News Photo by Reagan Voetberg Pied Piper Students Robbie and Savanah count out change for a customer at the Pied Piper plant sale on Friday.

ALPENA — Pied Piper School transition students hosted their annual plant sale on Thursday and Friday, just in time for Mother’s Day.

Sales will continue throughout next week from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Transition students at Pied Piper are ages 18 through 26 years old. They each experience a range of disabilities from Down’s Syndrome to autism spectrum disorder. There are 17 students in the transition program this year, Beth Lucas, paraprofessional and master gardener, said. The transition class is taught by teacher Karla Kowalski.

Transition students learn life skills like cooking and gardening to help them succeed independently when on their own. A variety of local businesses offer Pied Piper transition students work-based learning opportunities. A group of transition students put on a weekly news broadcast each Friday which can be viewed on Pied Piper’s Facebook page.

Students take part in the full plant growing process at the greenhouse starting from the seed. On sale day, students rotate shifts to help customers and manage payments.

“The kids take care of them with watering,” Lucas said. “You know, anything that needs to be done. We have some kids make the soil with some plants, some tag (plants). They’re involved in every aspect of it. It’s wonderful for them.”

Students also deliver plants to businesses around town. According to a Facebook post on Pied Piper’s page, students recently delivered flowers to Alpena Alcona Area Credit Union.

During the sale, it’s great for students to get involved with the community, she said.

On Friday, students Robbie and Savanah were managing sales with the help of Lucas and a few volunteers. Savanah helped transport a customer’s plants in a wagon to their vehicle. Robbie used a calculator to determine the amount of change needed for customers paying with cash.

On display were the plants as well as crafts done by Pied Piper students and a Pied Piper cookbook.

“It’s a tradition to do it mother’s day weekend,” Lucas said.

Every purchase during the plant sale helps support meaningful learning opportunities and experiences for Pied Piper students, according to a Facebook post from Pied Piper School.

Five students, Lilly Snyder, Storm Yakes, Andrew Bruski, Raylee Ballard, and Emiley Gauden, are expected to graduate from the transition program this year.

Reagan Voetberg can be reached at 989-358-5683 or rvoetberg@TheAlpenaNews.com.