While mental health issues like depression and anxiety are very pressing, we should talk about some other issues, like learning disabilities. These issues are sometimes harder to cope with than the former, so there’s usually more effort to aid them. An example of this effort is our school’s own special education programs.

     “The services that special education teachers provide are effective by making students confident in the classroom and outside the school environment,” special education coordinator Shea Davis said. “I work together with all the teachers and staff to make sure students are getting what they need to be successful.”

     There is the Social Communication Supports and Services (SCSS), which helps students in the regular curriculum get an extra boost to be on par with their peers.

     “Providing help or support in the classroom can help students overcome the hurdles that they might face in the classroom,” SCSS teacher Kristen Clifford said. “There is a person they can go to to help them through their problems.”

     The newest addition to the SPED program is the Vocational Adjustment Class (VAC), which helps students get used to what they have to deal with in work and the real world.

     “We do what is called ‘work-based learning’, where kids do unpaid work for experience.” VAC teacher Robert Snyder said. “I think it greatly benefits [students] in a way that impacts life, not just school. ”

     So while these classes may be radically different from the help one with depression may get, they both offer the necessary aid to help people who have learning disabilities to make sure they can live the rest of their lives soundly.

     “My only wish is that we could serve more students,” Snyder said. “Everyone could benefit from the services we provide.”