Peer teachers make big difference in Service High School special needs classes

Public education plays a pivotal role in the lives of special needs students throughout the state.

And a lot of their success is determined by confidence.

Listen now

Kelsey McCarthy-Keeler is a senior at Service High School in Anchorage.

Kelsey has Down syndrome and is a part of the school’s special education and life skills program – and she’s a bit of a music enthusiast, as is evident when she warms up with “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” on the cello, which she’s played since elementary school.

Kelsey also loves to sing. Her mom, Molly McCarthy, said Kelsey even sang at Service’s homecoming assembly during her junior year.

Molly: “Did you get up all by yourself with a microphone and sing the national anthem?”
Kelsey: “Um, yeah, I did it by myself, yeah.”
Molly: “Was it scary?”
Kelsey: “Sometimes.”

It wasn’t just scary for Kelsey, though. Molly said she was nervous too, at first.

“There was thunderous applause after she did that,” Molly said. “And many people came up afterwards and told her how brave she was.”

Adam Ahonen – also known as “Mr. A” – is a special education and life skills teacher at Service High School. He said it was a proud moment, not just for Kelsey, but also for the rest of the school.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a student more patriotic than Kelsey,” Mr. A said. “I mean, she writes down the Star Spangled Banner, and does the Pledge of Allegiance, and wears an American baseball cap. You know what I mean, she loves it, and so for her it was such a cool moment, and for the school to be so accepting of it was really, really neat to see.”

That culture of acceptance and inclusion is something Mr. A and many others say they have worked hard to cultivate at Service.

The school started a peer teacher program that brings general education students into special education classes to help out.

“They’re a senior and they’re a leader and you have freshman come up through that same program and they see a kid that they look up to that’s involved in the special needs program,” Mr. A said. “It really sets the tone and the precedent that here at Service High School, specifically, that that’s how you treat people.”

There’s room for 72 peer teachers in the classroom each day; Service students fill those spots, and then some.

“I mean, what a great problem to have is that there’s too many kids willing to come and help out in a special needs room,” Mr. A said.

Molly McCarthy said the work of the students at Service has played a crucial role in Kelsey’s growth.

“They see this unique individual who has all of their strengths and foibles and personality quirks; they see this whole person first and not their disability,” Molly said. “And they’re gonna carry that with them and that can only benefit our community at large.”

Molly said her daughter has become much more independent and confident during her four years at Service – when she’s not singing in front of hundreds, Kelsey is learning to ride horses, she’s worked at Blockbuster, and she’s even jumped into Anchorage’s Goose Lake for the Polar Plunge.

Molly said she’s excited for Kelsey’s graduation at the end of this school year, but she’s also nervous about what comes next.

“There are a lot of questions about down the road,” Molly said. “You know, what is her life gonna look like? Where is she gonna live? How independent can she be? What kind of job is she going to have?”

After graduation, Molly said Kelsey will stay with the Anchorage School District a little longer through its ACE/ACT program, which gives adult students between the ages of 18 and 21 additional support as they transition out of high school.

“It will really continue to foster this readiness to be out there and to find, hopefully, meaningful work for her, and a meaningful life,” Molly said.

Before she’s done with this school year, though, Kelsey said there’s one more thing she wants to do – play the cello for her class. Specifically, she wants to play a song called “French Folk Song,” which she demonstrates in her living room.

Kelsey still has a couple months to make it happen. Service High School graduates receive their diplomas May 15.