IU13 Partners with Lighthouse Vocational Services
NEW HOLLAND, PA – For 50 years, Lighthouse Vocational Services has existed to support individuals with disabilities by helping them become active members in their community. Today they serve over 200 individuals through various opportunities, including the “Strengthening Pathways” program.
The “Strengthening Pathways” program focuses on teaching individuals various life skills such as laundry and cleaning, exercise and nutrition, music, art, cooking and baking, and more. With the help of IU13, “Life Enrichment Units” have been created to blend these life skills into meaningful lessons and group projects.
“Lighthouse Vocational Services saw a need to provide quality services to excel as a provider and enrich the lives of our participants,” said Jen Swanson, who is a Program Specialist at Lighthouse. “Our partnership with IU13 has been extremely positive as we have seen growth in both our participants and the staff as they have gained new knowledge and abilities.”
Since June of 2024, IU13 staff have assisted in developing the lessons and training Lighthouse staff. So far, unit topics have included Civics, Nutrition, Belief – Communities and Religion Around the World, Cycles of Life, and Disability Awareness and Entertainment. With the help of IU13, Lighthouse staff focus on developing lessons based on real-life events and experiences. “For example, in October, prior to the election season, Lighthouse created voting booths and role-played voting with the individuals. However, instead of voting for one person, they voted for their favorite cookie,” commented Lori Blantz, IU13 Supervisor of Child Accounting and Instructional Technology Specialist. “They then charted the results during a math lesson to determine their favorite cookie of the individuals at Lighthouse.”
This lesson has many layers of activities and micro-lessons, including art (making the voting booths), role playing (casting their votes), math (tallying the results), baking/nutrition (making the cookies), and a shopping experience. “Our goal is to create lessons that pull together various details of the current subject matter so that the individuals get a cumulative experience,” commented Blantz
Lighthouse and IU13 have worked to develop a “timeless” and successful program, as well as a longstanding partnership. IU13 staff have provided additional resources to the individuals at Lighthouse to assist with grant ideas, training on using online collaboration tools such as Google and providing connections to other businesses that could serve as potential partners or vendors, such as Kahoot and LessonPix.
Swanson reflects on the effects that this training has had on Lighthouse’s staff development, noting how these lessons have taught staff how to guide their teaching with themes and purpose.
“This partnership has enhanced the way our staff create and teach lessons,” she said. “Since we have had the training, our staff have learned how to use Chat GPT, Kahoot, LessonPix, Quizzes, and have worked together to create themed units for each month.”
She also mentioned the noticeable change when using these tools in the classroom. “With the increased technology and use of manipulatives that our staff learned how to create, we have seen an improvement in memory retention in our participants. This opportunity has also given our staff more confidence in their own abilities to create valuable materials to enhance our programming.”
Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 (IU13) is an education service agency dedicated to providing services, supports, and solutions to school districts and communities across the state. IU13 is a leader in recognizing the needs of schools and implementing programs to meet those needs, with a core compelling purpose of improving student learning. IU13 serves the 22 public school districts in Lancaster and Lebanon counties, as well as students in nonpublic schools, preschoolers, and adult learners throughout Pennsylvania. Learn more at iu13.org.
