GTCC’s POWER Pathways helps student Leon Phillips to move outside of his comfort zone

“The things I like about my classes are that me and my classmates are always being taught about new, interesting things and good facts about life,” said GTCC student Leon Phillips.

Phillips is also autistic and has conquered many challenges.

“He has accomplished a lot. He is high functioning,” said his mother, Michelle Phillips. “Compared to when we first started (at GTCC), he has become much more independent.”

Leon is enrolled in GTCC’s POWER Pathways, a specific career training program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities that has a goal of leading participants to meaningful career or volunteer opportunities. Supported by the Frank Family Foundation, POWER Pathways programs are yearlong and offered each fall and spring semester on the Greensboro and High Point campuses.

Leon is currently completing the digital literacy pathway on the Greensboro campus. He completed the food service pathway last year.

He is also employed by A Special Blend, a coffee shop with a mission to enhance and improve the quality of life for adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities by providing meaningful employment and/or skills training within an interactive community.

Leon is a cold barista at A Special Blend, making smoothies and milkshakes.

“The things I like about my classes are that me and my classmates are always being taught about new, interesting things and good facts about life,” said Leon.

Leon, one of six children, was first home-schooled and then attended the North Carolina Virtual Academy.

“In the Virtual Academy, he saw there were people like him, that teachers understood him. The difference was like day and night,” said Michelle.

The Virtual Academy helped ease Leon into the biggest step of his life: college. He was leaving the shelter of home and family on his own for the first time. His mom says GTCC’s Power Pathways was the perfect fit for the big move.

“This (POWER Pathways program) teaches independence. It’s a big step to go to college for one; they have to transition from one class to another,” said Michelle. “Leon doesn’t have a sense of direction or safety in general. This program teaches them to stay together as a group. They work as a group, work tighter. They get more independence. They become responsible for the classroom, for their homework.

“He was nervous about going on campus, but the teachers were good about consoling him. We made sure we had good communication. Now, he has transitioned to public transportation.”

After successfully completing the food services POWER Pathways curriculum a year ago, Michelle and Leon decided a second year in the program studying the digital literacy pathway would be beneficial.

The digital literacy pathway helps students work on career exploration and goal setting as well as reading and math skills in the context of digital literacy and customer service. Students first complete the Northstar Digital Literacy training program in the fall and then progress to earning Microsoft certificates in the spring semester.

The digital pathway also helps students learn customer service skills and other soft skills for employability. 

“The things I am doing at my school now are learning how to count money and learning how to use computer icons,” said Leon.

“This is just giving him more knowledge of computers and computer skills,” Michelle said. “He’s working with PowerPoint and Word, teaching him more of the computer aspect. Anyone can graduate from school and go to work at fast food, but this gives him the opportunity to gain more skills.”