On the first day back from summer break, juniors Ike Sheets, Nick Parisi and CJ Leonard walked into room 416 — the social skills classroom — together. They found a circle of chairs facing them and CeeCee offering them to take a seat. A few minutes after the bell rang, Special Education teacher Trent Ditto asked the question of the day: “If you could give a gift to a celebrity, what would it be and who would you give it to?”
Nick said he’d give Tom Holland some “silly string web-shooters” — an answer that caused a few laughs. Ike and CJ don’t remember their answers, but they do recall what came next.
Many of the other students couldn’t come up with such a quick answer — something the boys didn’t expect. However, a few needed help finding their words from teachers or some of the more experienced leadership students.
The main reason the three boys joined Social Skills was because it would develop their leadership, Ike said. They had no idea that they’d also become role models and befriend the social skills students.
After the question of the day, the teachers introduced their first topic of the year: friendship paths. This topic became part of the three boys’ daily routines in the class as they often reviewed how to act expectedly in social situations with the social skills students, making role plays to act out. In order to prepare for prom, CJ would act as their date’s parents and they would practice how to hold a conversation or how to be polite.
It was a challenge at first to get close with the social skills classmates, Ike said. They didn’t know exactly how to reach out to them or start conversations the way the girls who had been in the class for a year did. They didn’t know how to make those connections.
But over time, the students opened up — more time spent with the boys led them to be more comfortable.
“You definitely can see the growth,” CJ said. “We came to class day after day and you see the kids talking more and opening up. It feels really good to make them feel more comfortable and just be able to hold a conversation with them.”
Over time, Nick, Ike and CJ developed strong friendships with many of the students in social skills, bringing them from school pals to friends. Whether it be dance parties with CeeCee, puzzles with Brenton or going for walks with Grace, their relationships became more than just answering questions of the day. Instead, they were able to connect personally, sharing stories about their lives and working through emotions together, identifying healthy ways to handle life’s struggles.
For Ike, connecting means talking to students about video games like Rocket League and Fortnite. CJ invented a game — a spin-off of wall ball — that they could all play together in the gym. Nick was even convinced to watch three seasons of The Flash because one of the students had enjoyed it so much.
Through these friendships, the Social Skills students began to look up to the three boys. Students would ask the trio for advice on how to handle friendships and relationships. They even picked up a few of the boys’ mannerisms.
“Whenever I’d shoot hoops with Patrick and he’d make one, I’d yell ‘awesome’ and give him a high five,” Nick said. “Now whenever [Patrick] makes a basket or does something he’s proud of he does the same thing and yells ‘awesome’ and then goes looking for a high five. It just shows how much influence you have on these kids.”
The boys enjoyed their in-class connections so much that they wanted to spend more time with their newfound friends outside of Room 416.
When the Sweetheart Dance was postponed due to COVID, many groups already had plans to go out the night it was originally scheduled, including the three Social Skills boys. They decided together to stick with their original-date plans and then go to the actual dance with their Social Skills friends.
Nick and Ike got a hold of each students’ parents and figured out where everyone wanted to eat. The night of the dance, they picked everyone up along with some of their leadership classmates, ate dinner at Culver’s, and drove to the East gym.
“The dance was a blast because Ceecee and Grace love to boogie and it was so fun just watching them dance with everybody, really being a part of something,” Nick said. “They were in the middle of the dance circle for the longest and they never stopped dancing no matter what song was playing. Looking back it’s something I know they will remember for the rest of their lives.”
The boys continue to hang out with their Social Skills friends whenever they have the chance — whether it’s going out for ice cream or organizing a rec soccer game through Unified Teams.
Nick, CJ and Ike recognize that they have a special opportunity to teach the Social Skills students — but also learn from them.
“I’ve learned how to adapt to a lot of problems that I never would’ve learned to face otherwise,” Ike said. “If I can’t understand one of them, I’ll try to rephrase what they’re trying to say. And they’ll either say, ‘yeah, that’s close’ or no, ‘that’s not what I’m trying to say.’ It’s learning to adapt to different people’s needs right away, which I think is super valuable.”