Viera High School START Conference to Feature Health First Career Opportunities Leading to Independent Life

Keynote Speaker is Jason Kostrzewa

For students with diagnosed disabilities, this internship program is a proving ground. More than 1 in 3 graduates get hired by Health First – but more get jobs elsewhere in the community.

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA — The START Conference at Viera High School invites students with exceptional needs to find out how programs like Health First’s Project SEARCH help plan for life after high school on February 1, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. 

Project SEARCH is a vocational training program that matches Brevard Public School seniors (or recent grads) with IEPs (individualized educational plans) to jobs at Holmes Regional or Cape Canaveral Hospital.

Each class experiences a rotation of three to four roles selected to match skills and interests to jobs. They also get job coaches who shepherd them through, not just to completion but full employment – at Health First, a restaurant, store, or elsewhere in the area.

Visit the Health First table and discover how Project SEARCH supports students in building the foundation for a successful career.

Hear from Keynote Speaker Jason Kostrzewa, a current Project SEARCH intern at Cape Canaveral Hospital, as he shares his story about self-advocacy and the skills he’s gained through the program.

Register for free for the START Conference HERE. For more information about the START Conference, contact Terry Matson at 321-633-1000 ext. 11549 or email matson.terry@brevardschools.org.

‘Ready to Work’

The aim of Project SEARCH is gainful employment that leads to independence in life.

“It’s so interesting seeing the growth,” says Terry Matson, a Resource Teacher for Transition Services with Brevard Public Schools.

“It’s almost like, until they’re given this experience, you can’t see their full potential. In school, it’s all academics and curriculum – for many of them, that’s their weakest area. But given the opportunity like they are receiving here, they will rise to the occasion.”

The school system makes other Career Technical Education opportunities available to its students, including those with diagnosed disabilities. But Matson says the goal then is exposure – “employment is not the outcome there.”

“For some businesses, as soon as you say we want to bring in … students with disabilities, as soon as you say ‘disabilities,’ a picture of what that is appears,” Matson says.

“These Project SEARCH students are walking out with their ID badges, their scrubs on –.”

“They’re integrated,” says Tara Shea, one of the job coaches.

“I was so ready to work,” says Antwan Dobbs, a graduate of Palm Bay High School and Project SEARCH who now is a housekeeper at Holmes Regional – one who nurse managers on several floors know by name.

“The people love me here, and I love what I do. I like to clean – Project SEARCH got me this job.”

A Track Record of Success

“How many take the bus to get here?” Matson asks the class.

Victoria explains that, while her mom drops her off at work, she takes three different buses to get home – “three-and-a-half hours, and a nine-minute walk.”

“I’ve only tried riding the bus once, and I wasn’t very successful,” Matson says.

Project SEARCH may be a valuable internship to the students, but to demonstrate value long-term, each class must be reliable and capable – and a credit to the one that follows.

To apply or for more information about Project SEARCH, visit HF.org/ProjectSEARCH.

Similar Stories