By LILIAN MOHR  

Redlands East Valley PossAbilities Club met bright and early on Sunday morning at around 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 17, at Applebees in Redlands to prepare for their pancake breakfast fundraiser. 

The club is part of the PossAbilities program which facilitates the high school experiences of special education students at general education campuses. At REV, there are three classrooms with students who have a variety of different disability serverities and many of them take a few general education classes throughout their day. 

The club advisor, Erin Herbert along with five student volunteers set up food stations with pancakes, eggs, potatoes, and sausage and prepped the restaurant for the event by setting up tables and place settings. 

The first families and supportive community members arrived around 8:30 am and continued to arrive until 10.

The volunteers worked hard to serve each family and made sure they represented the club well.

At the door, a PossAbilities student greeted each supporter with a welcoming hello and a high-five. 

After the last family finished their breakfast, the team worked to clean up the restaurant and helped prepare it for its regularly scheduled hours of business. 

Overall the club made almost $300 between tips and tickets sold, which will go directly towards the fund for the annual PossAbilities Prom in May. 

In previous years this prom has been the highlight of many of the students’ entire school year and experience at REV. The event last year got a lot of attention from the students and staff at REV and the PossAbilities club hopes to build on that success this year. Information from last year’s event can be found in an article published last May titled “Redlands East Valley hosts its second annual PossAbilities prom”.

When interviewed after the event, freshman Vanessa Desmarets, who is currently attending REV and one of the volunteers at the fundraiser, said that “it is important for students at REV to support fundraisers for programs like PossAbilities to help build up the school community. “

The club meets on Wednesday at lunch in J-28. This time is a great opportunity for general education students to meet and interact with the students that are a part of the PossAbilities program. At these meetings the club plans events, does arts and crafts, and socializes with all different types of students at REV. 

Interested in The PossAbilities program, their upcoming events, or joining the club? Then come to the Wednesday meetings and talk to Erin Herbert or any other member of the club.

Featured Photo: Featured above is junior, Skylar Waston, and freshman, Vanessa Desmarets, who both attend REV and are involved in the PossAbilities program there. They work to make plates of several different breakfast foods provided by the restaurant which will then be served to the friends and family who came to support the fundraiser. (Lilian Mohr/ Ethic News)