Instead of teacher-centered lessons, project-based learning is a model for classroom activity emphasizing learning activities that are long-term, interdisciplinary, student-centered, and integrated with real world issues and practices.  At Hillsides Education Center,  the vocational program is doing just that—giving students hands-on projects in three vocational classes that will offer them survival skills to obtain and retain a job in Los Angeles County.

Some HEC students who suffer from mental illness may not be college bound, but have the potential to succeed in the real world by learning one of three vocational trades offered in the special education program.  From Adirondack chairs to benches, troubled teens in trade science learn to build and construct many projects. In auto technology, students learn the basics of an engine, change the oil, and are building a working model of a V8 engine.  Food service prepares students for further education or immediate employment in the hospitality and food service industry.

Students are given opportunities to further their education or explore vocational interests that they wouldn’t have in another academic setting.  With the emotional disturbances that some students have, special education teachers must find different strategies to manage behaviors while teaching academic standards and vocational education offers this strategy. 

Students learn what it means to work and solve problems with others. The classroom is a model work environment that enables students to develop job survival skills. HEC reinforces academic concepts in practical applications, introducing students to hands-on, vocational skills.  Students are also encouraged to explore careers by identifying and strengthening weaknesses and developing their interests.

For Jeremy Ramirez, a student who was unable to find a comfortable learning environment to achieve academic successes, HEC was the perfect fit. Over the course of two years, Jeremy delved into the vocational program and worked on projects he enjoyed, which gave him, for the first time, the confidence to be successful in school.  This confidence crossed over to his other classes and soon Jeremy was successful in his academic classes as well. During his senior year, Jeremy was a teacher’s aide and mentor student to the younger students in the vocational program, which helped him build self-confidence, increase self-expression, and form lasting connections with adults.  He assisted the students in building the school’s vocational technical center. 

“Jeremy had much insecurity about trusting himself in an unstructured environment,” said vocational teacher Tony Carson of Jeremy’s past learning experiences.  “Hillsides gave him time and space to regain self-control by providing structure and really guiding him.”