Unlike job coaches, mentors help their fellow students understand procedures or directions of a task, when necessary. It is important to note that these mentoring students have not been through the school to work process before and do not have the training skills required to perform as a job coach. Their assistance in the form of modeling, or becoming peer buddies, helps youth with disabilities to adapt more readily to the work setting. To date, Anita schools have not yet worked with youth with significant disabilities, but do have plans to begin this as their School to Work design evolves. As these students follow their career paths, they move through the orientation and training processes together.
Mentors help as needed with employability skill training in both settings.
Career Ladders provides various opportunities and needed support for young people with disabilities to gain hands-on experiences and learn across settings. Local businesses are actively involved in school-based activities. For example, employers participate in classroom training activities, and community organizations provide students with hands-on experiences through extended periods of paid work and unpaid internships. The Anita Community School District attributes their success, in part, to contextual learning strategies that tie interest to work experiences early on in education. Linn-Mar Community School District, a suburban district, is in the early stages of its school to work action plan development.