Twice a week, high school students staff Sunrise Grill in North Augusta doing behind-the-scenes work.

On Monday and Wednesday mornings, Shikita Simmon, 15, of Lucy C. Laney High School sits quietly at the end of the restaurant bar wrapping silverware. Classmates sweep and mop the kitchen floor, take out the trash, wash the dishes or complete other small tasks to help out paid employees.

As part of a requirement for special education classes, Laney and Midland Valley High School students gain work experience at Sunrise Grill that will help them get jobs after graduation.

Many special education students will not go to college, so the curriculum gets them ready to enter the work force, said Sylvia Holmes, a Laney paraprofessional special education teacher.

In addition to work at Sunrise Grill, Ms. Holmes has students fold towels at the Charlie Norwood Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

All will be able to hold down a job after graduating high school, she said.

"Some could go to college, but most likely they won't," she said.

The days the students get to go to work are the most enjoyable for them, Ms. Holmes said.

"They look forward to coming out here," she said. "This (Sunrise Grill) is the fun place."

Shikita said that after she graduates she might want to "work in a store or hair (salon)."

She said the special education program has helped her feel ready to enter the work force after school.

The program not only provides job skills but also helps students create a rÃsumà before graduation, said Angela Moore, a special education teacher at Laney.

Special education students who qualify to work in the community during class are "individuals with moderate intellectual disabilities" such as autism, Ms. Moore said.

Sunrise Grill owner Chris Gurley said he is glad to be in a position to help educate students.

Students interact with the employees, who teach them minor tasks in the restaurant that do not require interaction with customers.

"I feel like we're helping them just get a good feel for what the workplace could be or would be when they get out in the workplace," he said. "You can tell all of them are just excited and try hard."