Despite many changes being made to education settings around the state, one special group of students in Lima will still be able to learn real-world skills through Project SEARCH.
Students of Project SEARCH will embark on three 10-week internships throughout the school year. They will participate in 22 internships at Mercy Health-St. Rita’s Medical Center, where they will learn work and life skills to help transition out of high school. Eleven students with developmental disabilities are enrolled this year. In the past, there has been an 89% job placement rate after the program, and even in a world of COVID, they are staying optimistic.
“I know with all the changes, I think it will still be good," says Leigh Taylor, Project SEARCH Instructor Coordinator. "But we’ve done really well in the past, and the students just gain skills, and the things I see that they do as they grow. They become more communicative, they have more self-confidence, and they understand the job market better.”
Caidan Rodgers, a student in this year's Project SEARCH explains, "It’s a lot of opportunities for a lot of disabilities kids out there that fall behind in school. It’s not their fault, it’s just that we all have a lot of problems in life. So, you know, we just keep on fighting and fighting.”
The students will complete their first round of internships in November and then move onto job development in February of next year.
Students in Project SEARCH come from Shawnee, Kalida, Elida, Bath, Columbus Grove, Delphos, Jefferson, Ada, and Wapakoneta schools and are enrolled through Apollo Career Center. Collaborators also include Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities and Marimor Industries.
