:1 classroom and have life skills incorporated into the lessons. Mrs. Hinman and the staff also have to adjust the classroom to the student’s needs, for example there is a student with sensory processing issues, which means he is sensitive to the things we take for granted. Something as small as too many lights in the room can distract his learning, so in order to get the best from her students, Mrs. Hinman works hard to accommodate their needs.

Now you may be wondering why this class arrived in Weedsport this year compared to others. The students would be a part of the 12:1:1 program throughout elementary school and once they became middle schoolers they would start going to BOCES to carry on in the program. Although at BOCES the students would be taught strictly life skills. This year Weedsport is trying “inclusion” which means all the students at the school deserve and are given access to the same content. Weedsport is taking students who typically go to an outside setting and are including them in the general education.

Mrs. Hinman has many hopes for her class. Her biggest hope is for kids outside of her class to interact with her students.  She said, “They (her students) are still people and they still crave social interaction, and they need people to teach them how to do that. You know as well as I do an adult telling you how to behave and how to live isn’t as effective as a peer or friend demonstrating for you or explaining how to behave.”

At the end of the day 12:1:1 students want to be accepted and a simple “Hello” can make a difference.