Vocational education teacher Ann Taylor works throughout the Great Falls Public Schools teaching workplace skills to special education students in order to help them find work in the community.

KRTV and First Interstate Bank have selected Taylor as this week's winner of our "One Class At A Time" grant.

Taylor says that she'll use the money to replace aging material with new software to help teach social skills, manners, and communication skills.

The program is right in line with Taylor's hands-on, interactive approach to teaching, which we had a chance to see during one her daily lessons.

Taylor told students during an interview-preparation session, "If you can appeal to all five senses, then it sticks better... it's remembered better."

She explained, "We've really been working a lot on first impressions and I cannot stress enough to them - you have to make a good first impression or you might as well not put in an application."

Taylor continued, "When I first did this last year, it was a tremendous success because the students had never seen it...it had never been done like that."

She noted that sometimes even basics can be overlooked in students' homes, including personal hygiene, so she starts from the beginning, using mannequin heads and grits to look like dandruff.  "How do you wash your hair? How many times a day or a week should you shower? That kind of thing. It was amazing that a lot of students just didn't realize, 'Oh.. I should shower everyday'."

After completing her class, Taylor says her students are well-prepared to compete for the same jobs as any of their peers - and then some: "Actually I think they have an advantage over students who don't have my class cause we talk about co-worker relationships...we talk about not just hygiene, we talk about promptness to work. I really hit hard responsibility, reliability, accountability."

And in the end, it's not just a grade - but a real life change that determines success when the class is done.

Taylor said, "They contribute... they feel like they contribute to society which is really the most important thing that really boosts their self-esteem."

Taylor tells us other school districts across Montana use the vocational education program in Great Falls as a model for similar programs in their own communities.

KRTV and First Interstate Bank will give away another grant for $250 every Monday here on Montana's News Station.

Any educator in our viewing area can apply for the "One Class At A Time" grant; click here to learn more, and click here to read about previous winners.