Life Skills Students Take Teachers To The Cleaners

By Larissa Lytwyn

Time-pressed Newtown High School teachers looking for a chance to bring their clothes to the cleaners soon will not have to look further than down the hall.

Andrew Paproski, owner of Nutmeg Cleaners in Newtown and Danbury, recently joined with special education teacher Jill Gonski to create a special dry cleaning service through Newtown High School.

“I wanted more business help and read about how other trade [services] were working with schools,” Mr Paproski explained. “As a lifelong Newtown resident, I was interested in doing something that could not only help my business but also serve my community.”

Now, in addition to learning skills ranging from cooking to resume writing, students in Ms Gonski’s Life Skills class spend part of their academic period sorting, labeling, and bagging clothes currently collected from Newtown High School’s Special Education and Business department. In addition to Ms Gonski’s supervision, students also work with district paraprofessionals.

Faculty can deposit items in a specially marked bag that is picked up daily by students and stored in the special education department. Nutmeg Cleaners employees pick up and return loads twice a week.

“The students have been wonderful,” said Mr Paproski, who also employs Sharna Chowdhury, a Newtown High School special education student who works at Nutmeg’s Newtown satellite about four hours a week. “All of the actual cleaning is done in Danbury,” Mr Paproski explained. “Clothes are collected and sorted at the Newtown satellite.” The work of the Life Skills class, he continued, eases Nutmeg employees’ workload, making service speedier for clients and workers alike.

About ten percent of all Nutmeg Cleaners profits are returned to the special education department, Mr Paproski said. The money is used to fund activities ranging from bowling nights to lunches at area restaurants.

Ms Gonski hopes to expand the service schoolwide this spring, eventually even connecting to other schools in the district.

“The students really enjoy the sense of accomplishment it gives them, the confidence it brings,” she said.

“The work has a lot of steps to it,” said Life Skills student Matthew Morrison. “There is a lot to remember.”

Particularly challenging was learning how to handle money, noted another student, Ashley Shriver.    

“It’s a lot fun, though, talking to all our customers,” added Samantha Pettengill, another student.

“They’ve been doing well,” said Ms Gonski. “They’re learning a lot.”