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Human service: Shea seniors assist the disabled |
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Saturday, 13 March 2010 |
By JON BAKER
PAWTUCKET --- As far as Jeremy Soe is concerned, he took his first real step into the medical field at mid-afternoon Thursday.
That's when the Shea High senior – along with seven classmates – received a certificate for completing a course entitled “Pathways to Employment in Human Services,” conducted by the Arc of Blackstone Valley.
“I want someday to be a physician's assistant, and it's because I want to help the sick,” Soe stated after the informal “graduation” ceremony. “I want to take care of people who need it, treat them, give them the proper medications. It's been my goal since I was seven years old to be in the medical profession, and now I'm well on my way.
“I'm really interested in it, because my own physician influenced me,” he continued. “He used to say, 'Jeremy, go into medicine. It's a great field.' My parents said the same thing. You know, I feel really good about this. I graduated with a lot of my friends, and I learned a bunch of fascinating things about those with disabilities.”
That's just what Barbara Lindsay, Arc of Blackstone Valley's Director of “Pathways to Employment in Human Services,” wanted to hear.
“This was a 10-week course where students gained classroom instruction and hands-on experience learning about people with disabilities,” Lindsay stated after the event, which culminated in all sipping on coffee or lemonade and some eating pieces of a huge, white-frosted cake with “Congratulations!” written in light-blue lettering.
Others gleaning certificates included Stephanie Ariza, Evelyn Hernandez, Verkeh Kerkula, Janice Miranda, Daniela Moreno, Naelie Richemond and Ramata Sidibe, all Raider seniors.
“I went to Shea every Tuesday between 1:30-3:30 p.m. (dating back to Dec. 15), and explained several topics, such as exactly what a developmental disability is; a history of services for people with disabilities; what rights those people have; the definitions of abuse, mistreatment and neglect; how to encourage healthy lifestyles,” she noted.
“They all learned CPR (cardio pulmonary resuscitation), how to deal with someone with a disability going through a crisis, physical and occupational therapy and learned about usage of equipment, like wheelchairs, lift systems and adaptive feeding equipment.
“We also met here on Thursdays from 2-4 (p.m.), that's when they did the practical side,” she added. “The first week, we did sensitivity training. We had the kids sit in a wheelchair to see how those who use them feel. To others, we gave sunglasses to simulate visual impairment. Half the class pretended to have a disability of some kind, the other half were the aides. We even took them to group homes and into apartments, where they questioned folks with disabilities about their lives, what they do for fun or hobbies, what they enjoy doing. The entire focus was on what those person can do, not what they can't do.
“I can readily say they definitely enjoyed the hands-on training more than the classroom stuff. They experienced it just as if they were in a professional would.”
The training is a two-year program fully-funded through a $310,000 federal grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration's Workforce Investment Act. Each training session provides up to 60 hours of classroom and hands-on experience in working with those who have intellectual and developmental disabilities.
In this particular 10-week session, the first of its kind for students, the Arc worked in conjunction with the Pawtucket School District and NetWorkRI. Students in the program were high school seniors who had expressed an interest in pursuing a career in the medical field, and the training provided the opportunity to explore medical careers in the human services category.
“Our initial plan was to do six sessions, but we'll probably do more,” Lindsay indicated. “We've already started our third session, as there's great interest in it. In fact, I'm getting several calls a week for adult sessions. Human services is a career field, where there are opportunities for growth. That's something many people never consider.”
On Dec. 4, 13 adults graduated from the initial session with “Pathways to Employment” certificates, and seven already have found jobs in the field, she said. The Arc hired five into full- or part-time positions in its human services department itself.
This one for students was a “first” for Lindsay, though she's planning another for high school seniors come September.
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Shea High's relationship with this program began last summer, while School-Based Coordinator Rochelle Lee and business teacher Sue Cipriano worked together on a curriculum for a new course called “Career Applications.
“It's for students who had ideas as to what fields they may want to pursue down the road,” Cipriano offered. “We knew we were going to include internships – you could also call it something like an independent study – but we didn't know in what field.
“What impresses me most is these kids are from all over the world,” including Colombia, West Africa and Haiti, she continued. “They wanted to gain information on this, so we supplied it through Barbara and the Arc. What they did thrills me, because they took initiative. On Thursdays, they had to take the city bus to get here (the Arc, located at 500 Prospect St.), and one day, they missed the bus so actually walked here.”
Stated Lee: “When I got a call from Barbara, I went to Sue and told her about the Arc program, which included training for those who wanted to work in human services. We found each other, and the rest is history.”
Naelie Richemond claimed she signed up for the Cipriano-taught “Career Applications” class because she wants to be a counseling psychologist someday in her native Haiti.
“I'm a teen-ager, and I know teens need to talk with professionals about tough things they're going through,” she said. “I think I can help. I'm sensitive, and I've always wanted to do that … I learned so many things in this program that I didn't know before.
“The disabled and able-bodied people have so much in common. I talked to a woman named Julia, and I was amazed, because she said she was married, lived with her husband, liked to go shopping and to the movies. I was like, 'Wow! Those are the same things I like, or want to do, too.' I was impressed by that. I learned things I didn't think I would until college. This program will make things easier for me in college because I have a head start.”
Stated Moreno: “I got so much out of the Pathways to Employment program, I don't know where to start. I used to think those people were so different because they were disabled. This training has changed my mind.
“At some point, I want to be an OB/GYN; I want to deliver babies,” she added. “It's the most beautiful thing you can see or do – bring another life into the world. You know, I'm from Colombia, and the natives treat ladies like flowers because they're so beautiful and delicate. When I went to the Daggett Farm Greenhouse and worked with the disabled, I knew that saying was right. I saw them as beautiful and delicate, just like flowers.”
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Last Updated ( Monday, 22 March 2010 )
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