By Eileen Oldfield Staff Writer
The school week for the five Hillsborough High School students in the Special Education Department’s Community Work Program encompasses a different type of classroom, as the class puts them in any of 18 different township workplaces.
The Community Work Program acts like an internship for the special needs students, who receive school credit for working around town rather than being paid by the businesses. The program was started five years ago to help students develop workplace skills.
”There was just a real need for that population of students to transition out into the work force,” Mary Dubberly, the special education teacher who took over running the program three years ago. “Each day, the students have to go to job sites, meet with their employers, and get specific tasks.”
The number of students in the work program varies yearly, with students being selected for the program during freshman year. After completing work-readiness classes during their freshman, sophomore and junior years, the students enter the 15-credit Community Work Program.
With jobs that range from stock room organization at Home Goods or the Hillsborough Food Bank, to working in district schools’ offices, to reading to students at Four Seasons Preschool, the students work at a new job site every weekday.
The year-long class puts the students in the workplace for approximately 45 minutes each day, with the Board of Education providing bus transportation to and from the sites.
”I’ve had nothing but a great, great, great time with the kids,” Mary Horowitz, of Four Seasons Preschool, said. “They learn to work with children. They’re given an assignment and they need to complete it before the next school day.”
At each site, the students receive a list of tasks to complete, and are coupled with a job coach to supervise or assist the students when needed.
”Hillsborough’s very receptive, and the businesses are very accommodating,” Ms. Dubberly said. “It’s a huge task in so many ways because learning the directions is difficult for some students.”
Participating businesses and organizations include Home Goods, Angelo’s Pizzeria, Four Seasons Preschool, McDonald’s, the Hillsborough Food Bank, St. Joseph’s parish, Lowe’s, Pathmark, Long Elegant Legs, Shredding Services, Century 21, and ShopRite.
The students also work in various school offices, including Hillsborough Elementary School, Auten Road Intermediate School, Hillsborough Middle School, and Hillsborough High School.
”A lot of it is things you and I might take for granted,” Ms. Dubberly added. “For some of them, it’s self-confidence, thinking they can’t do a job they can do.”
Ms. Dubberly said she asks businesses to participate in the program each year, and explains the tasks that students would need to complete during a typical workday.
Though several businesses have been with the program since it started, Ms. Dubberly continues looking for more businesses to participate. Interested businesses can e-mail Ms. Dubberly at [email protected].
