Mark Feeney poses with the kitchen staff at Chapin Hill Nursing Home: (left to right) Edward Blake, Edwin Robles, Feeney and Garland Rose. LITTLE SILVER – Mark Feeney enjoys going to work every morning at the Chapin Hill Nursing Home in Red Bank where he assists with the daily activity announcements and transports patients from room to room. He especially enjoys talking to his buddies in the kitchen about baseball. Several are Yankee fans.
Mark is a special education student at Red Bank Regional High School (RBR) participating in a new jobsite program. He and five other students spend one and a half hours each morning working at an area business doing real jobs and learning real life skills.
The students are picked up each morning at their homes by the same school bus and then dropped off at one of three work sites, which, in addition to Chapin Hill Nursing Home, include the A&P supermarket and A.C. Moore in Shrewsbury.
The students will be rotated at each job site during the year to experience different jobs and working environments. Each pair of students is closely supervised on the job site by an RBR job coach. The bus then returns the students to RBR, where they attend class with their special education teachers Katherine MacIntyre and Amanda Dorvin.
The teachers, job coaches and supervisor meet often to evaluate the progress of this first-year program and make adjustments when needed.
“We have a wonderful special education program at RBR and for many years have given our students jobs around the school to try to build their work skills and self-confidence,” said Louise Fitzgerald, program supervisor.
“Now, this new program allows them the opportunity to try different work environments while being closely supervised by our job coach. We learn what they are capable of and they get a taste of what a real job is all about. They build their life skills in preparation for a successful transition from school to work.”
Frank Cancillieri, administrative assistant aide at Chapin Hill adds, “The program is going fantastic, the kids are great. They work hard and the residents love them.”
According to job coach Geri Korba, each day the nursing home personnel give the students real job responsibilities. They also learn about appropriate behavior and how to react in certain circumstances which is all a matter of learning and adjusting. At A. C. Moore, job coach Tracey Johnson supervises Jarod Williams and Marybeth Meehan in shelving T-shirts according to color and size. The students have mastered the routine. Across the street, job coach Marie Scarpone mentors Stephanie Newman and Aneesah Goodman at the A & P. The students restock the shelves and tidy up the café area. Scarpone also takes the opportunity to teach them about prices, sales and shopping. They learn how much an item is and what they can afford.
The program has already paid dividends in the increased maturity of the students.
According to her family members and teachers, Ashlynne, one of the students, was always extremely shy. Since she began working in the work-study program, they’ve noticed a transformation. She now walks with her head up and answers questions. According to the staff at the nursing home, she has absolutely blossomed.
The RBR staff is grateful to the community businesses that have embraced this program and assisted in mentoring the students.