6 Science Hill seniors sign for yearlong internships
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Dominic Hensley and Mandi Judy beamed, while Devin Babb flashed a peace sign and Jacob Taylor carefully signed his contract as his dad Jesse looked on proudly.
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It was a new type of signing day at Science Hill High School as six students with disabilities inked one-year internship deals with Ballad Health’s Niswonger Children’s Hospital — the first Northeast Tennessee students to participate in Project SEARCH. The international network of work sites, headquartered at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, focuses on helping people with disabilities secure competitive employment.
“Ultimately, the outcome is that we’re providing a very structured learning environment for our students with disabilities so that they … can be employable and have additional opportunities once they graduate from Johnson City Schools,” Allecia Frizzell, the school system’s director of special education, said. “So we’re really excited for this opportunity.”
Dominic Hensley used the same term, telling News Channel 11 he’d be “helping kids” when his job starts Aug. 5.
Frizzell said Project SEARCH partners with Vocational Rehab, a state-run agency, employers (just Ballad so far) and the school system. Project SEARCH has been at work for 28 years with the primary goal of securing competitive employment for people with disabilities.
“What we would like to see is be able to provide very structured supports early on in the program and then as students progress be able to pull back on support so that by the time they’re finished, they would be have some competitive employment skills,” Frizzell said.
By competitive employment, Frizzell means jobs that aren’t specifically designed to give people with disabilities something to do, but rather those that companies and other employers need done and that could be filled by anyone. Frizzell said Project SEARCH has a track record of producing.
“About 80% of the students who participate in Project SEARCH, once they graduate, are employed in some form of competitive employment, so we’re really excited about that,” Frizzell said.
Project SEARCH’s “outcome summary” on its website classifies competitive employment as occurring in an integrated setting (among co-workers with and without disabilities), year-round at the prevailing wage and at least 16 hours a week of work.
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Shawn Judy said the opportunity is a great next step for his daughter, Mandi, who graduates Saturday. Mandi was born with numerous physical challenges and is on the autism spectrum. Judy said he’s seen local opportunities for his daughter — both in health care and in education — steadily improve through her lifetime.
“At nine and a half months old, she had to have open heart surgery and we couldn’t get an operating room here because they didn’t have one dedicated just for children,” Judy said. “Now they’ve got dedicated hospital facilities where they can do surgeries, she’s had casts on both feet, several other problems and we have the doctors and the facility to take her to have it done.”
At the same time, Judy’s seen the level of inclusion for Mandi increase at school, where she’s been learning important life skills for the past six or so years.
“We’re just proud of our teachers that have been with her for years, pushed her to do better,” he said. “Ballad Health has helped us out a lot and gotten this program so Mandi can further her life skills, so we’re very proud of Ballad and Science Hill and Johnson City Schools and all of our teachers throughout the years.”
Frizzell learned about Project SEARCH mid-year after taking over her current role at the beginning of this school year. She said the opportunity sounded too good to pass up, even with some tight deadlines.
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She said interns will learn job-related skills like coming to work on time, wearing the appropriate uniform and communicating with managers and co-workers, along with the all-important hard skills.
“Attention to detail, making sure that you have people who are able to understand the task and then perform that task well.”
Frizzell hopes the current cohort of students begins a tradition of about five to eight interns per year. Eligible students will have met all their graduation requirements but will still have time to complete the internship because students with disabilities can continue being served by public schools until they’re 21.
She said Project SEARCH is part of a growing trend of inclusivity for people with disabilities, which she said benefits everyone.
“Not only does the person who’s gaining those skills have a greater opportunity, but I think that the worksite has an opportunity to have a great employee and offer those skills. I think too, just the opportunity to see people from diverse backgrounds in the workplace being able to see an increase in that is helpful to everyone in the community.”
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