PAW PAW, Mich. — With every stitch, a future is sealed. With every barrier comes someone ready to break it.
Classroom 407 at Paw Paw High School is cut from a different cloth.
"I learn and I know how to get the job done," said Kevin Buchanan, a junior at the school.
407 is more than just the few digits you see outside the door. It's a symbol for a space where opportunities are created — ones that might not have been realized before.
"Honestly, if we didn't do this, I'd probably would be nothing," Buchanan said.
Fortunately for Kevin and his classmates, "nothing" is something they don't have to think about anymore.
That's largely thanks to Heather Raymond, the teacher of Classroom 407.
“A lot of them lack the confidence," she said. "A lot of them don't think that they're capable of doing what they can do. We want them to leave here knowing that they can do whatever it is they want to do."
That's always been the goal for Mrs. Raymond. For the last 13 years, she's spent her time at Paw Paw High School preparing her special education students for the future. However, the path to get there wasn't as obvious, until one simple suggestion floated her way.
“It started out just an idea from our local ISD," Mrs. Raymond said, repeating what a consultant told her. "'You know, there's a lot of other things that you can do. It doesn't just have to be custodial or sitting at their seats, you know, watching videos of how to do different jobs. You can start a micro-enterprise. It gets them those hands-on transferable skills.'”
407 — the classroom number became the name of a nonprofit business.
The students run the show.
"It’s a team," Buchanan said. "Teamwork.”
They make dog treats and toys, headbands and lanyards, cookie kits and apple cider, among other items. They take the products and sell them at school holiday shops and local stores.
Mrs. Raymond explained, “from there, I was like, 'Well, what can we do next?' Every year, we try to come up with something different for them to make so that way they have one more skill that they can take with them when they leave.”
Tammy Southworth, the Paw Paw High School Principal, applauded the work done inside the classroom, and the students who make it happen.
“I think every year, the yearbook does, you know, 'Most Likely to Succeed' and, you know, whatever different awards. One of them is 'High School Wouldn't be the Same Without...' and a lot of times it's a kid from this room that gets chosen because they've just had such an impact on the rest of our student body.”
Just as Mrs. Raymond has had an impact on her students.
“Honestly I think she is real nice teacher," Buchanan said with a smile on his face. "I think she's a better teacher than anybody else. She's just got that good thing.”
Now, that good thing is getting recognized. 407 just earned the 2023 MCEC Entrepreneurial Classroom of the Year award from the Council for Exceptional Children in Michigan.
"We all started clapping!" Buchanan said, recalling the moment they found out the news.
Mrs. Raymond said, “they don't usually get recognized for all the work that they do. It is hard work. So this award is amazing for them to get this opportunity to go to Grand Rapids and be presented, you know, in front of hundreds of educators and acknowledged for the work that they've done.”
The award is a testament to the hard work of thirteen students, who, through their own learning, can teach us something — limits are only there if you allow them to be.
“Definitely push your students," Mrs. Raymond said. "Give them lots of opportunities to kind of shine. If you set the bar higher, they will rise.”
The awards ceremony is set for Thursday, March 2nd from 5 - 8 p.m. at the Amway Grand Hotel in Grand Rapids.