They help disinfect classrooms, wipe down vending machines and sanitize elevator buttons. Known as the PIT Crew, the high school students with disabilities are part of a decade-long job skills program at Wright State University.<\/p>\n
The Partners in Transition program is a partnership between Wright State and the Greene County Educational Service Center that began in 2006. The goal is to teach the students valuable job skills while helping the university maintain a healthy environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey help us with many general cleaning skills,\u2019 said Gina Reese, Wright State\u2019s custodial service manager. \u201cThey help us do a lot of sanitizing, especially the high-touch points \u2014 vending machines, elevator buttons, tables in the library. And they go into classrooms and help us do a full disinfect.\u201d<\/p>\n
The students have also helped grow the university\u2019s recycling program.<\/p>\n
Seven students are in the program this year. They are seniors at Beavercreek High School between the ages of 16 and 22 who have completed their academics and are now working on job skills. All of them have some sort of cognitive disability and some have physical disabilities as well.<\/p>\n
Students from Fairborn and Bellbrook high schools have also participated in the program.<\/p>\n
The students come to Wright State each week with their job coaches.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe students learn about what a job is like in real life,\u201d said Kristin Irwin, job skills\/transition coordinator for the Greene County Educational Service Center, which offers alternative education programs, a learning center for students with mental health or emotional needs, intensive needs programming, mental health services, adaptive physical education and speech, occupational and physical therapy.<\/p>\n
The students do not get paid for their work. It is considered an educational learning experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can work on soft skills like how you behave on the job, what\u2019s expected of you,\u201d said Irwin. \u201cYou need to have enough stamina to get through the day, have a good attitude.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before they graduate, the students are referred to Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities, a state agency that helps them find jobs.<\/p>\n
About 80 students have gone through the PIT Crew program since it started. They have gone on to get jobs at places such as Soin Hospital, the Beavercreek Golf Club and the food court at Fairfield Commons Mall.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal is to get them as ready as possible so that out of high school hopefully they can become competitively employed,\u201d said Irwin.<\/p>\n
On this particular day, the students are cleaning the Dunbar Library. Wearing neon green T-shirts, they fan out from a blue cleaning cart laden with a broom, feather duster and other cleaning supplies.<\/p>\n
Wright State student Hudson Grant, who was using the library, said he enjoys talking to the students because they are \u201cfun to hang out with.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s amazing. It\u2019s really been great to work with Wright State all these years,\u201d said Irwin. \u201cA lot of these students, their peers go on to go to college. So this site is really nice because they still get to be in a college setting and hang out with their peers and see what college is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Partners in Transition program teach students with disabilities valuable job skills while helping Wright State maintain a healthy environment. Continue reading