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What began as a weekly baking tradition between Paola and her mother has grown into a nearly 600-page cookbook—and helped prepare Paola for work in a professional hotel kitchen.

The project started in February 2021, when Paola was an eighth grader at Liberty Middle School. Her multilingual learner teacher, Dana Paz, suggested creating a cookbook to strengthen Paola’s language and writing skills.

Paola filled it with hundreds of recipes, baking notes and personal reflections. “It makes me happy,” she said. “I like baking and I’m good at typing.”

Her mother, Julissa, said the project accelerated Paola’s development. Paola is autistic and has needs that require patience, she explained, and working on the cookbook improved her technology, typing, communication, thinking and writing skills.

By her senior year at Centreville High School, Paola was updating the collection every week. She independently transcribed complicated recipes and added her own observations.

Paz used the subject Paola loved to teach verb tenses, descriptive vocabulary, varied sentence structure and paragraph organization. Because baking was personally meaningful to Paola, the cookbook became an engaging way to practice academic skills.

Paola also made gains in listening, following directions, collaborating with classmates and advocating for herself. She participated in Theatre Arts, Best Buddies, FanQuest and the Student Government Association and Leadership program.

Her baking abilities earned attention, too. During Centreville High School’s first Cake Off competition, Paola impressed her classmates with a strawberry mousse cake.

A milestone celebrated in print

At a school awards ceremony, Centreville staff surprised Paola with a printed copy of her cookbook and an award recognizing her perseverance and growing skills.

Paz said Paola’s progress demonstrated what can happen when students are encouraged to explore and share their interests. Paola also received support from life skills teacher Rawan Almaghrabi and other members of the school community.

The skills developed through baking eventually helped Paola move into career preparation at the Davis Career Center, a transition program for students preparing for life after high school.

She now interns at a local Hyatt hotel, where she wears a professional uniform and works in a busy kitchen while learning about food service and the hospitality industry. Within days of her arrival, her special education case manager reported that she was doing a “fantastic” job.

For Paola’s family, the progress followed years of using baking to practice practical skills such as communication, writing, budgeting and shopping.

“It feels for us like a dream come true,” Julissa said. She described working for more than a decade to help prepare her daughter for adulthood and said seeing Paola succeed surpassed what the family had imagined.

Building a path beyond high school

Davis Career Center Principal Chad Clayton, a 25-year special education veteran, said preparation for adulthood should begin early. The long-term goal is to help students become successful adults who contribute to their communities.

That preparation includes communication, teamwork, problem-solving, adaptability, leadership and time management. Paz said families and educators can tailor instruction around each student’s strengths, talents and goals, praising Paola’s parents for patiently guiding her toward an independent and fulfilling adulthood.

Fairfax County high schools also have Employment and Transition Representatives who help students explore possible careers. Marcus Dunton served in that role for Paola.

“It’s our job to give students the opportunities and let them explore what they are good at,” Dunton said. His guiding advice is to “let the kid decide,” reflecting the special education principle of self-determination.

Connections between schools and local businesses give students opportunities to test those choices in working environments. For Paola, the Hyatt internship has extended lessons once practiced at home into a professional setting.

Paola’s family, teachers and community partners helped turn her enthusiasm for baking into stronger academic, social and workplace skills. She is no longer only recording recipes—she is using what she learned from them to shape her future.