CINCINNATI — For elementary-aged students, it’s important to learn basic life skills, like communicating with adults and how to manage money, which is why teachers at J.F. Dulles Elementary in the Oak Hills Local School District near Cincinnati decided to start the Johnny Bear’s Treat Truck. 

​​​Treat truck day at J.F. Dulles Elementary School, for Eli Dann, 9, means it’s the best day of the week.

“Welcome to my school house," Eli said. “I do snacks.”

Eli, along with other students, roll the cart from classroom to classroom, offering up treats to teachers.

“Some chips, some chips, some candy, some drinks," Eli said.

The project started in Spetember after speech-language pathologist Kristy Razzaghi approached her principal to start something to involve her special needs students in learning more skills. She said she has already seen a lot of progress.

“There was some nervousness because we were visiting rooms that they had never been in before, talking to some adults and other kids that maybe they have never had the opportunity to interact with," Razzaghi said. "Now, a lot of our kids walk with a lot of confidence.”

The goal is to get these students more confident in communicating and understand how to manage money.

For Razzaghi and other leaders of the program, the hope is to get even more students involved selling goods and as mentors.

“Taking a lot of the prompting from adults out of it and letting it be a really student-led kind of activity," Razzaghi said.

As for Eli, he’s learning more each day.  The money raised by the treat truck goes to buying more snacks to fill the cart and to fund classroom pizza parties.