Iowa City’s Transition Services Center got creative during COVID-19

We want to commend the teachers, staff and students of the ICCSD Transition Services Center (TSC) at Eastdale Plaza for their creativity and dedication during the pandemic. TSC students focus on developing skills for living, working and learning as young adults in our community. When COVID-19 closed doors at businesses where they would shadow or intern, they turned TSC into a pre-order bakery, making and selling more than 100 frozen fruit pies and chicken potpies and more than 60 bags of cookie dough.

With guidance, the students practiced independent living skills: health and safety practices, food preparation, measurement and timing, dishwashing, laundering aprons, taking inventory and online shopping for ingredients. They practiced co-worker skills normally learned in coached community jobs. With their high volume of sales and extra donations, they provided chicken potpies to 4 ICCSD schools for students in need of meals during spring break. To celebrate the end of the school year, they took a socially distanced trip to Camp Courageous.

We hope there is never another pandemic in their lives. But, we want to praise TSC for bringing a lot of joy to our community while simultaneously making progress on the goals of the individualized education plans (IEPs) of each student.

In their difficult journey of navigating this year of isolation, they creatively brought many people together. Congratulations to the students, teachers and paraeducators for an inspiring response to pandemic disruptions!

Madeline Shea

Iowa City