The Vocational Program at Cardinal Cushing School is unmatched in the variety of work opportunities offered to our students. Developing solid work skills is a top priority in helping students in the transition to adult life. The primary goals of the Vocational Program are for students to learn the general employability and social skills necessary for supported employment or community placement and to identify their interests and abilities as they relate to work and to determine their preferred work environment. All students are encouraged to explore a variety of vocational sites, not only to learn job specific skills, but to develop an understanding of work and what it means to be a good employee and a good citizen.
In the Vocational Department the focus is on basic work skills, such as following directions, working cooperatively with others, accepting supervision and meeting the demands of quality work. As students increase their work stamina and acquire new skills in the different job sites, they also learn to adapt to diverse personalities and supervisory styles.
To learn effectively, students need to see connections between the material to be learned and what is important in their lives. The work situation often makes this connection. Rather than completing isolated units, students are taught in the context of the whole job, working alongside their coworkers and supervisors as integral members of the team. Because work is seldom done in isolation, students practice the social and behavioral skills necessary in any workplace.
Vocational Evaluation
As students work in the different career sites, they are assessed on a continuing basis. The assessment is used to identify any obstacles to learning or barriers to success in the workplace. Recommendations for accommodations, adaptive equipment or remedial instructions are made based on individual needs. Functional evaluations and interest inventories identify student strengths, interests, talents and abilities and this critical information is used in the development of the IEP and future planning.
The Retail Center
Located on the Cardinal Cushing School campus is a retail center comprised of a bakery, a container redemption center, greenhouse/potting shed and a thrift store. Each of these small businesses, open to the public, serves a classroomfor the vocational students. Students develop and refine their money skills as they use the cash register when waiting on customers. Within the structure of these shops, students refine their social skills as they interact with the customers and do their work. Because many students with disabilities have difficulty identifying appropriate boundaries when working with supervisors, peers, acquaintances and strangers, these skills are taught on an on-going basis.
Bass Village Café - The Bakery is a popular spot for coffee, soda, and pastries. Students wait on customers at the counter or in the eat-in coffee shop, taking orders and serving food and beverages. During the course of the day students also take orders over the phone and make deliveries on campus. In the kitchen area students learn to follow recipes, measure and mix ingredients and operate the mixer and the ovens. They keep track of inventory, develop a shopping list, and shop in local stores for supplies.
The Horticulture Program offers many different types of work and work environments depending on the weather and the season. In the Potting Shed, students wait on customers and sell seasonal plants and flowers. They make quality craft items, pottery, candles, soap, and dried flower arrangements to be sold in the shop. In the Greenhouse the atmosphere is quiet and relaxed, and students enjoy planting seeds/seedlings, and watering and caring for the plants. In the spring they cultivate the soil, plant, weed the gardens, and do other landscaping tasks. The spring is a very busy time at the Greenhouse as the many plants the students have nutured are sold to the local community for their flower and vegetable gardens.
The Thrift Store sells items and accepts donations. Our students help with sorting the merchandise, hanging clothes on the appropriate hangers and placing them on the correct rack. They stock and clean shelves, arrange books and displays, and assist customers when asked. There are routine maintenance tasks to complete, and students need to be aware of the customers as they work. This site is very busy, with many distractions and constant interaction with shoppers, coworkers and staff.
At the Container Redemption Center, students wait on customers, count returns and calculate the amount due. They operate the cash register, practicing their money skills in a real life situation. When not attending to customers, students sort containers by size, brand and distributor, and perform routine cleaning tasks. At times they may be asked to help load or unload trucks and make deliveries. Many customers come to the redemption center on a regular basis, and students learn to deal with both new and familiar people from the community.
The Recycle/Green Team Program is our on-campus recycling program that started in March 2008. Students collect paper, cardboard and plastics from all programs and the public. They take weekly trips to the town recycling facility and learn about the importance of recycling. This program plans to expand into other recyclable materials as well as energy conservation.
On Campus and Community Based Training Programs
One of the most popular on-campus vocational sites is Culinary Arts. Everyone loves working with our great Food
Services Director, Gerry Fanning! Students in this program assist the Food Service Department in preparing and serving meals to staff and students throughout the day. They learn the importance of sanitation as they work in the dish room and clean dining rooms. As they learn the necessary skills, they also become acquainted with different work environments, within food service. Twice each week, the Culinary Arts program operates the Iron Kettle Inn, a restaurant for senior citizens. Students set the dining rooms and wait on tables, practicing their social skills as they interact with their customers.
Health Careers students meet each morning, dressed in their uniforms and are ready to work in one of four area nursing homes. Because each nursing home does things a little differently, students learn the importance of being flexible and following the directions of the nursing home supervisors. Students learn to make beds according to the protocol of each facility. As bed-maker trainees, they interact with the nursing home staff and patients, and are greeted with enthusiasm as they perform a meaningful service. Other students prefer to work in the laundry, where there are fewer interactions with patients or employees, and fewer distractions. These young people learn to operate the washers and dryers, fold, sort, and hang laundry and return fresh linens to the floors.
The Voc Prep Classrooms are designed to serve those students who are ready to begin exploring vocational training, while still benefiting from the continuity and consistency of a self-contained classroom. Students in these classrooms, continue to enhance their functional academics, refine their social skills and increase their general knowledge.
They learn how to fill out job applications, read wants ads, and practice interviewing skills. Students study different jobs in the classroom setting, and then gain practical experience as they try their skills in one or more of our vocational sites. As they explore different sites, they continue to have the support of their classroom teachers. Students work a minimum of four hours a week in a vocational site, and as they acquire self-confidence, gradually increase their work schedule up to a maximum of four days a week.
Students in the Pre Voc Classrooms concentrate on functional academics, activities of daily living, and language, social and prevocational skills. These classrooms offer students the consistency and continuity they need as they work on developing their individual potential. As a component of the classroom program, students have the opportunity to participate in work experiences in the different career sites, accompanied by their class room staff. Teachers use a task analysis approach to identify specific tasks that these young people can do, and individualize certain jobs to ensure that each student is able to meet with success.
In addition to these career sites, many other vocational opportunities are available on a more limited, part-time basis. We offer classes in Office Skills where students learn some of the basics of filing, using the copy machine, receptionist duties and record keeping. Central Supply operates three days per week, and students in this site receive orders and shop for consumable supplies for the school, fill requisitions for staff members, and make deliveries on campus. For the student interested and qualified to work with children, we supervise a volunteer work experience with a local Day Care Center.
Community Placement
When a student is ready to transfer the skills he has learned in the Vocational Department to the real world, Cardinal Cushing Center offers off-campus job placements. The local community offers many opportunities for students to learn job skills in the actual workplace. Some students may have unrealistic ideas about what is involved in an actual job, and view tasks in isolation. Following the regulations of the Department of Labor, some students may participate in a "job shadowing" experience, working with an employee of acompany. Although these experiences are time limited, they provide a realistic view of a job and provide us with an opportunity to identify the student's preferred work environment, career interests, and abilities. Other students, accompanied by their teaching staff have the opportunity to practice their work skills at local businesses, again on a time-limited basis.
The purpose of the Career Exploration/Training Program is for students to learn about a variety of job options, acquire specific job skills and learn employability skills required in the every workplace. Our goal is to offer students a variety of community based work experiences – not paid work but the chance for them to learn about different work settings and job requirements.
The Supported Employment component of the vocational program matches the students' interests, preferences, and abilities to the requirements of the employers. We have developed professional relationships with a wide network of employers who offer a broad range of employment opportunities. Because our focus is on the acquisition of general employability skills, students are not limited to jobs related to the career sites on campus.
There are Job Coaches available to transition students into paid jobs in the local community. The job coaches lend assistance with training and suggest helpful strategies if the young employee is having difficulty. Job coach services are time limited, as the goal of the job coach is to gradually fade support and encourage natural supports from coworkers or employers. Students competitively employed in the community, continue to be monitored by the job placement counselor or job coach on a regular basis. Working in the community while still in school, offers students the opportunity to enhance their skills in decision making, problem solving, and developing coping strategies that are appropriate in a business setting.
After school jobs on-campus are available through the Job Bank Program. Interested students go through an application and interview process, and those who are hired are paid minimum wage for their work. The expectations for student employees are the same as for regular employees, with some reasonable accommodations for their individual disabilities, learning styles, and personal needs. Students are supervised by school staff, learn the importance of good work skills, and gain self-esteem from earning a paycheck.
Each of our students brings something different to the learning situation; different learning styles, interests and talents. They also represent a diverse population: racially; culturally; ethnically; religiously; economically; and come from a wide range of family situations. As a school, we teach tolerance and understanding through group projects and cooperative learning situations. In the Vocational Department, this translates into students working together in our training sites, as integral members of a team working toward a common goal.
Vocational services are available to all students, and each student in the Vocational Department has a program designed to meet his or her individual talents, interests, abilities, and needs. We encourage our students to try several different career sites during their vocational training. Most of what we teach and how we teach, crosses many curriculum areas, and integrates communication, social skills training and problem solving into all aspects of our programs. Because of the diverse population we serve, new vocational training opportunities continue to be developed to best suit the interests and needs of each student.
