Wish Book: The Independence Networks gives adult students with disabilities the opportunity to become the teacher

In a portable classroom on the Santa Clara Adult Education campus, Abraham Leza prepares to teach his weekly class just after the Friday lunch hour.

He pulls on a black T-shirt embossed with a drawing of a boombox before placing a gold chain around his neck. He makes his way to the head of the classroom, where atop a desk sits a turntable plugged into a laptop, and begins “scratching” out a beat as students file in.

The lights switch off but the room is illuminated by several disco balls splattering the walls and ceiling with color. The students dance along to his musical stylings while waving light sticks in the air.

Student Abraham Leza leads the music class where he DJ’s the student run class at the Independence Network in Santa Clara, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025.(Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Leza, 42, has long dreamed of becoming a professional DJ — he likes the technical aspect of it — and during those Friday classes he gets to transform from his usual role as a student at the Independence Network into a teacher who gets to share his passion with his fellow classmates.

A part of Santa Clara Unified School District’s adult education program, the Independence Network for the last three decades has catered to individuals with a wide range of intellectual and developmental disabilities including autism, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome. The program offers a variety of life skills and vocational classes like cooking, sewing and adaptive fitness.

And, in October 2024, the Independence Network kicked off a new initiative that allows students like Leza to teach a weekly class in an area that interests them. So far, students have taught classes on topics like K-Pop, candle making and football. The Independence Network did not disclose any of the students’ disabilities. The program is seeking donations through Wish Book to help purchase supplies for the classes.

Student Brianna Cabrera, center, leads the K-Pop dance class at the Independence Network in Santa Clara, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. Wish Book for the Independence Network. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

“The main thing we want to create here at our school is that people have a sense of belonging and connectedness to others, and an extension of that is having people feel empowered,” Daya Sánchez, the program coordinator, said. “That is really the goal of the student-led classes — for students to feel that they have an ability to lead and make decisions.”

Carrie Casto, the principal of the adult education program, said that part of the goal is to offer the students more choices and an opportunity to be a “leader among their peers and in the community.” The Independence Network previously operated as a full-day program, but in 2021, they started offering a catalog of courses where students could pick and choose what they wanted to learn. They currently have 40 students ranging in age from 18-year-olds to people in their 60s.

“We really believe that everybody should have access to age-appropriate education,” Casto said. “The students could have more choice in a training program where they choose different classes to take each term that’s based on their interests and their needs.”

The student-led classes stemmed from Mindy Burger — a student who was learning American Sign Language.

Student Mindy Burger, who teaches a student run ASL class, demonstrates signing at the Independence Network in Santa Clara, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. Wish Book for the Independence Network. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

“I really love teaching sign language to help others know how to teach people to learn how to sign,” Burger, 46, said. Her favorite phrase to sign is “I love you.”

Sánchez said that once Burger started teaching a class, other students quickly wanted to teach one, too. Each student works with an instructor to help them develop and execute the course.

Katy Smit, who has been a teacher at the Independence Network the last two years, has been working with Brianna Cabrera, 22, on her K-Pop class. She said Cabrera has “flourished” and “become a lot more independent in her teaching.” She started with mostly dancing and music and is now moving onto analyzing the different music videos and lyrics.

“It’s very important to give people a creative outlet,” Smit said. “It also helps with social skills. It’s really nice to give the students opportunities that they wouldn’t otherwise have because a lot of people in this program don’t necessarily have the resources that other people may have.”

Cabrera, whose favorite K-Pop groups are BTS and Tomorrow X Together, said she enjoys teaching the songs and dances to her fellow classmates. During a recent Friday afternoon lesson, she danced along to BTS’ hit song “Butter” and “Soda Pop” from the 2025 Netflix movie “KPop Demon Hunters.”

“I like the outfits that they wear,” Cabrera said of her love of K-Pop. “I like how they’re really funny, they’re not just singing and dancing.”

In the classroom next door, Francisco “Cacho” Reyes, 43, teaches a Spanish lesson. Martha Cortes, the instructor he works with, said the program is like a “second family.” The class she assists Reyes with is known as “Amigos Workout” — a split between Spanish education and exercising by playing different games.

Student Cacho Reyes, right, dances as he leads a workout/Spanish class called “Amigos Workout” as Mindy Burger, center, dances along at the Independence Network in Santa Clara, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. Wish Book for the Independence Network. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

“They’re learning, they’re having fun, but at the same time they can share their thoughts, their thinking,” Cortes said of the student-led classes.

During a recent class, Reyes taught Spanish words related to the classroom before students began dancing to a song that had a call and response of English and Spanish phrases.

Those Friday afternoon classes where the student becomes the teacher are supposed to just be a beginning, according to Casto. The hope is that students will want to seek out other vocational skills and potentially volunteer in the community or even find a job.

“The end goal isn’t just to stay here,” she said. “It’s to gain skills, gain confidence and really feel good about the value that they can contribute to our community but that they can also do that in other places and move forward for their futures.”

WISHDonations to Independent Network, Santa Clara Unified School District will be used to buy supplies for the student-led classes and to support community outings related to what is being taught in class. Goal: $20,000

Student Cacho Reyes leads a workout/Spanish class called âAmigos Workoutâ...

Student Cacho Reyes leads a workout/Spanish class called “Amigos Workout” at the Independence Network in Santa Clara, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. Wish Book for the Independence Network. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Student Brandon Lopez leads a candle making class at the Independence Network in Santa Clara, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. Wish Book for the Independence Network. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Student Abraham Leza, left, gets a fist bump from teacher Katy Smit after he lead the music class where he DJ’s the student run class at the Independence Network in Santa Clara, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. Wish Book for the Independence Network. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Adult Ed principal Carrie Casto talks about the student run classes at the Independence Network in Santa Clara, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. Wish Book for the Independence Network. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Mireya Sánchez, left, Independence Network program coordinator, helps Abraham Leza lead the music class where he DJ’s the student run class at the Independence Network in Santa Clara, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. Wish Book for the Independence Network. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Student Abraham Leza puts on his bling before leadting the music class where he DJ’s the student run class at the Independence Network in Santa Clara, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. Wish Book for the Independence Network. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

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