Preparing for a job post-high school is a critical task all students must undertake and Eric Peterson is no exception.
Peterson, who has cerebral palsy, spends the first hour of every school day working on his communication skills and etiquette by meeting with residents of Sterling House, a retirement community on north Main Street.
Peterson is one of 30 high school students in the county that the McPherson County Special Education Cooperative matches with different businesses to work on job skills.
The students are accompanied by job coaches who work with the students if necessary on completing tasks and building their skills.
The students interest are taken into account when they are matched with employers.
“Each student we work with has a unique set of skills,” said John Peters, transition coordinator.
While Peterson’s physical limitations may exclude certain careers, he has aspirations of working at Blockbuster as a greeter.
Travis Martin, a job coach who works for the McPherson County Special Education Cooperative, accompanies Peterson on his morning visits and works with him correcting his grammar turning “yeah” to “yes.”
“Eric is very social. We call it his stand-up comedy hour,” Martin said.
The daily visits help him improve his vocabulary and memory retention.
“We used to go around every morning and say hello to all the residents, but we’ve found if we build up a recurring conversation with a group it helps with Eric’s memory retention,” Martin said.
Aaron Koehn, another district student, comes to Wallace Chevrolet for about 45 minutes every school day and keeps the showroom spotless.
“He does basic cleaning, dusting, washes windows. It’s going well,” said Chris Wallace, owner. “We are glad to help kids who need help.”
The cooperative is always looking for businesses with opportunities for students, according to Peters.
Some of the businesses that work with the cooperative are the Old Mill Museum in Lindsborg where students do basic grounds and building maintenance, Artshirt where items are packed for shipping, McPherson Care Center where one student went on to become a certified nurses aide and the McPherson school district where students perform jobs such as parking lot monitor.
“Hopefully we can expose businesses to the idea of having a disabled employee and change attitudes in the community,” Peters said.
The students in turn learn to take direction from someone other than one of the cooperative employees or school personnel.
Depending on the students level of disability, the job coaches may leave them to complete tasks on their own.
“If we’re preparing them to work in the real world, they have to be responsible. There won’t be someone trailing behind them telling them they’ve missed a spot,” Martin said.
The cooperative is looking for another part-time job coach.
“It takes a special type of person that has to be creative when working with the students and be out in the public,” Peters said.
McPherson, Kan. —
