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Chuck Miller knew he had accomplished something that would make a difference. When speaking to a group of board members about Interactive Special Education, a web-based teaching tool for special education students, he noticed one lady crying and he stopped to make sure she was okay.  She said, “If we would have had this program six years ago, her son would have had better work opportunities right now,” said Miller.

Today, Interactive Special Education (ISE) is opening the doors of  opportunity to area special education students and giving them a training tool that simply didn’t exist in the educational system. Along with Miller, ISE was created by local businessmen Kendall Evans and Dan Carney. Previously, Evans and Carney had been creating special education products before Miller was asked to join their venture in creating the ISE web-based platform.

Today, special education students in Derby, Sumner County and Wellington are reaping the benefits of this unique program that allows the students to train in the classroom for work opportunities that will enable them to succeed in the future. Evans said the idea of ISE is to eliminate the student actually having to go to Walmart or another company to train for a job. “We wanted to bring the training into the school, test them at 100% passing and then go to the store to demonstrate how the students are ready to start their new jobs,” said Evans. “Our students are not a burden on the employer, because they have already had the training at school.”   It’s a win-win situation for the students and the businesses. This revolutionary training method gives students not just work study existence, but extensive job training before ever walking into their desired employment.

The ISE teaching platform focuses on four main areas: life skills; vocational; employment development; and the work study program. The work study module is the flagship of this program. Having already been trained extensively in the classroom, these students are prepared for their desired position.

The delivery of ISE’s training is what makes this so successful for special education students. The teaching content, based on the actual training manuals from companies such as Pizza Hut and Walmart, is presented in short two or three minute segments and then the student is tested on the material. All of the training videos are presented by an actual person delivering the material, not pictures or cartoons. By the time these students enter the workforce they have already been through the training and are ready for day one.

“If you or I went to Walmart, we would have to apply online, then watch a video and take a test,” said Miller. “We took that 20 minute video and broke it down to 10 - two minute videos, and then the students are tested on those videos, and re-tested until they get a 100 percent. The students can watch it and test as many times as they want or need until they learn the materials.”

This program encompasses a wide spectrum of students with disabilities from basic learning disabilities to autism to other more severe disabilities. Students typically begin the program around 14 years of age. Venus Bishop, Derby High School vocation instructor, teaches the ISE platform and has found this to be an ideal training program. “We can really bridge learning… into the students actually getting a job,” said Bishop.  “And, they might do better in life.”

Another beneficial aspect of the program is students have the ability to train for jobs that would otherwise be a challenge for them to learn at the workplace, such as assistant manager positions, bakers, deli workers and customer service. “Typically we want to train for all the opportunities in the store, said Evans. “Dillons has sackers, but they said we need people for the bakery, deli and produce department.”  With this training, ISE students are filling those needs and many other workforce needs as well.

Companies such as Pizza Hut, Walmart and Dillons already have contracts with ISE in developing their training manuals into the ISE software program. “The response of every company we have talked to has been overwhelming,” said Miller. “Walmart’s response to our program was if you can train these kids, we will take as many as we can get.”

The visual aspect of this program is what Bishop thinks is the key to the program. “It is like a person is talking to them,” said Bishop, of the online videos the students watch in her classroom.  “The kids are so excited to come to my class. The content is tough, but I believe in this program and it has expanded to be a great tool. It’s a great program.”

It is a program that has and will continue to change the lives of special education students.

Evans and Miller have spent the last couple of years developing the program in the Wichita area, they hope that it will soon expand to additional school districts where the impact could be even greater. The Wichita USD 259 school district, where there are currently 9,000 special education students, will begin utilizing ISE next fall.

Evans has an even more personal interest in hoping that all special education students have the ability to participate in ISE. Evans’ own son suffered brain damage a week before he started working on ISE platform. “I absolutely want to give him the same advantages as everyone else,” said Evans. “This platform gives those students opportunities to work in higher level positions than they would have previously not been considered for in the past.”