When Charles Haas began the post-secondary education program for Carroll County Public Schools at Carroll Community College, he was a little nervous.
The Keymar resident said being at the college was much different from the structured environment offered at Winters Mill High School. The new campus was much larger, making it more difficult to navigate, which took some adjustment.
After three years, Haas has made a lot of progress, said his teacher Tara Strovel, a special educator with the Seamless Transition at Carroll Community (ST@CC) program, one of three post-secondary programs CCPS offers to students with special needs after high school.
Haas is one of 13 students who completed the CCPS post-secondary certificate program this year. Students were honored at a ceremony Friday at the community college.
"It is very heartwarming to see — he's definitely grown up a lot. I've seen him grow into an adult," Strovel said. "He used to need a lot of reassurance, but now he can navigate things himself."
The program focuses on academic and social skills instruction; career employment; resource planning; self advocacy; and office administration training, and began in the 2012-2013 school year.
Haas, 21, began the post-secondary program in the 2012-2013 academic year as a student in the Transition Connections Program at Carroll Springs School, designed for students with a moderate level of independence, but last year began the ST@CC program, which is designed for students with a higher level of independence.
As a high school student, he was involved in the U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, the Best Buddies Club and became an Eagle Scout by creating a memorial garden at Keymar Evangelical Wesleyan Church, Strovel said.
The goal of the program is to help students transition into being independent, working adults, Strovel said. The vocational program is taught to students by educators from the CCPS system. Students work in different jobs on the college campus from the bookstore, to the cafe, to administrative offices, where they learn a variety of skills, Strovel said.
Once they complete the post-secondary program, many students will transition to adult agencies such as The Arc Carroll County, Target Community and Educational Services, Goodwill or CHANGE, Inc., Strovel said.
Students in the program take a social skills class where they learn appropriate behaviors while at work, at the doctor's office and in other real-life scenarios, where they do a lot of role playing to understand how behaviors affect people in different situations, Strovel said.
Haas has a job at a Weis Markets store in Westminster, which he got through the program last December.
Haas "did the work experience here, he got a little more work experience under his belt and he's gone on several job interviews," Strovel said. "As soon as he started working at Weis, his confidence really grew."
Strovel said many students begin working with a job coach, but Haas outgrew the need for one and is able to work, for the most part, independently now.
Although he will miss his teachers and friends at school, Haas said he is looking forward to working more hours this summer in parcel pickup at Weis, a job he says he really enjoys.
"Everybody is nice — they help me when I need help," Haas said. "I think it's getting easier — my position is."
Jacy Haas said she is proud of the progress her son has made in the program.
"We are so thrilled to see him not just graduating, but already working," she said. "Weis already said they are increasing his hours. ... He's come such a long way."
The ST@CC program is young and some aspects could be improved, Jacy Haas said, but "with the people they have in place, it's only going to get better — we need something like this."
"Now we just need more employers to open their eyes and give some of these kids a [work] opportunity," she said.
Haas is among four students who received certificates of completion from the ST@CC program. The others are: Junior Aljuna, Bradley Ayers and JC Wroten, according to Strovel.
Students completing the Transition Connections Program are: Hannah Ball, Nathan Carteaux, Cesar Clemente-Fuentes, RaymondDavis, Andrew Mitter andMatthew Mossor.
Students finishing the Vocational Opportunities for Independent Change and Empowerment program are: Christopher Fatz, Erin Seaborg and Samantha Verderaime.
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