Students shopping for supplies to send to the high schools for the bones to be made.
Dublin City Schools’ Hound-Tastic Treats: the Dublin Barkery isn’t like other bakeries. First, this bakery is catered to man’s best friend. Second, the barkery is run almost entirely by nontraditional students in the Emerald Campus’ PATHS (Postsecondary Access to Transition after High School) Program.
The barkery started in fall 2014 when students in the PATHS, then LIFE, Program began to bake dog treats for their Canine Companion dog, Rosa. The program really took off in spring 2015 when it was awarded a grant from the Dublin Educators’ Association and, later, from the Adam Stuart Linhart Memorial Fund through the Columbus Foundation. Over the four years since its opening, the barkery has gone from a simple classroom operation to having 10 sites spread across Dublin’s four middle schools, three high schools and three postsecondary programs. The goal of the PATHS Program, and the barkery itself, is to hone the skills of students with different abilities and help them work toward a more independent life.
“What we do in our program is find different life skills and employability skills to help the people in our program develop,” says Joshua Graham, PATHS Program instructor. “For my students specifically, the thing I really like (about the barkery) is the social and communication aspect.”
Students learning how to use the self-checkout to purchase supplies.
Students are assigned to various tasks based on their abilities. PATHS students are those who graduated but have deferred their diplomas in order to easier transition into what comes after high school. That may mean learning personal hygiene, forming and maintaining personal relationships, and other academic skills like money management. When it comes to the barkery the lessons are invaluable, especially considering PATHS students often make deliveries to the other Dublin schools themselves.
“The kind of thing that’s gotten added is the piece of going to the high schools, communicating with the other students there and communicating with the lead teacher,” says Graham. “I think that’s a cool thing; getting to go back to their high schools, seeing people they remember, seeing people they know. It’s built a great community for them throughout the district rather than just their own high school.”
For one student in particular, doing the grocery shopping for the barkery has even helped him create habits for his personal shopping.
“We set up a consistent path we follow every time we do the barkery shopping. … Instead of just scouring the signs, because reading signs is not a strong point of his, he always follows the same path,” says Graham. “That’s something he can do when he’s not getting school services and help him be more independent, which is the whole goal: reach maximum life skills.”
The PATHS Program started in its own building, but with the start of the 2018-19 school year, it became part of the new Emerald Campus. This move brings new opportunity for the PATHS students to connect with others at the Emerald Campus, which also houses those in the Dublin academies including the business, biomedical and teachers varieties.
In just the first week of the Emerald Campus’ opening, a Coffman student involved in one of the Dublin academies came downstairs and introduced herself to Graham. She was interested, she said, in coming to the PATHS classroom a few times each week to work with Graham’s students.
Students dropping off supplies to the front office of Jerome High School.
“That was my favorite first week. I realized that there are kids out there that want to continue working with our individuals,” says Graham. “Coming here has been eye-opening. … How can we get our students more involved with their peers?”
At the end of the day, the barkery’s main goal is to help PATHS students become better prepared for life after high school and, as a result, be more independent. Graham hopes that, after seeing the work PATHS students are putting in to the barkery and other programs, more community members will be receptive to working with people with different abilities. This means not just giving these individuals something to do, but utilizing their unique skills and embracing their strengths.
“The big piece of our program is helping our students integrate into the community, and it takes a village to do that,” says Graham. “We can do that in our program, but everybody in the community has to do that and open their doors to our individuals as well. That’s the big thing I want to see: more integration in communities for individuals with differing abilities.”
Treat Your Pup
To purchase a dog bone from Hound-Tastic Treats: The Dublin Barkery, visit www.dublinschools.net. A bag of six bones is $2. Bones come in flavors peanut butter, breath mint and honey cake, and can be delivered to any of the Dublin City School buildings.
Amanda DePerro is an editor. Feedback welcome at adeperro@cityscenemediagroup.com.
