Teaching in Compton: Chester Adult School

The first time that I set foot on a campus in Compton, I went to an adult school -- Chester Adult School. This school seemed to be in disrepair, which in one way reflects on the staff who supervised the district, including the facility. When I showed up, about half an hour before class was slated to begin, I ran into one other lady. She was one of the other teachers on the campus, and she did not have access to the room I was supposed to cover.

The students in this program where the 18-22 age group, a transitional community, for young people with autism or multiple disabilities do not necessarily get better with time, but they still require care. The County offers programs for this age group, which in many ways is like gloried baby-sitting.

Well, to characterize my time in that facility as "gloried baby-sitting" is demeaning to the students. This is a habit which I am learning to abandon. This charge belongs primarily to the teachers and the staff, many of whom have settled into an easy job for easy pay, much of the time which amounts to "glorified baby-sitting."

But the staff at Chester Adult School cared about the transitional students under their care. The community of students and staff was quite unique. One young man had suffered a massive heart attack as a high school student, and following the arrest, he fell into a severe coma, from which he had not awakened until very recently. The other students were severely autistic. Some of the students just lacked social skills, while others engaged in repetitive behaviors and spoke not a word. They were a well-behaved group, for the most part, but some of the students just needed a little more attention and direction than the other students.
He was cared for by an athletic type, an older man whom I had originally confused as one of the students, since he was wearing a basketball jersey, sunglasses, and spiked hair. This man had done so many things. He had two adult children, at the time enrolled in their early years in college.

The second man assigned to this class worked as a computer teacher and programmer at a Lutheran School in the South Bay, although he lived in Compton. He had a younger set of children and an older child, but he was married to the same wife. I find it admirable that a couple is willing to have a second family, they want to bring more children into the world. Admirable. This man, Ike, was a one-on-one for one of the students, a kinetic nineteen year old who would run around the room, stimming as autistic students tend to when excited by an outer stimulus or as a matter of custom.

A young lady was assigned to this class, as well. She was a very kindly woman, one who wanted the best for the students, one who complimented me because I actively taught the students, as opposed to most substitutes, who would just sit back and do nothing.

The fourth staff member in the room, a younger man than the other two men assigned full-time to the classroom, was engaged with buying and selling something on-line as well as helping the students in the classroom. I do not fault the man for doing what he was doing, in large part because there is not much that a paraeducator in an adult-school special ed class can do.

As in many classes in LACOE, I spent more time playing with the students and staff, shooting baskets and playing Bingo, than anything else. The morning session was the most important. During that time, I would go over the basics, like a kindergarten class, as the students and I would go over the numbers to 100, the alphabet, the basic colors, and even street signs in the community.

Unlike other classes, though, the other four staff members had helped establish a garden outside of the classroom. For the better part of mid-morning, I worked on weeding the new garden with the other staff members. They were preparing to plant carrots and other vegetables in a short time. Never had I enjoyed gardening as much as I did that day.

Because I was the substitute teacher, I did not have the authority to take the students into the community and engage in real-world activities. So, to pass the time students would do some reading, play games, and then watch a video for the rest of the day.

In fact, the class was a great program for me, although we did do all that much. The staff were very helpful, leading me through most of the routine that was permitted on-site.

The young lady who complimented me on the lesson that I had given earlier requested that I come back. I looked forward to visiting again, since I had such a wonderful time being with people who liked working with special ed transition students.