“Our students at the high school follow a typical high school schedule, they participate in courses with their peers, we have students who are House leaders in the House system from our program," she said, adding those experiences have translated into the community.”
“I think our students are valuable members of the community and they’re ready to join the workforce. I think those pushes for inclusion in schools have led to inclusion in communities.”
The Hamilton High School Transition program is for seniors and beyond. Students can defer receiving their diploma up until their 22nd birthday. They spend part of their day learning independent life skills and the other part of their day on the job. There are several job sites that participate, and students rotate sites. Students also have an opportunity to intern at a local business.
Businesses that partner with Hamilton’s Transition Program include Shooters Grill and Bar, the Fitton Center for Creative and Performing Arts, Hamilton Classroom Teachers Association office, Cincinnati-based Brewhaus Dog Bones, Ace Hardware in Oxford and Hamilton, Best Western in Oxford, and J.C. Penny and Chili’s at Bridgewater Falls.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Fitton Center Executive Director Ian MacKenzie-Thurley said this program was a perfect fit for the organization’s lunchtime speaker series, Celebrating Self. He called it a “perfect partnership” for the schools and the Fitton Center.
“We were approached by the opportunity, and we thought long and hard about the right way and the best way we could partner together,” he said, referring to the challenge that most Fitton Center events are in the evening. “It has been a real joy to work with the Transition team, and that is the staff, the students and the administration for several years now.”
By having Transition students engage directly with the patrons, from welcoming them to the facility to assisting them to their seats to serving beverages, “this has been a really great asset, especially for some of our older patrons.”
Across the board, our patrons have been so welcoming and encouraging of the students," MacKenzie-Thurley said. “It’s been a really beautiful thing to see.”
Plogman would like to involve more business partnerships. This school year, Plogman has 12 students in the Transition Program, which that number ebbs and flows in any given year. Students get into the Transition program in a few ways, including a work study program in their sophomore and junior years.
As the program grows, she’d like to see their business partnerships grow in order to provide more opportunities for the district’s students with disabilities. Business owners and leaders can email Plogman at mplogman@hcsdoh.com.
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