Helping Giselle Find a Career Pathway

Giselle A. knows the difference a paraprofessional can make in a young student’s life. As a high school student with a visual impairment, Giselle relied on “Mrs. O’Connell,” a paraprofessional aide at Curie High School in Chicago, to make sure classes, assignments and tests were accessible.

“She was always there to make sure I got what I needed,” Giselle says. So, when an opportunity came to learn about becoming a paraprofessional herself through the Career Pathways program, Giselle enrolled immediately. “I had been helped by paraprofessionals myself and thought I could help other students with disabilities learn too,” she says.

School districts around the country are struggling to attract and retain special education staff, including paraprofessionals. The Career Pathways Program is designed to help meet that need.

Prior to the Career Pathways Program, Giselle participated in our Youth Transition Program’s Photography for All session in 2022.

Last January, Giselle, along with five other students, began a six-month, self-guided, virtual course (created in partnership with Moraine Valley Community College) to help her prepare for the ETS ParaPro Assessment, a certification required to become a paraprofessional aide. The course included weekly reading and online discussions of topics about addressing the needs of students who have different disabilities (and different learning abilities) and how to best address them.

“I learned that students with different disabilities have very different needs, and that they needed different strategies and accommodations to meet those needs,” Giselle says. “There were many things that I was not familiar with.”

Giselle completed the coursework in July and has been working with Youth Transition Program heads Fay Zeigler and Kalari Girtley-Jackson to ensure the test will include the necessary accommodation for her. Her paperwork has been processed, and she expects to take the exam in the coming weeks. Once Giselle passes the exam, The Lighthouse will look to place her in a six-week practicum where she can gain experience that can ideally lead to a permanent position.