Ethan Ohm, and Sam Wiseman, were both cleaning the lobby at Riverside Arena on Wednesday afternoon.

They vacuumed the ground, and wiped the dust from the display cases holding different photos and Austin Bruins memorabilia. Riverside Arena Manager Aaron Heimer enthusiastically encouraged Ohm and Wiseman on their hard work, and held conversations with the two.

“You guys are doing a great job,” he said with a smile.

The two students grinned and continued to work in the lobby with some assistance from Oakland Education Center paraprofessionals. This year was the start of a new approach that Oakland Education Center is taking to help its students in the Students with Unique Needs (SUN) program to experience inclusion and integration into Austin through volunteer efforts with various community businesses and entities, such as Riverside Arena, the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center, Paramount Theater and St. Mark’s Living, that teach students vocational skills.

Each day, two students from the SUN program would go to a different site and provide help to businesses while at the same time, learning the necessary job skills that could help them later in life, according to Becky Gerdes, Oakland Education Center coordinator. These students would rotate, giving them all a chance to go to a different site and experience something different.

“All the places that the students go to are also forming connections with students,” Gerdes said. “Everyone is part of the community and has something to contribute.”

So at Riverside Arena, Ohm and Wiseman worked alongside Heimer to get the lobby cleaned and ready for visitors coming through. While the Bruins hockey players practiced on the ice, the students were preparing the entry way.

“I love it,” Heimer said. “It helps me out, and it’s nice to have the kids come and have their company. All around, they’re helping us.”

Heimer said that Gerdes approached Riverside Arena back in August about potentially partnering up to give Oakland students a chance to come out into the community and gain real world experience and learn job skills such as cleaning and using hands-on learning to apply the skills they’ve earned at home.

“It’s nice to have students involved like that,” he said. “It helps kids have different types of work, and giving them experiences. I’d love to have them here longer.”

During these types of interactions, Gerdes said that students would get reinforcement from paraprofessionals who act as “job coaches” to help with hand modeling and pointing things out that students can learn. They provide support to students and also assist with task analysis, such as plugging in a vacuum cleaner step by step, and using those methods as a coaching tool.

“It has made an impact on them for something greater,” she said. “We know that these businesses are recognizable for students, and when they’ve made a connection with businesses, they can come back even after they graduate. They get to see their work, and see the difference they’re making in the community.

The next step would be to expand and continue working with businesses around Austin to partner with the center and have students connect with members of the community, and educate others about what Oakland Education Center does for students.

“These students are learning new things,” she said. “They are doing a good job, and students can see that they can do these jobs as much as others.”

Michelle DeClue, a paraprofessional, said that this type of new programming would allow students to gain a confidence boost in being able to become independent and also engage more with Austin residents and businesses.

“They can see that the students can do the work,” DeClue said. “The students can also see that they themselves can also do the work.”