Career Exploration Program Exposes Kids With Learning Impairments To Work Sites

School-to-work is a hot term these days.

It includes everything from Take your Daughter to Work Day to job shadows for promising high school students.

East Valley School District has developed a school-to-work program that targets special education students with mild learning impairments.

“These are the kids who really need to be thinking about school and career - and hopefully not dropping out,” said Nancy McKay, education specialist for the school district.

In Career Exploration, students go individually or in small groups - typically no more than three - to visit a workplace for a tour and talk about job possibilities.

“If you take 25 kids on a tour, and these kids are kind of disinterested in school anyway, they kind of get lost in the crowd. But if it’s only them, there’s no way they can’t pay attention.”

Eighth-grader Skye Baker agrees and adds that, with so few students, “You get a chance to ask more questions.”

Baker, who attends East Valley Middle School, will visit Spokane International Airport next week.

He’s interested in the luggage carousels and the planes, he said.

Baker toured Wendell Ford earlier this year and found the mechanics’ work interesting.

“I think that (job) would be fun.”

Before this, Baker said he never thought about eventually getting a job. The program has helped him realize there’s good reason to stay in school and work at his classes, he said.

The program aims to send students to businesses between four and six times during middle school years.

The goal isn’t to jumpstart big career decisions, but to expose students to work sites and a work ethic. Participants write about their experiences and send a thank-you note to the employee who led their tour.

“The first time they think about it a little. Then the next time, they think about it more, and the next time…” McKay said.

As the program completes its first full year, it remains quite flexible. One girl who only wanted to decorate cakes spent a couple of hours in the bakery department at the Liberty Lake Albertson’s.

Other students have visited the Spokane Arena, a couple of construction companies, a post office, the culinary arts program at the Community Colleges of Spokane and the Skills Center.

At Outlaw Decoys, a Valley company, graphic designer Pete Lucero said he liked the fact that students could see widely varying jobs from his design work, to the shipping department. While the shipping jobs may seem mundane, those workers have responsibilities, too, he told the students.

“People at the other end have invested their hard-earned money in our product and they deserve to have it packaged right and shipped on time,” Lucero said.

He’ll happily do more tours for students, he said.

“Everyone here has families. The company is very family oriented.”

“What’s been so wonderful,” said McKay, “is that nobody thought it wasn’t worthwhile, even when they realized we would only bring one to three children. And that really is a nice buy-in from the community.”