MARSHFIELD, Wis. (WSAU) — Friday was graduation day for 12 students enrolled in a program for young adults with special needs.
The Project SEARCH program held its Marshfield commencement ceremonies in the Mother Frances Streitel Conference Center at St. Joseph’s Hospital, which is where the program is headquartered. The Instructor and coordinator of Project SEARCH is Anne Dick, who said graduation is always a very special day for the students, their parents and herself.
During her commencement speech, Dick said, “They had a difficult time believing they had skills that would be of any value to an employer. Today I see sitting here twelve individuals that are no longer interns, but young adults that believe in themselves, [and] are ready to make decisions and obtain a career.”
Project SEARCH is a collaboration between the hospital, the Marshfield School District and the state department of Vocational Rehabiltation. Delora Newton is the administrator of the program at the state level. Friday’s was her first Project SEARCH graduation and Newton says the program has an important supporter in the state’s government.
She said, “Governor Walker is very supportive of this program. He wanted to make sure that when he created the “Better Bottom Line” initiative a couple years ago, that Project SEARCH was a key component of that in serving our students with disabilities.”
The governor visited Marshfield’s program and its current students last October.
Newton said that 129 students are graduating from “Project SEARCH” programs in Wisconsin this spring, including students in Wisconsin Rapids and Stevens Point, with new sites for the program in the works and new areas of study.
Newton said, “We’re at 14 sites now, we want to have six more sites on board next year, and just this morning it was breaking news that in Rice Lake, there’s going to be one of the new expansions next year and it’s the first one in manufacturing.”
Project SEARCH is a 9-to-12-month program sponsored in several states in which the students with disabilities are offered a workforce alternative for their final year of high school, and must be eligible for services from the state division of vocational rehabilitation. The state partners with a local business and the school district provides an instructor. The students range in age from 18 to 24, and participate in areas such as pediatrics, outpatient pharmacy, food and nutrition, housekeeping, laundry and central sterilization services. Many of this year’s graduates already have permanent jobs lined up after their graduation.
Reporting by Mike Warren, WDLB.
