Upfront EDUCATION
School-to-work program marks second year by Chris Kenrick
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tudents with developmental disabilities described their hopes for the future in a graduation ceremony last week of Project SEARCH, a schoolto-work program serving young adults from Palo Alto and other nearby school districts. The students, aged 20 to 25, worked as interns in entry-level positions at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford, doing tasks that included filing, scanning, food services or stocking supply closets. Students can work in the gift shop, and one student even worked at making blood smears from patient blood draw, said Brian Cordero, a Palo Alto Unified School District teacher who manages the program. Students gain work experience from the year-long internship, and some ultimately have been hired as regular employees by the hospital. “Some of the students do perform to the level of other employees of the hospital and can show they’re able to do it,� Cordero said. “Others, maybe they’re starting at a different level, but the fact that
they’re going to keep improving and have the opportunity to improve in a structured, safe environment with supportive staff and job coaches benefits them in the future, whether or not they get a job in the hospital or somewhere else.� Twenty-two-year-old Alex Platt, a lifelong Palo Alto resident, said he “really enjoyed� his hospital internship working in data entry and highlighting parts of binders and folders and scanning them into the system. Platt said his next step is to meet with a job coach to “try to figure out what I want to do with my future.� Job coaches from San Josebased Hope Services work with students throughout the year to help them succeed in their internships and to find work after graduation. Four of the 10 graduates this year have jobs so far, and seven out of last year’s nine graduates are employed, Cordero said, compared to what he said typically is a 15 percent to 17 percent employment rate for people with disabilities. Several graduates have been
NOTICE OF A SPECIAL PUBLIC MEETING of the Palo Alto Planning & Transportation Commission Please be advised the Planning and Transportation Commission (P&TC) shall conduct a Special public meeting at 5:00 PM, Wednesday, July 9, 2014 in the Council Conference Room, Ground Floor, Civic Center, Palo Alto, California. Any interested persons may appear and be heard on these items. Staff reports for agendized items are available via the City’s main website at www.cityofpaloalto.org and also at the Planning Division Front Desk, 5th Floor, City Hall, after 2:00 PM on the Friday preceding the meeting date. Copies will be made available at the Development Center should City Hall be closed on the 9/80 Friday. Study Session 1. Planning &Transportation Commission Priorities Public Hearing 2. Comprehensive Plan Update: Discussion of Alternative Futures & Issues for Consideration in the Environmental Impact Report (EIR “Scopingâ€? Meeting). The City will prepare a programmatic environmental impact report (EIR) for the update of its Comprehensive Plan. Staff will summarize input received at recent public workshops and invite comments and suggestions from the public and the Commission regarding the alternatives and issues that should be included for analysis in the EIR. Questions. For any questions regarding the above items, please contact the Planning Department at (650) 329-2441. The ďŹ les relating to these items are available for inspection weekdays between the hours of 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. This public meeting is televised live on Government Access Channel 26. ADA. The City of Palo Alto does not discriminate against individuals with disabilities. To request an accommodation for this meeting or an alternative format for any related printed materials, please contact the City’s ADA Coordinator at 650.329.2550 (voice) or by e-mailing ada@ cityofpaloalto.org.
*** Hillary Gitelman, Director of Planning and Community Environment
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hired by a San Jose biotech company “for jobs that are repetitive in nature,� he said. “There’s always this hesitancy from individuals or companies, but it’s not their capacity to learn, it’s how they learn that’s a little different,� Cordero said. “They’re already self-motivated — they just need the opportunity and the chance to perform to show they are able to.� Packard is one of more than 200 venues for Project SEARCH across the United States, Canada, England, Scotland and Australia. The program originated in 1996 when Erin Riehle, a nursing director at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, wondered if she could address the high turnover in entry-level positions in her department by training people with developmental disabilities to fill the jobs. Cordero said the large number and diversity of entry-level positions in hospitals make them a good match for the program. Other Project SEARCH programs are running in several Bay Area hospitals, he said. Yari Oseguera, who works in Packard’s human resources department, said she has mentored Project SEARCH interns in jobs involving filing, labeling folders, working on spreadsheets and entering data. “It’s wonderful to be able to coach the individuals and they learn a lot from us,� Oseguera said. “It all depends on our workload but if our department needs some help we’d definitely have more (Project SEARCH interns) come through in the rotations.� The June 18 graduation cer-
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Hospital, school district partner to train students with disabilities for paying jobs
Students and staff members of Project SEARCH, a school-towork program for young adults with developmental disabilities, stand outside Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital after graduation ceremonies June 18. emony in the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Auditorium marked completion of the second year of the program in Palo Alto. School districts by law are responsible for educating students with developmental disabilities until age 22, Cordero said. NonPalo Alto students have come to
the program through inter-district transfers, in which the home district pays the Palo Alto school district, and other interns have been referred through Hope Services, he said. N Staff Writer Chris Kenrick can be emailed at ckenrick@ paweekly.com.
Online This Week
These and other news stories were posted on Palo Alto Online throughout the week. For longer versions, go to www.PaloAlto Online.com/news.
Charges filed against teen after string of attacks A Palo Alto teen who went on a naked rampage has been charged with felony assault, battery on a police officer, trespassing and being under the influence of a controlled substance, according to papers filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court on Monday. (Posted June 26, 9:41 a.m.)
Despite snag, Palo Alto OKs golf-course funds With little fanfare and much frustration, Palo Alto officials authorized this week spending more than $9 million on an ambitious overhaul of the city’s golf course, even as they acknowledged that work may not begin for some time because of a lingering permitting snag. (Posted June 26, 9:36 a.m.)
Police search for missing elderly man East Palo Alto police are looking for a 79-year-old man who has been missing since the morning of Tuesday, June 24. (Posted June 26, 9:04 a.m.)
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... busying themselves on their phones, where the light bulb went off for me,� Brown stated in an email. “Allowing phones in the room, even before class, was hurting my ability to create a friendly, sociable community.� Brown said forbidding cellphones in his classroom is increasingly difficult because other teachers don’t follow similar practices. As a result, students often meet his rules with surprise and indignation. “I am forced to confiscate many phones over the course of the semester,� Brown said. “I’ve found, however, that the extra effort is worth it. Students are making friends more frequently in my classes ... since I began enforcing the rule.� N Editorial Intern Benjamin Custer can be emailed at bcuster@paweekly.com.
Recent Gunn grad wins major biotech contest A recent Gunn High School graduate Tuesday was awarded first place in an international biotechnology contest for high school students. Judges of the “BioGENEius Challenge� cited Emily Wang for her research in developing fluorescent proteins. (Posted June 24, 3:59 p.m.)
American Express occupies Zibibbo space Three-year-old American Express Ventures is taking over the downtown space formerly occupied by longtime restaurant Zibibbo, a company spokeswoman has confirmed. (Posted June 23, 8:35 p.m.)
Memorial for couple killed by drunken driver These ceramic gardenias are a memorial to Balbir and Kamal Kaur Singh, who were killed Oct. 24, 2013, by a drunken driver while walking their dog along Chilco Street in Menlo Park. (Posted June 23, 8:28 a.m.)
Smoldering railroad tie stops trains A smoking railroad tie on the Caltrain tracks in Palo Alto shut down train service on Friday afternoon, Caltrain spokeswoman Christine Dunn said. (Posted June 20, 4:19 p.m.) Want to get news briefs emailed to you every weekday? Sign up for Express, our daily e-edition. Go to www.PaloAltoOnline.com to sign up.