RICHMOND, R.I. (WLNE) — Twice a week, three students from the Chariho Transition Academy clock in for work at the Preserve Sporting Club in Richmond. Teacher Cheryl Lightfritz said the experiences, from folding napkins to rolling silverware, are “life-changing” for the special education students. “There’s really only so much we can simulate in school,” she said. “So now we’re out in the real world and we pull in and there are groundskeepers working, we stopped, we wave, we say hi.” Lightfritz said those interactions with fellow staff members that make the biggest difference, with students Mimi, Riley, and Joseph exceeding their teacher’s expectations. “We keep data sheets on what they did and what they needed,” she said. While Paul Mihailides from the Preserve said that the success of the children is “wonderful.” “The skills they possess and what they’re learning, you can see how fulfilled they are,” he said. “Their sense of success and exhilaration. And while the program was designed to help the students transition into a job after school, their presence has also served a larger purpose. “They teach us a little things that we forget about, which is to enjoy life, appreciate what we have, and make a difference for each other,” Preserve Director of Administration and Community Engagement Joe Reddish. Categories: News, Rhode Island