Project SEARCH helps students transition from high school to workplace

4/21/2015

By Lauren Maxwell

WASILLA – A program in the Mat-Su Valley is being recognized nationally for its success in helping young adults with disabilities get the job skills they need to become productively employed.

Project SEARCH is a national program that helps young adults with disabilities as they transition from high school to the work world.

Project SEARCH has a partnership with the Mat-Su Borough School District and Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. Students accepted into the program work as unpaid interns training in different hospital departments for the length of a school year. Interns learn specific job skills but also things that will help them throughout their lives, according to program coordinator Amber Finley.

“We call them soft skills and we go through 18 of them,” Finley said. “Time management, organization, flexibility, communication are just some examples.”

The program is now in its fourth year. Finley said in three of those years every graduate found a job. She said they’ve gotten positive responses from employers.

“The people who have been hired have great attendance, they are known for a positive attitude,” Finley said. “I think that you would see investing in a person with disabilities is a good investment.”

Project SEARCH also has a program in Anchorage that utilizes a partnership between the Anchorage School District and Providence Alaska Medical Center.

This article was originally published by KTVA Alaska. You can read the entire article here: http://www.ktva.com/project-search-helps-students-transition-from-high-school-to-workplace-820/

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