Brunswick High School craft show raises money for work study program for special education students

BRUNSWICK — More than 125 vendors filled the hallways and the cafeteria at Brunswick High School on Saturday as part of a craft show in which the proceeds from the event primarily go toward supporting the school's work study program for special education students. The vendors sold a variety of products like jewelry, home décor, Christmas decorations and more, and many of the items were handcrafted or homemade. The work study program gives special education students at Brunswick High School job opportunities both in school and in the community, according to a Facebook post made by Brunswick City Schools. A portion of the proceeds from the event will go towards materials which help keep the program going. "The work study program teaches them not only how to build things, but how to work in a work environment with other students and other adults," Aaron Dummitt said. Dummitt is an intervention specialist at Brunswick City Schools in the intellectual disabilities unit. Dummitt helped run a booth which sold items that were made by students who are a part of the intellectual disabilities curriculum. Students constructed items out of wood like signs, birdhouses and toolboxes and decorated them to be sold at the craft show. "It's all student made (and) student painted," he said. "The students put the decals on." The proceeds from the booth went toward supporting the students with intellectual disabilities specifically, while proceeds from the other booths at the craft show go to the work study program, he said. The students who are part of the intellectual disabilities curriculum are given a general education and taught life skills at the same time. Raising money for programs for students with disabilities is valuable because they give the students beneficial life experiences, Dummitt said. "(It is important) that we can get out in the community and do things with our students to get them ready for adult life," he said. Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at (330) 721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.