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Volume 5, Number 21, Thursday, May 26, 2022
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Assisted Work Program at Windham Public Schools helps students enter workforce MICHELLE WARREN CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER
WILLIMANTIC — At a time when it can be challenging to find employees or volunteers, local businesses and nonprofits are looking for all the help they can get. Non-profit agencies like Windham Area Interfaith Ministry (WAIM), for example, rely heavily on volunteers. Programs like the Assisted Work Program at Windham Public Schools help fill the gaps. The program places adult students at WAIM and other sites in the community while teaching them about job skills and independent living. “It’s a huge, huge help,” WAIM Volunteer/ Administrative Coordinator Kristin Fortier said. Windham Public Schools Pupil Services Director Suzanne Krach said students can start participating in AWP after graduating high school. “Some of them are actually able to be competitively employed,” she said. Windham Public Schools
Willimantic resident Sharod Washington, right, helps Windham Area Interfaith Ministry Dock Manager Alex Chiu carry a shelf outside the WAIM loading dock on Thursday afternoon. Michelle Warren | Staff
Vocational Coordinator Mark Schultz said while the AWP students are paid through the school district for their work at the community sites, it is free labor for the employers. Students in the program are paid minimum wage by the school district, which is currently $13 per hour in Connecticut. Starting July 1, minimum wage will be $14 per hour in the state. Krach said the majority of the students in the program have intellectual impairments.
“It’s a program for students who require additional supports to be living independently and/or need help with job placement,” she said. The number of students in the Assisted Work Program fluctuates because students are accepted up until their 22nd birthday. Many of the AWP students work at more than one site. AWP students are currently placed at five sites. In addition to WAIM, students are also working at
Frog Bridge Gymnastics in Willimantic, the Windham Center Fire Department station, Windham High School and Windham Middle School. Job placements are driven largely by what students are interested in. For example, Krach said one student was interested in construction so they opened up a job site at Home Depot. Students are not forced to return to a job site if they don’t like it but, instead, they will be placed somewhere else.
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