It was a sign of hope for a life that has been particularly hard lately.

Jocelyn's mother, Estrelita, died on Thanksgiving Day from a form of lupus. Jocelyn and her twin sister, Jessalyn, celebrated their 18th birthday on Sept. 11 as the nation still struggled with its grief from the terrorist attacks.

Like other seniors, Jocelyn and Jessalyn are planning to graduate this spring. But their future is filled with doubts and unknowns.

They've been diagnosed with developmental disabilities — just two among the 20 percent of the 680 schoolchildren on Lana'i with some form of special needs.

The island's rate is higher than the national average. The girls' disabilities place particular hardships on their father, Kendall, who works as a laborer and is also raising their 15-year-old brother, John.

The Taal twins could find vocational work in places like Honolulu, but likely would end up in jobs that wouldn't tap their potential, said Sharie Liden, Lana'i High and Elementary's school-based behavioral health psychologist.

"Rather than mopping floors, serving food and other meaningless jobs, the goal is to give them a quality of life," Liden said.

Last year Jocelyn, who never had much time for bookwork, discovered that her hands are capable of turning out ceramic pottery.

Her newly found skills changed the thinking of the teachers, administrators and Liden who make up what's called Taal's Individual Education Plan Team.

"She's a kid that academically struggles, and she found the one thing that she loves," Liden said.

"We thought, 'Why can't she develop that into a micro-enterprise?' If she stays on Lana'i, she would have some source of income and where she has a support system."

The members of the Individual Education Plan Team want to help Jocelyn develop a business plan to obtain a loan. And Jocelyn's pumpkin sales gave them hope of finding a similar, money-generating passion for Jessalyn.

Jocelyn's talent for ceramics has impressed Greg Cohen, executive director of the Lana'i Art Center.

"She's definitely advanced for a kid her age, no question," Cohen said. "She's got a natural skill. That's apparent. Not only is she drawn to it, but there's a reason she's drawn to it."

So in September, Jocelyn went to work on 50 pounds of clay donated from the nonprofit Lana'i Art Center. By the first week of October, she had produced 50 ceramic jack-o'-lanterns with faces that would be illuminated by votive candles placed inside.

Jocelyn made her jack-o'-lanterns in two sizes — one about the size of a softball and the other about 4 inches in diameter. She sold most of her jack-o'-lanterns last weekend at the third annual "self-determination conference" at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and brought the remaining 40 home to Lana'i City, where they were bought by teachers and staff at Lana'i High and Elementary School.

Jocelyn, who speaks in clipped sentences, said that she believes the jack-o'-lanterns were popular "because they have different looks — funny, I guess."

She had just finished a ceramics class earlier this week at Lana'i High and Elementary where "I made me a box," she said.

Asked why she enjoys working with ceramics, Jocelyn said: "It makes me feel better."

The proceeds from last weekend's sales will go into a special fund for supplies and to pay for lessons with Lana'i ceramic artist Rose Horn.

Jocelyn is already thinking of making ceramic pineapples to showcase her home island and possibly ceramic Christmas trees for the holidays. She'll also get help through the Lana'i Art Center, which hopes to develop a program to work with Lana'i's children with special needs.

But generating a steady stream of sales on a small island can be rough.

The market for ceramic products on Lana'i is "fair to slim," Cohen said.

So along with refining Jocelyn's skills as an artist, the people at the Lana'i Art Center want to impart a more important lesson to her just in case she can't make a living through ceramics on Lana'i.

"We want to make her feel there is a big world out there and she doesn't need to be scared of it," Cohen said. "And there are people out there who will support her just like we do."