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    Dennis Birks III has participated in UMass MAICEI Program for four years now. In that time, Dennis has grown significantly as college student. Dennis tried a variety of courses, internships, and social opportunities, which only enriched his total experience. He developed many relationships during his journey of exploration and skill-building. Dennis says he has enjoyed his time on campus as a college student. To get the whole picture of Dennis’s expierence on campus, I sat down with him one day to ask him about it.

    When asked how he first felt about coming to campus, he said he was happy to be here and it felt very different than high school. He said all of the classes he has taken and the internships like his current one with the Grounds Crew Maintenance team are the highlights to his experience here.

   While on campus, Dennis keeps very busy.  On Fridays, he enjoys going to Project Teammate at the Newman Center to hang out with his friend Monique, along with the others who attend.  He makes time in his busy schedule to meet up with his current peer mentor Alyssa for lunch at his favorite dining hall, Berk.

    Dennis has become an avid dancer since he joined the UMass Amherst Ballroom Dancing Club.  Dennis had previously liked dancing and moving around which is why he was open to trying the club. He and his previous peer mentor Kathryn started attending the club at night together.  His family would drive him back to campus so he could attend this dance club. Now he is comfortable practicing with a new partner when he goes and he thinks he is getting better.  If you enjoy dancing, he highly recommends this club.

    Francisco Negron is Dennis’s education coach this semester. Francisco and Dennis quickly bonded in their new roles working with each other. The two worked together in his high school’s transitional age program before working together at UMass. Patti Martin was Dennis’s previous education coach and she had worked with Dennis his entire UMass career up until this semester. Patti took a career advancement opportunity, which was an adjustment for both of them. Dennis and Patti were close friends in their work together and they do miss each other. There is a level of mutual respect and compassion Francisco and Dennis have developed for each other this semester. This is truly incredible to experience and authentically unique.

Dennis is currently enrolled in his third acting class. This is his first with Professor Reddick. At the time of the interview, he was currently working on projecting his voice while saying his lines. His exams include standing in front of his whole class to recite his lines. 

Francisco attends classes with Dennis as a support for Dennis.  Francisco says he is always proud when Dennis volunteers to recite his lines to the class by himself.  Dennis recommends students try this voice projection class.  Dennis truly enjoys the arts.  Besides the acting classes, he has taken art history classes and even a drumming class.  He hopes to continue acting after he leaves MAICEI.

    Dennis has participated in a wide variety of internships.  His first internship was at the Recreation Center where he worked at the front desk, practicing his customer service skills.  His Recreation Center Supervisor, Lori-Jo Oliver, provided Dennis with multiple opportunities to work with many different peers on his shifts. Dennis also worked at the Veteran’s Center.  He really enjoyed working at the Veteran’s Center.  Dennis’s job skill focus was organizing, restocking, and cleaning the main office.  Dennis was able to make meaningful friendships with the veterans. He and his veteran friends usually bonded over football conversations.  Matt Bachmann was Dennis’s supervisor at the Veteran’s Center.  Dennis still has great relationships with his past supervisors Lori-Jo Oliver, and Matt Bachmann, even though Dennis transitioned into a third internship job because of his self-determined interest.

    Dennis’s new internship came from his desire to learn landscape skills at the university level because he had some experience in landscape work with his family members at their homes. He advocated for this opportunity for his final semester in the program. The University Grounds Maintenance crew welcomed the opportunity to give Dennis the experience and skill-building he sought.

He participates in his final internship with the UMass landscaping crew with an extra level of enthusiasm. It took very little time for Dennis to make his impact felt with his coworkers and supervisors. His supervisors, Dave and Kathy work hard to give him a well-rounded experience of what the crews do. He meets up with his crew in the morning and then sets off with them to various campus locations as needed.

He enjoys being outside. There are daily physically demanding maintenance tasks such as raking, picking up trash, snow removal, and de-icing. Dennis also helps to prepare plant arrangements in the greenhouse. Recently, Dennis has learned the hand-signals for teamwork communication for when the tractor is needed. His favorite part of the internship is riding around campus in between task locations in the landscaping truck with Dave and Francisco. Learning how the different snow plows operate is a close second. He’s enjoyed his internship so much that he has said he would enjoy doing similar landscaping projects in the future with the skills he is learning.

    Dennis enjoys the UMass MAICEI Program for many reasons, but the specific people he befriended would also be at the top of his list. Dennis is not a man of many words, but is extremely social and tends to make friends everywhere he goes. Francisco has joked about how he feels he is with the mayor of campus when they are together. Francisco says everyone seems to know and say hi to Dennis wherever we go. When asked what he wants to do after he graduates, Dennis said he wants to get a job with his UMass landscape team from the Grounds & Maintenance Crew. Although MAICEI does not guarantee job placement, and the landscape crew does not have available positions which match his present beginner skill set level; the consensus from his landscape team is they wish he had more time to help him develop more skills so to one day be a candidate for a paying job. Dennis agrees his work with the UMass landscaping crew has helped prepare him for similar work as he has acquires some of the important foundational skills necessary to be successful.

    Dennis’s steady growth as a college student is a remarkable one. He is a hard-working young man who puts his best foot forward in everything he tries. Although he was the driving force behind his college success, it became clearer that there were a lot of other people within Dennis’s story. We took the time to talk to those who have supported Dennis along the way. To learn more about their perspectives on Dennis’s collegiate experience, please read the following interviews. These capture the highlights of his impact on the greater campus community and those who supported him to have access to college .

Francisco Negron – Dennis’s Educational Coach

How have you seen Dennis grow in his classes and what do you do to try to support that growth?

    “I’ve seen Dennis, of course, always doing his best. We have our opportunity to talk to each other privately and rearrange those kinds of positive reinforcements and not just putting only in word but practicing – so in action, putting in action. So that’s what I always try to do for Dennis. Just go over reminders, repetitions – setting off those and reminding about those goals and how important are those goals in his life. Because that’s what’s going to give him the real freedom he really needs.”

Do you think a lot of his growth has been around that, independence, going off and doing things on his own, taking what he knows now and applying it elsewhere?

    “Oh definitely, with the people he works with right now, with the stream open wide with respectful communication between of course, the MAICEI Program, Holyoke Transition Academy, parents, myself, and [Dennis]. We create like a very diverse, a very respectful communication where [Dennis] is the main guy in those because one you get from everything, you know all the info. He will try to get it, we’ll try to simplify it for him of course, and put it in practice. So that’s what’s most important – him. It’s not what I think or what others think because everyone going through for his own benefit. But what he wants is what’s most important.”

We touched on it, but definitely at his internship would you say you’ve seen the most growth in him? It seems like he’s learned a lot with this internship.

    “I’m more concerned about skill and social skills as well. Both of them are working together, I don’t see one better than another. I see all those productions, big production getting all together, make a fusion in his life. ‘Cause, of course, Dennis not only does his best, but he tries always to find something he probably finds a little bit of a challenge and pass a tiny bit – that line. For me, that’s like a huge success. For others, it’s probably just a tiny bit but knowing Dennis – I’m in awe. I’m like a real feel extremely, wicked proud of him doing that. He works on that because that doesn’t stop here. This is only the beginning. This is only just the base of about all his life is in front of him.”

“So this is the launching point?”

    “This is the launching point. This is nothing. Look, graduation is just like a – one step more for [Dennis’s] successful life. Nothings going to stop here, that’s it. Nothing’s going to stop this guy.”

“Would you say MAICEI or the campus in general has been a great place to be the launching point?”

    “Where’s that T.V commercial I’m going to do, I’m going to recommend MAICEI for everyone. ‘Cause it’s not like another program UMass has to for fill the need of disability persons. it’s the proper tools each one by right needs in order to be real successful in life. That’s it.”

    But, you know, Dennis shows everyone ‘hey, I’m a human being. I’m no better than you, you’re no better than me but we’re still learning’. And that’s what this fella is doing everyday. He’s growing – he’s showing to the world ‘hey look, I’m struggling, I keep going. I can learn and I want to learn.’ That’s it. I believe this relationship is the other way around. They put me as the Ed Coach. They put me to be guidance but it’s the other way around. He’s the one to help me to see life in all other kinds of perspectives.

Francisco Negron

You’ve touched on this before, what are your overall hopes for Dennis in the future? You said he keeps climbing and climbing and he’s learned a lot of things here that he’s going to take. But if you had to pick and overall like vision, What would you say?

    “Dennis will be, definitely, without any hesitation, going to be like a living proof, a living example, a walking example of what other people with disabilities can do. There’s no limit. Not even the sky is the limit. Beyond the sky is the galaxy. The universe and this guy has been proof what good people, like all of you, like MAICEI, like Holyoke Public School, like landscaping, like everyone put their heart on it, you can do it, you can do it. So this fella is never going to stop growing. Not physically, [but] emotionally, mentally. With the proper tools, I believe that’s going to happen. I don’t have any minimal doubt about it. it’s gonna happen. It’s you know, to see us, your dedication, you commitment through that. You know, I always tell Dennis the first time when we do a competence and we start thinking a ‘I don’t know if I can do this’ we fail already. We do it, it doesn’t matter what happens and we go forward. It’s okay to- you know what we learn when we fall? to stand up again. That’s it. And this fella teaches me all that kind of stuff. This fella it’s like you know [tears up] Yes. He’s teached me a lot. I love that guy. [jokingly, to Dennis] He sometimes drives me nuts”

    “Yeah, this guy is something else. Like you never know what’s gonna happen. But what’s gonna happen is going to impress you for good. That’s – that’s one of the things you know I never feel like you know – I worry about like um ‘What’s gonna happen next’. You know it’s going to be a mystery machine but the thing that’s gonna happen is gonna help for good.”

Francisco Negron

Matt Bachmann – Dennis’s Supervisor at UMass Veteran Services

How did you try to incorporate Dennis into your program?

    “We introduced Dennis to the other work study students in the office, conducted some job training and immediately made him a part of our team”

What kind of impact, if any, did Dennis have at your program?

    “Dennis’s impact on the office was felt immediately. He is very friendly and quickly became a positive influence in our office. He made friends with several of our students and was a wonderful addition to the culture of our department.”

Do you think Dennis grew during his internship? Did you do anything in particular to support this? 

    “I believe Dennis increased his social skills during his time in the Veteran Services office.  He engaged student Veterans in conversation and particularly enjoyed talking about sports with good-natured banter about rival sports teams.”

 Dennis at the Veteran’s Center

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Monique Lapierre – Student Leader at Project Teammate

What are some of the activities that Dennis and the others at Project Teammate do?

    “Project teammate is a small group that meets on Fridays to do various activities and crafts. In particular, Dennis really enjoys when we listen to music together. It is so fun when we can all unwind from a stressful week.”

What are some of the activities that Dennis and the others at Project Teammate do?

    “Project teammate is a small group that meets on Fridays to do various activities and crafts. In particular, Dennis really enjoys when we listen to music together. It is so fun when we can all unwind from a stressful week.”

Has Dennis made any impact  by attending Project Teammate?                 

Kelsey Poole – Director of Transitions, Holyoke Public Schools

What about Dennis did you think made him a good candidate for a college program, like MAICEI?

    “Dennis has always been willing to try new things. He is somebody who loves to be surrounded by other peers and he has so many different interests. So, the UMass MAICEI Program having the element of the academic piece where he can kind of dive into different interests was wonderful for him to be able to select a class that aligns with his interests. He loves to try new work aspects or new work opportunities, so the work aspect and vocational piece of the program was really great for Dennis to try and build his resume. The social piece is one of the most important things. Dennis is one of the most social people I’ve ever met and I think the peer mentor program and the Boltwood Project was right up his alley. He was really able to be – to have multiple different experiences through one program.”

What did you originally hope Dennis would gain from the MAICEI Program?

    “I think a sense of belonging, a sense of community, independence. Yeah that’s really what we were looking for. I think self-advocacy, him gaining a voice was also important.”

What are your thoughts about Dennis’s growth (academically, socially, career/skill wise) in the MAICEI Program?

    “Yeah, he’s been at the MAICEI Program since before I started, and I mean I’ve been working with him for two and a half years and I see the confidence in him growing. I see him using his voice more. Just, kind of in general, navigating the campus. He’s is on there and acts like he owns the place. I’ve heard he’s like the mayor of campus – everybody knows him. So he’s really been able to build a lot of connections.

    In regard to vocational skills he had a couple different – I believe he worked at the Rec Center, the Vet Center, the landscaping and maintenance crew. So, he was able to build those skills and build his resume. While building his working skills he was also building a huge network of social connection as well.

    I’ve heard he’s a big hit over there, as he is wherever he goes – that’s him in Holyoke as well. So, I’m really not surprised to see Dennis flourish. He really does flourish in any setting that he’s given.”

Has Dennis’s success made you more likely to refer other students to go the college route or attend programs like MAICEI?

    “Oh, absolutely. I mean I think I can’t say enough good things about the MAICEI Program. It allows students who have a disability to fulfill their dreams of being a college student because they have dreams just like everybody else. It has the supports in place in order for our students with disabilities to be successful. So absolutely, I mean seeing his growth and his satisfaction and his happiness overall has really made it worthwhile and I will absolutely continue to work with UMass MAICEI in the future.”

Kathy Dion – Supervisor at Landscaping

How did you try to incorporate Dennis into your program?

    “So, let me tell you a little bit about our university. We work for landscape management which is under the plant division of the university. So most of our folks – what they do incorporates maintenanceing the 1400 plus acres on the campus. So our of forty-ish plus people is broken down into specific tasks as to what they do. So, we try to give Dennis kind of like a snippet of a few different things that we do. He was able to plant pansies with our team in the greenhouse, that was something we had done with him. He had several occasions he got to do snow removal with us. He actually got to learn to operate a snowplow. I was the driver, but I let him – I showed him how to um lift the plow up and down so he was able to experience that.

    He was also put on a small team – we almost created team for Dennis so that when he came in two days of the week it was consistently the same people. So, it myself, it was a gentleman Dave Pielock who I think you saw and then we incorporated another gentleman and his name is Don Loper. We wanted Dennis to have that sense of camaraderie and teamwork so that’s kind of how we incorporated him into the whole program and you know each time I have to give Dave Pielock a lot of credit.

    So, he did a lot of different things and it’s really unfortunate that this came to a halt so quickly be we actually had an area on campus that we are going to designate as Dennis’s project. It’s an area off of Mather Drive – you know kind of off the beaten path. It’s not considered like a critical area to campus but it’s still needs to be maintenance and there were things that we saw that he could do.  So it’s really unfortunate that it didn’t come to fruition. We’re really sad about that because we really were feeling like he was just so happy when he would come in and he really felt like this small group of people were his people.”

“He was so fun to have. You know the sense that you are making someone else’s world better and bigger. I think you know, I do think he felt that, I feel he felt you know he was experiencing a lot of different things and he had such an interest in it. Um and he was really great. He was always willing to do whatever we kind of put in front of him. And I think it was just being part of that team and the camaraderie and you know feeling that accomplishment after we did things I think – I think really mattered to him. We were really bummed when this all blew up and it had to go away.”

Kathy Dion

What kind of impact, if any, does Dennis have there? 

    “Our crew really kind of took him under their wings and you know if anything it sort of educated our crew. I have a daughter with severe disabilities so, I understand, like people I think don’t mean to be but aren’t necessarily comfortable with people with disabilities. I think that Dennis coming and being able to participate in certain tasks and be part of a team – I think it really opened up people’s eyes that you know people with disabilities really do want to be included, they do want make a difference. He really made a difference as far as our crew and um people just loved him. Even if they weren’t part of his little crew that worked with him, I think it really enlightened people. That people with disabilities can really be productive and they do want to be productive people, they do want to learn. It’s just that they learn differently. But you know as far as like I think it was a good team building thing for our whole crew.

    I think it was a really good team building thing even if they weren’t working directly with Dennis. He was part of our culture which was great. It was really great you know just to have him in the break room and people would go up and speak to him. You know, even though he was somewhat nonverbal you could definitely see there was communication and I think it was a good educational thing for our crew to have somebody with disabilities – or I think to say varying abilities because you know I feel sometimes disabilities is a kind of like a stigma so I always use the word varying abilities because we all have varying abilities. You know, we’re all different so you know to me I think it was a really – having Dennis was a great team builder for our crew and people were really bummed when you know we wouldn’t get to see the finished product.”

    And Dave too I mean he really absolutely adored Dave. Dave is like this gigantic huge teddy bear – kind of like Dennis you know. Kind of like the same thing and Dave really hit it off and Dave had zero experience with people such as Dennis. And he did a fantastic job just you know really thinking about his skills and what we could introduce so he would be successful and also, challenge him, challenge him to take it to that next level. And that’s kind of like this project that we were anticipating doing with Dennis the rest of the spring. We wanted him to see, you know, from point A to point Z incrementally step by step by step you can take this and in the end it’s going to look like this – and you did it.”

“It’s not a huge thing to involve somebody such as Dennis in our program and what a difference it made in that person’s existence. Especially if this is something they are interested in.”

Kathy Dion

Would you say that Dennis’s work with your program, could make you more or less likely to invite on other MAICEI students to do internships with your program?

    “Oh definitely. You know I think initially people were hesitant because they may or may not have had any experiences with people like Dennis but I think that it was such a positive experience and I think that people could see as he was growing and feeling more comfortable amongst all of us, you could see his confidence building and you could see his personality coming out. You know he was very quiet and reserved more introverted when he started with us and then – I think it was around the Superbowl – that was always a kind of defining conversation topic with Dennis – his humor came out and you know he’s very funny, he’s very funny.”

“People going by in machinery would toot at him and give him the thumbs up and you know all those things. I think he felt we were giving him the opportunity to be himself. And he was definitely was starting to really grow in his skills.”

Kathy Dion

Was there any other skill or anything related he was growing towards and if and if he needed that support to grow towards it, how were you supporting him? 

    “Just with a little bit of modeling he was able to pick it up and run with it and you could see how happy he was. And we were trying to incorporate incrementally more tools. You know one of the things that we had planning on doing the week the program stopped was – we have electric powered tools – so they are not as heavy. We have backpack blowers. Well their blowers, they don’t actually go on your back, you use them in front you, um we have blowers and we have string trimmers and things that are rechargeable, electric. And we had wanted to introduce those to him so that he could gain yet another skill. You know a lot of that is hand-eye coordination and being able to like look at something and use the rest of your body to manipulate the task. So we were just starting to introduce that and we really felt like he would have no problem with it. You know he was mostly using hand tools for the beginning of this internship and we really felt that he was able to go to the next level of you know just using some power tools to achieve a task rather than just raking the leave, ‘hey let’s try blowing the leaves out of the shrubs’. So Dave and Don had a really good plan going forward. Kind of a bummer we can’t just steal him back.

    He got to participate in planting the pansy crop and we were hoping he could have also gone out and actually plant the finished product on campus. So that he could see you know, this tiny little plant that you put in a pot is out here on campus. We were hoping to show him how we would go about doing installation on campus, that was one of the things we were hoping to do. And you know, we also are in charge – well, not this year – in charge of doing all the landscaping, I do all of the design for all of the commencement stages on campus. So we definitely had a thought that once he could achieve this, then we could apply it over here or he could see that ‘you planted these pansies and the next step is you plant them on campus’. So you know, we were trying to approach things where there was finality, so there would be a sense of pride, a sense of accomplishment. So those were the things that we really were gravitating towards as far as providing – almost as like from beginning to fruition how things – how things really work on campus rather than just the same things over and over and over again. I think it’s better to present something to somebody so that they feel that they have been part of the process from beginning to end.”

“You know, I really hope that we can have another opportunity, because I do think it’s such a simple thing that makes such a big huge difference in somebody’s life.”

Kathy Dion

Dave Pielock – Supervisor at Landscaping

“Funny thing is even after the first day, when him and Francisco would show up, Dennis would go walking into the shop first and Francisco and I would walk in behind him, everybody would turn around and say ‘Hey, hello Dennis, hello Dennis, who are the other two guys with Dennis?’. Even the guys, couple of the guys would stop if they saw Dennis and Francisco walking from like the Rec Center over to either Boyden or coming Berkshire heading somewhere across campus, they would stop wave and you know of course Dennis would grin from ear to ear.”

Dave Pielock

How did you try to incorporate Dennis into your program?

    “We gave him what might seem like menial jobs but everybody in our department has to do them like picking litter, sweeping up broken glass. He was also taking part in our Spring-cleaning operation too. One of the things that we did was I incorporated another employee of ours named Don Loper who had a lot of experience working with adults with special needs so he knew exactly what to look for, exactly what questions to ask and I learned a lot from Don when I had him come on board with us, with Francisco and I. And one of the things Don said we should do is pick a small part of campus. So, what we did was went up to the Mathers, it used to be like the Mathers Career Center, but up on Olympia Drive. And one of the things we were going to do is spring clean-up there and that was going to be Dennis’s project and he was really happy with that. And because it’s a smaller area he wouldn’t be so distracted by the other things that went on. And Don was very good with him. He was kinda stern and the first thing he said to Dennis – he said ‘Dennis, I’m hard of hearing so you have to speak loud’. Well he’s not – Don’s not hard of hearing but he wanted Him to enunciate and speak louder and it worked. Every time Dennis needed something he would speak up or Don would hold his finger to his ear, you know, and Dennis would bark at him.

    The first time you meet Don the first word that comes to your mind is curmudgeon because he’s kind of a gruff exterior you know, and he’s got a gravely voice but the man has a heart of gold and he knows how to deal with people. In fact, he’s the coach for the young kids for the Amherst football. And they all love him, the parents all love him. And I can see how Dennis would – I knew Dennis would react positively with Don. But there were some days I had freed up more time so the three of us would go down on campus and that’s when I decided to bring Don into it. Because like I said, Don has a very good understanding of people with special needs. We all know somebody like Dennis, but I had never interacted with anybody close enough, you know, in that manner. So, I wanted to see what Don did. It wasn’t anything I wouldn’t have been able to figure out on my own but it was so much easier to watch Don do it and then the light went off like ‘oh yeah, this is why Don’s doing this, this is why Don’s doing this’.

    He actually – Dennis was beginning to self-motivate. Even though we were kind of – no I wouldn’t say pushing him, but like goading him along – he was beginning to as I said self-motivate because he wanted to do what everybody else was doing. It seemed like it felt like he was – he was feeling good about being part of a crew that was all working for one common goal. And he had never done that type of thing before.

How  do you think Dennis was growing in his internship? Can you talk about that?

    “Absolutely, he was – he was just beginning to come into his own. And I would’ve loved to at least seen him and Don and I and Francisco work together at least another week or so ‘cause it would’ve made so much more of a difference. We only got over to Mathers – the Mather’s Center one day and it made a difference. You could tell, especially sweeping, because there was a contrast on what was done and what wasn’t done and he handled the broom well. We were just beginning to get him to learn is what we do is pick up and work on things that are out of place; busted pavement, turf damage from the winter, plowing, raking up leaves and that kind of thing. He really applied himself to a leaf rake too. So, he really was trying his best to fit in and do the best he could be. And one thing we had talked about afterword from that one day, we were all excited Dennis had done so well that one day. We were looking forward to having him come back. One thing that Don said, he said ‘You know, Dennis is trying to be the best that he could be. Put him up against any of the other employees and he probably won’t accomplish as much as somebody else but, he’s trying to do the best that he can’. And he’s not afraid to work, definitely not afraid to work. In fact, I told Don I’d rather have ten Dennis’ then four of some of the guys we have on the crew. We both laughed and agreed to that also because Dennis seemed to be – he is seeing to get motivated and he did take direction well. But he did seem to like being outside.

    And like I said he made an improvement doing the stuff that we all do; sweeping, raking shoveling stuff into a bucket, rolling leaves and dumping the barrel off the truck. Don did tell us that it’s easy for us to say ‘let me get that for you Dennis’. It’s almost second nature. Don said, ‘Don’t do that, let Dennis do it’. He said [to Dennis] ‘Dennis if you need help, you ask one of us to help’. And Don would say ‘Dennis, do you need help?’ Dennis would nod. And he said, ‘well tell Dave you need help’ [Dave mimicking Dennis] ‘Dave I need help!’ [laughing] Kind of scared me because he kinda barked at me [laughs] but [Dennis] was laughing when he said it, you know. So he was beginning to get more vocal. So, one of the things that we did was had Dennis direct the front end loader. So we gave him the hand signals to raise the bucket, lower the bucket, dump the bucket, come closer, stop, shut the engine off. He really did well on that, and he loved it because he was telling this big machine what to do. Just like I said, I wish we had, had more time with him because he was – he was starting to come into his own.”

Written by Jenna Colorusso