Coach Jerome Agnew’s special education classroom at Dyersburg High School (DHS) may look different than traditional classrooms, but it is no less intentional in its focus on learning. There are fewer books and notebooks, and you won’t see any desks or cubbies. Instead, you’ll find a coffee cart, ingredients for making muffins, and an assembly line of tables covered in tools and electrical materials.
In this classroom, students engage in work experiences and life skills training designed to help them master tasks they can perform in the real world. Their progress is measured in ways that might not show up on a report card, but they matter deeply to each student in the room. In this innovative learning environment, Agnew’s students build electrical parts for a local manufacturer and also practice entrepreneurial/retail skills as managers of a coffee and muffin cart.
Every Monday, staff from ERMCO, the country’s largest manufacturer of oil-filled distribution transformers, drop off new materials for Agnew’s class and pick up the parts students completed the previous week. Agnew’s students build 500 parts a week, 150 parts in 30 minutes, and those parts go back to ERMCO for use in projects across their Dyersburg plant. This collaboration is just one example of how education and industry partners can work together to help support all students in finding meaningful work and fulfilling postsecondary opportunities.
Students in Agnew’s program learn and master more than technical skills. The classroom is set up as a job site where students clock in and out while managing a daily coffee and muffin cart that serves students and staff. Upperclassmen work the coffee shop while freshmen and sophomores man the muffin shop. Students also learn about safety precautions, how to appropriately dress, and how to arrive prepared and on time for different job sites.
Academics are incorporated into the programming, keeping tasks functional and relevant based on the individual. Students in the class are paid through gift cards, but Agnew’s goal is that his students will eventually earn a paycheck. He wants to prove that all of his students are capable of worthy work experience and fulfilling lives after graduation.
Recent scores from the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) signal the need for more Tennessee schools to creatively and strategically program for all student groups — not just students who are already performing well. Classrooms like this one at Dyersburg High School illustrate that all students can achieve success when their teachers and community believe in their capability and provide them with high-quality educational and real-world experiences. Agnew’s classroom — where he holds himself, his students, and his community accountable for student achievement — is a model for the continued growth of all Tennessee learners.
Erin Malafronte is SCORE's strategic practice manager.