EDISON — The township has a few fresh faces working in its Recreation Department, thanks to a new partnership with township public schools to provide on-the-job work experience to students with special needs.
As of September, three high school seniors began handling a variety of clerical jobs in the Recreation Department at Town Hall as part of Edison’s new partnership with the school district’s Work-Based Learning program.
This is
“ a win-win opportunity for these students and for Edison,” Mayor Thomas Lankey said. “These high school students are getting hands-on workplace experience. In return, Edison gets several enthusiastic, conscientious young people to assist our hard-working employees at no cost to our taxpayers.”
The district’s Work-Based Learning program customarily places eligible students with developmental or intellectual disabilities in local businesses including Barnes and Noble, Staples, Marshalls, ShopRite and the regional YMCA’s Edison branch.
This is the first time students with special needs are being placed in municipal offices, according to Marissa Freeman, the school district’s structured learning experience (SLE) coordinator.
According to Freeman, the Town Hall jobs provide supervised, unpaid, on-site structured learning experiences. Students receive school credit for their participation and are accompanied at work by job coaches provided by the school district.
“Workplace opportunities help young people with disabilities to hone their job skills and social skills, making them more productive in the workforce and enabling them to achieve greater personal independence,” Lankey said.
In October 2014, Edison teamed up with the N.J. Institute for Disabilities to open the “
Snack Shack” in the Municipal Complex lobby. It is staffed by three people with intellectual disabilities who work alongside job coaches and serve breakfasts, lunches and snacks four days each week.