In May, the Main Street School received a donation that allowed them to purchase a press system to begin a new print shop class. The school celebrated the opening of the print shop with four of its students.
The Main Street School specializes in special education through collaborative learning. The school fosters self-advocacy and independence among its students including teaching skills that will serve them after they graduate.
According to Sam Malley, a senior at Main Street School, he and his classmate Jesse Holmes were key to setting up the space. The two worked together to carry furniture up the three flights of stairs to its new home.
Malley is excited to learn new skills in the printing industry, although he plans to enter into an automotive internship after graduating. Malley said it is a great opportunity to learn new skills in case he finds that he doesn’t like his first choice.
All students in middle and high school grade levels at the Main Street school are eligible to apply for the program. Students must interview and maintain their coursework to be able to work in the print shop, said Gina Trujillo, principal of Main Street School. Currently four students are working in the shop.
“I think for me, watching these four students’s confidence grow and how much it means to them. They have taken our initial idea and expanded it. My worry was that we do all of this and they wouldn’t really care about it but they love it,” Trujillo said.
The school’s initial idea was to print social/emotional posters for teachers in the school. However, the students advocated that they do more. They are now creating wooden ornaments with designs etched into them, bumper stickers and printing on bags and t-shirts.
The school is working with Circle Graphics, 120 Ninth Ave., to create a curriculum for the students.
