Need a plushie? Ask a Cool Kids Crafter
Visitors to the Butterfly Crafting by Cool Kids booth at Santa Rosa’s Wednesday Farmers Market at the Farmers Lane Shopping Center will meet a group of unlikely but successful entrepreneurs led by special education teacher and SSU alumna Jackie Pinney, M.Ed ‘24.
Her students are 18- to 22-year-olds with disabilities, in a class designed to aid their transition from high school graduation into regular employment.
Early on in her classroom experience, Pinney was troubled by the limits of their work opportunities.
“A lot of the retail or restaurant jobs these students ended up in were custodial in nature. While those are important jobs, they don’t provide much interaction with people or commerce," she said. “Customer service is a big field, but to gain entry to more jobs, they need training in how to work with the public or to develop money skills.
“I believed that with more experience, our students would have more options not just for work, but for greater independence,” Pinney said.
After researching inclusive entrepreneurship models, Pinney designed a program for her class and invited typically developing high schoolers from Ridgway High School to join. From the start, she saw dramatic changes in her students.
“They are used to being told what to do and having everything scheduled and laid out for them,” she said. “But the creative process itself gives students a level of self-autonomy they rarely have experienced.”
Pinney said she witnessed recent graduate Sandy transform into a whole new student. Sandy had a history of needing prompting and encouragement to participate in class or work. Once she got involved in developing the program, she began taking initiative. She joined the marketing group and started giving her opinions and taking notes. Eventually she was part of the decision-making process.
“One concept of what to make and sell came from Barry and Lester, inseparable best friends who radiated the attitude of two grumpy old men,” Pinney said. “So I was completely surprised when during the planning discussion they said, ‘We should make plushies,’” Pinney said.
The group did some research and discovered how to make plushies (stuffed animals) using socks. The two friends became the plushie experts and designers. Plushies have remained the number one seller at the Butterfly Crafting by Cool Kids booth.
What Pinney’s class members and their buddies from Ridgway developed three years ago is now a self-sustaining enterprise run by current students who take great pride in their work.
“Not everyone gets a chance to sell stuff like us. It’s cool to sell stuff, obviously,” one student said.
Butterfly Crafting for Cool Kids continues to be life-altering for current participants like Veronica, who was excited and wanted to be involved but had a difficult time communicating her ideas, Pinney said. “When she couldn’t find the words, she would just get stuck.”
Pinney partnered with a speech provider who works with the students bimonthly, including on customer service skills. They used video self-modeling to help Veronica improve. After giving her a script, they videotaped her practicing it with a buddy. After each take, they showed her the footage, talked about it, and practiced again until she could maintain a flow of conversation.
“Now Veronica loves going to the market and staffing the booth because she has confidence in her ability to communicate,” said Pinney. “She’s just blossomed.”
Pinney has written a handbook about the process for other teachers. The guide will be available online soon, pending her copyright. In it, she details how each of the main groups – Marketing, Inventory, Finance, and Crafting – works, and gives a list of the tools and resources needed, as well as how to get into the community marketplace.
“I wanted to get this out to anyone who works with adults with disabilities, and specifically those in a transitional program. But it could be adapted to anyone at the high school level, too,” she said.
Running the class, the program, and writing the handbook has consumed most of her waking hours, Pinney said.
“But I’m proud of it. There’s definitely a lot of work, but it’s a labor of love, and that’s what keeps me going,” she said. “And caffeine!”
Names of all students have been changed to protect their privacy.