Eleven Palisades High students with developmental disabilities helped organize a food drive that netted 2,000 pounds of food. They presented the 1,950 cans of food to Bruce Rankin, executive director of the Westside Food Bank during lunch last Thursday. ‘We were able to do a really good thing for other people,’ PaliHi student Pales Gensler, 17, told Rankin. ‘We shared your goal of feeding other people, and we thank you for all the hard work you do in our community for people who are having trouble.’ Rankin responded, ‘It means a great deal to those who need this food. You’ve made a profound difference.’ Classroom instructor Dan Kelly said his students have many disabilities such as cerebral parsley, autism and Down’s syndrome. They range in age from 16 through 21, and can stay on campus until they are 22. Four students have been mainstreamed into regular classes. The class took the food donation project in steps. YMCA Director Carol Pfannkuche donated a Christmas tree that the students decorated with handmade ornaments. The students thanked her, saying that it inspired them as they worked on the food drive. Gensler and Dominic Halsey went into each classroom and made a plea for canned goods. Gensler, a natural actress, demonstrated what she told students: ‘If you don’t donate a can, someone will starve,’ she said, pretending to sob. ‘How can you look at yourself in the mirror knowing that you allowed someone to starve?’ Halsey,18, who had never spoken above a whisper or done public speaking, accompanied her. With some prompting, he spoke louder and when asked how it felt to talk to 64 classes, he said, ‘It was good.’ Other members of the class, Isaac Ramsey, Dylan Frick, Brent Arnold, Arturo Ortiz and Charlie Weng, made ornaments, decorated the tree, collected cans from classes and helped box the food. Also at the presentation were members of the Pali Buddies Club, a group of students who ‘adopt’ Kelly’s students. Club president Jenna Burt, a senior, explained that she and others come to Kelly’s classroom during lunchtime and nutrition. ‘I needed a club, and I fell in love with it,’ said Burt, who joined as a freshman and started spending time with Frick. ‘We hang out and take walks together. Recently we’ve started talking about how I’m going to college next year. He tells me, ‘Jenna, don’t go to college, stay here.” ‘The goal of the class is to integrate the students in the broader community and help them achieve independence to the greatest level they can achieve,’ said Kelly, who came to PaliHi three years ago. ‘They’re taught budgeting, shopping, laundry and how to maintain an apartment.’ His pride about his students was apparent. ‘They’ve done a stunning job,’ said Kelly, who was selected Teacher of the Month for December. ‘I want to raise awareness among the community that these students are no less capable than anyone else.’ Kelly, who is married and has five grown children, lives in Mission Viejo. He rents a room in this community and recently turned down a job offer close to home (to help transition special needs adults) because he likes the kids and the school. The next major event for his class is a field trip to the Long Beach Aquarium, with money they raised last year through a car wash. ‘It’s wonderful to have these kids acknowledged,’ Kelly said, pointing out that three of his students work part-time at Blue Cross Pet Hospital on La Cruz.
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