HENDERSON (KTNV) — Special education students from Coronado High School are gaining valuable work experience through a partnership with Goodwill of Southern Nevada, learning skills that will benefit them long after graduation.
WATCH | Shellye Leggett caught up with some of the people behind the program to learn more:
Students from Christine Kessler's self-contained autism class spend Thursdays at the Raiders Way Goodwill store in Henderson, where they fix hangers on racks, straighten clothing and organize merchandise.
"I just feel like I have the patience and the compassion in that area," Kessler said.
The high school teacher was looking for ways to help her students grow outside the classroom when she discovered Goodwill's Student Work Experience Program.
"I kept thinking oh next year I'm going to try this and do this at Goodwill and the next year I kept thinking of more and more things that I could implement," Kessler said.
The program was created in 1997 by Mary Brabant, Goodwill of Southern Nevada's director of disability and volunteer programming. It started with one educator and only two students.
Now in 2026, there are 583 students and 204 teachers from 82 classrooms in 34 high schools across Clark and Nye counties participating in the program.
"We work with the Clark County School District, but we also work with the Nye County School District with Pahrump Valley High School, and the entire purpose is to show the abilities to the young students that come here," Brabant said.
"It's not just what happens at the store, it's what they go back to the classroom, they revisit with the teachers, they learn different things that they probably have never done before," Brabant said.
Students learn and practice skills like following directions, vocational abilities and socialization through the program. Kessler says these skills extend beyond the workplace.
"Parents report they show more responsibility at home, they're more willing to participate and help with chores and do things around the house," Kessler said.
The experience also prepares students for entering the workforce after graduation.
"It gives my students the confidence, the independence, the teamwork, following directions, the problem solving skills they have to utilize just beyond the classroom," Kessler said.
Program leaders say their goal is to eventually have students participating from every high school in Nye and Clark County.
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