Mission SEARCH is an internship expertise for college kids with delicate to average mental and developmental disabilities who’re of their final 12 months of highschool eligibility or have just lately graduated.
Mission SEARCH serves as the coed interns’ capstone instructional expertise and infrequently results in employment as soon as the internships are full.
“Our leaders and department staff see the importance of Project SEARCH and working with these good people and helping them on their journey and after as they become employment eligible and move, hopefully, within positions at WVU Hospitals,” Michael A. Grace, Ed.D., M.B.A., F.A.C.H.E., WVU Hospitals president and CEO, stated.
“I can see how we are changing lives, internally and externally, with the students that are here, with their parents and families, the schools – just everyone they interact with,” Colleen Sybert, WVUH vp of human assets and Mission SEARCH govt sponsor, stated. “I have watched this program grow over the past five years. We have tripled the number of rotations that we have had since year one, and the change in our culture has been incredible.”
This 12 months’s graduating class consists of eight interns from Marion, Monongalia, Preston, and Taylor counties:
-
Jenna Austin, a graduate of Grafton Excessive College, accomplished rotations at WVU Medication Youngsters’s Hospital. She has accepted a place at Grafton Metropolis Hospital. -
Nicole Biszantz, a graduate of East Fairmont Excessive College, accomplished rotations within the WVU Medication Youngsters’s, WVUH Outpatient Pharmacy, and Shiny Horizons Little one Growth Heart. She is searching for employment in a hospital setting within the Fairmont space. -
Haley Dulin, a graduate of Morgantown Excessive College, accomplished rotations in Perioperative Care, WVU Medication Youngsters’s, and Sterile Processing. She is at the moment employed by WVUH as a affected person care assistant. -
Nash Haun, a graduate of Morgantown Excessive College, accomplished rotations within the WVUH Buddies Reward Store, Diet Companies, WVU Medication Youngsters’s, and Environmental Companies. He’s at the moment searching for full-time employment in Morgantown. -
Hannah Karinshak, a graduate of College Excessive College, accomplished rotations at WVU Medication Youngsters’s and the Shiny Horizons Little one Growth Heart, the place she is at the moment employed. -
Shakira Koontz might be graduating this week from Grafton Excessive College. She accomplished rotations within the Rosenbaum Household Home, Hospital Administration, and Authorized Companies. She might be searching for employment within the hospital setting. -
Laura Smouse, a graduate of Preston Excessive College, accomplished rotations within the Buddies Reward Store, Shiny Horizons Little one Growth Heart, and Central Transport, the place she is at the moment employed. -
Ashley Vandegrift, a graduate of East Fairmont Excessive College, accomplished rotations at Shiny Horizons Little one Growth Heart, Diet Companies, and Household Home. Vandegrift is at the moment searching for employment in Fairmont. Mission SEARCH graduates typically discover fast
employment upon completion of this system.
“One of the reasons I love Project SEARCH is that every department we work with in the hospital welcomes our interns into the program and makes them feel at home,” Kim Hartsell, WVU Hospitals Mission SEARCH enterprise liaison, stated.
“Their transformations from their first day with us to graduation is astounding. These students have learned how to work as members of a team and communicate with their peers and managers. Several of them also learned how to drive and obtained their driver’s licenses through the program. The skills they have learned will help them be successful as they enter the workforce.”
The interns started their coaching in August 2024 with a five-day summer time camp to develop into aware of their instructors and hospital workers. Stephen Callen, Mission SEARCH abilities coach, stated this was the primary 12 months for the camp, and it supplied the scholars perception into the expectations of the upcoming rotations and classroom studying. Callen stated this enabled them to develop into extra snug as they ready to embark on their new challenges.
“Each intern is different, so they need a different set of skills,” Callen stated. “It’s like that balancing act in the classroom where you have to pull someone in a little bit and others you have to raise up and give them the confidence to speak up in the classroom, which then translates into their rotations.”
Biszantz stated the immersive expertise allowed her to realize the boldness and abilities wanted to compete within the workforce. She additionally stated she gained invaluable friendships and an opportunity to study past a typical classroom setting.
“Project SEARCH gave me an opportunity that most kids don’t really get and actually makes it easier for me to get a job because I have experience in different types of categories,” she stated. “Don’t think about this like a school, think about it like this is a class to start your future in working.”
