The focus of the first year is on developing life skills and self-esteem. The second year is spent exploring various careers. Presently, these students work at job sites in the hospital and are paid by the Healthcare System. In the future, placements will be made with other business partners. Over 25 local businesses are participating with Greater Southeast Healthcare System in this venture.
Mentors maintain weekly telephone contact and meet twice a month with their students.
The curriculum, which was developed by project staff under a planning grant, emphasizes speaking, listening and thinking skills and stresses the importance of personal qualities such as responsibility, self-esteem and integrity. Instructors provide career development as well as tutoring in basic academic skills and closely coordinate their efforts with the student's employment experiences arranged through the program. The leadership camp includes field trips, work readiness training sessions, job shadowing one day a week, and academic enrichment. They were able to view a large company from the inside, get a sense of its complexity, observe the types of skills required and learn about careers in a large insurance company. Of this experience, we were told that the mail robot left a deep impression on students, underscoring the obsolescence of people who do not have in-demand skills.