Skills and Achievement Program helps East Rockaway students with disabilities gain job experience

Students in the East Rockaway School District are gaining work experience through a skills and achievement program in which the district teams with local businesses to provide on-site job training for disabled students.

“As we were going through all the sites, a couple of the guys liked where they were and some didn’t,” explained Kathleen Crowley, a job coach for the program. “We were able to change the work sites for them as the year went on so that we could fit their needs and their interests.”

The program consists of a half-day job coaching initiative in which students learn academics in the morning and then go to their job from noon to 2 p.m. Since it is part of their school schedule, they are not paid.

Students began working in the program in September and continue until June. The initiative is for students who will not receive a diploma, but will get a credential. Places of employment include retail shops like Home Depot and CVS and other skilled jobs individualized to the students’ needs and interests. Rhame Avenue School is one of the job sites and offers clerical and custodial training.

Michael Scuderi and Arthur McCormack, both students in the program, spoke about what they learned at the April 20 meeting of the East Rockaway Board of Education. Crowley said that another student, named Jesse Tavarelli, was interested in animals and the program was able to link him to Total Aquariums in Lynbrook.

“We’re so very proud of this program and how far it’s come in the last two years,” said Lisa Ruiz, the East Rockaway School District superintendent.

Students start in a lab that provides opportunities for them to work on several different job skills, including construction, business, computers, customer service and production. The lab helps to assess what they are good at and what they are interested in.

Students also have the opportunity to try and get accepted into Ken’s Crew, a not for profit group that supports people with disabilities in the workplace. In Ken’s Crew, students are put through six months of intense training. Through their experiences, the students often end up getting jobs at their workplace or are able to use them as references.

“No matter if we are educating and working with our students with disabilities or without, our goal remains the same,” said Laura Hastings, the director of pupil personnel services. “We want our kids to live, to learn and one day to earn. And the program for the skills and achievement children are no different.”