7/7/2021
Education and Outreach
Las Vegas Academy special education teacher Cassandra Jones-Barcelo believes that people with disabilities should represent a larger percentage of the workforce.
“The majority of people with disabilities are not doing work that makes full use of their skills and abilities,” Jones-Barcelo says. “We need to give these people a shot at leading productive lives.”
In her post-secondary class that focuses on employment skills for young adults 18 to 22 years old, Jones-Barcelo relies on numerous partnerships she’s formed with businesses that are willing to have her students do volunteer work.
“In a typical year, I take the students off campus to gain real-life, hands-on experience, which not only teaches skills but also builds confidence,” she says.
When the pandemic forced Jones-Barcelo’s teaching to an online platform, she didn’t give up.
“My students still needed job skills in order to be successful in the world,” she says. “It was challenging, but we got creative, had fun and kept students interested and coming to class.”
To honor her commitment to empowering students with disabilities even in the face of adversity, The Smith Center named Jones-Barcelo one of the top 20 teachers of its sixth-annual Heart of Education Awards honoring outstanding Clark County School District (CCSD) educators.
“It is a really meaningful honor,” says Jones-Barcelo, reflecting on her difficult journey to becoming a teacher while also working full time and caring for two children as a single mom.
Giving An Edge to Those With Disabilities
Jones-Barcelo’s lifelong dedication to caring for people with disabilities was inspired after watching her older brother struggle with intellectual disabilities.
“He was at home most of the time and often depressed,” she recalls. “I saw that his path could have been different.”
After receiving a master’s degree in special education with an emphasis on autism and intellectual disabilities from the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), Jones-Barcelo joined Harry Harmon Elementary School in 2010 as a special education kindergarten teacher.
Even though her students were young, she encouraged them to learn job skills.
“I had them out collecting cans and using the money from recycling to buy food at McDonald’s,” she says. “They got an early lesson in the value of work and had fun at the same time.”
In 2014, Jones-Barcelo joined Legacy High School where she began developing programs that provided her students with real-life work experiences as part of CCSD’s Program Approach to Career Employment (PACE) program.
At Las Vegas Academy, which she joined in 2019 to train under one of her mentors, Jones-Barcelo continued cultivating business partnerships that would give her students experiences they needed to get a leg up in obtaining competitive, paying jobs.
These experiences included stocking shelves at Walmart, performing cashier duties in the school’s student store, and prepping food and washing dishes at restaurants.
In fact, one of those restaurants is the Empowered Café, which Jones-Barcelo opened in late 2019 with her husband to provide job training opportunities for students with disabilities in the valley.
Located in the Grant Sawyer Building in downtown Las Vegas, the Café has received recognition from Governor Steve Sisolak, as well as several media outlets. A large catering order from the Las Vegas Lights FC recently allowed Jones-Barcelo to hire her second full-time staff member, a former student.
“It fills me with pride to be able to offer such an opportunity to someone I know who has worked so hard over the years,” she says.
Never Done for the Day
As Jones-Barcelo’s passion never wavers, she doesn’t stop when school is done or the Café is closed.
She and her husband also own another company called Empower Us, which conducts job development and training throughout Nevada.
“I saw how my students were being given competitive employment opportunities, so I decided it was time for me to empower other people in the community,” she explains.
Jones-Barcelo admits she works long hours, but says it’s worth it.
“It is incredibly rewarding helping people to improve their lives by facilitating their independence,” she says.