Project SEARCH of Southeast Ohio celebrates five years of operation

The celebration of the five-year partnership was held in the form of an open house at O’Bleness on Oct. 24, where both current and prospective Project SEARCH interns were in attendance. Tri-County staff members, Project SEARCH associates and employees of the businesses who help fund Project SEARCH were all gathered at the celebration for a tour and plaque ceremony.

“We are proud to host the Project SEARCH program again this year,” said LeeAnn Lucas-Helber, president of OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital. “Our associates work closely with the Project SEARCH interns and ultimately we all benefit from the relationships that develop over the course of the program. The students gain valuable career skills and our hospital gains from the many contributions the students make. The program gives our associates the opportunity to practice one of our core values, inclusion, every day.”

Before the presentation, prospective Project SEARCH students were given a pre-assessment to gauge the students’ general knowledge of the program. Afterward, Kelly Smith, the lead instructor and program coordinator for the Athens branch, presented an award for O’Bleness for five years of partnership with Project SEARCH. The award was accepted on the hospital’s behalf by Brianna Edwards, who is its benefits and compensation manager.

In the presentation, viewers were shown what a day in the life of a Project SEARCH student looks like at O’Bleness. Students learn daily life skills and the Project SEARCH curriculum before going to internship areas in the hospital. Before leaving for the day, the students return to the classroom to reflect on experiences at the job sites.

Despite the job-like structure of the program, Project SEARCH still functions as if the interns were in school. They follow their school’s schedule for breaks, cancellations and delays. It does not run on a graded basis like a normal high school program, because eligible students have already completed all the necessary credits to graduate high school. All they have to do in Project SEARCH is prove they can commit to the program. Success or failure in the program is directly linked to their ability to show initiative and show up every day, not proficiency in the academics they learn.

Project SEARCH started with an idea. Erin Riehle was the director of Cincinnati Children’s Emergency Department, where Project SEARCH was founded. The hospital, for as long as it has been in operation, has served individuals with disabilities. However, despite all of its services offered, Riehle still felt that Cincinnati Children’s Hospital was missing an important element: disabled employees who could represent and advocate for their clientele. The positions that Riehle was looking to fill involved tasks that required lots of systematic thinking. These positions were entry-level and had a high turnover rate.

Riehle took her idea to Susie Rutkowski, who was the special education director at Great Oaks Career Campuses, and their partnership was instantaneous. Together, they launched Project SEARCH.

After the presentation was finished, two former interns of the Athens Project SEARCH branch spoke about their experience in the program. Nicholas Roberts, who was an intern in the 2021-2022 school year, learned good communication skills, eye contact, responsibility and money management. Roberts worked at the front desk and in the gift shop. Currently, he works at Holiday Express in Athens and lives in his apartment with fellow former intern, Vin Haddox, who spoke after Roberts finished. Haddox worked in the radiology, nutrition and facilities departments. He learned to pay bills, do laundry, manage money, drive and care for himself.

During the tour, attendees were shown the possible departments potential interns could intern at throughout the program’s three 10-week internship rotations. Those departments are nutritional care, environmental work, volunteer work, Procedural Care Unit training, radiology training, storeroom work, facilities training, sterile processing experience, physical therapy and emergency room training. Students can rotate between areas to gain a more robust set of skills and are encouraged to develop personal independence and confidence within the workforce.

Vermonica Warrener, 19, interns in the nutrition department. Guided by its manager, Dawn Bennett-Roach, Warrener operates in complete independence while at the job site. Not only does Warrener prepare meals and other food, but she also does dish work and maintenance duties in the kitchen without any problems.

“It’s been good,” Warrener said. “It made me want to go to college for culinary arts and start my own business.”

When students choose to pursue an internship with Project SEARCH, they are offered valuable benefits such as multiple internships, marketable job skills, gained independence, confidence, self-esteem, job coaching and professional links to other agencies for career opportunities.

August Steinmetz and Luke Duncan are student journalists with Tri-County Career Center and High School’s Sports Journalism and New Media program.