Monster Jam fanatic and Washington High School student Collin Moss always has been interested in trucks. Because of a neuroradiological condition called cerebellar atrophy, his mom, Julie Moss, said traditional school has only so many opportunities for him.
But in his first semester in the Four Rivers Career Center’s new Horizons Academy program, Moss, a junior, is connecting his passions with job skills, learning how to use an airgun to paint a flame on a vehicle fender.
“He had to sand it first, then they put the stencil on and then he got to use the air sprayer as the guy taught him, you know, how to go slow and go back over it,” Julie Moss said. The program offers students “a lot of neat stuff to include them in — but also get them ready for jobs.”
The academy is a collaboration between the Washington School District, its Four Rivers Career Center, the Empac Group, a non-profit dedicated to providing employment opportunities for adults with disabilities, and community businesses coming together to provide vocational education to students with disabilities.
After one semester the response has been so positive that discussions are underway to double the size of the program.
“Every single day there is no waking Collin up,” Julie Moss said of her son. “He is up and ready to go to school. I think the program really helps. He loves going there. I think because it gives (the students) a purpose.”
Collin Moss is one of eight Washington High School students in the program. They attend the Four Rivers Career Center for half of every school day, learning skills they can use after high school from instructor Stacey Siefken and Empac Program Manager Taylor Schaefer.
A $20,000 grant from Howmet Aerospace provided seed money to fund a classroom and supplies.
Empac CEO Tim Poepsel said the foundation for Horizons Academy program started to be built last year after he showed Empac’s facility to Andy Robinson, director of Four Rivers Career Center, and other school employees. The first meeting turned into several and the program grew from there.
Robinson said his team has long wanted to launch a program at Four Rivers for students with different abilities but until recently it didn’t have the funding.
Robinson said learning core skills, like math, reading and writing, in a practical application is Four Rivers’ foundation. The Horizons program, he said, is not an extension of services, but a continuation to a group of students that previously weren’t served.
Horizons students learn workplace readiness through demonstration, group work and working alongside other students in the auto tech, collision repair or nursing classes, Siefken said. Filling out job applications, interviewing, wearing a uniform and lunchtime etiquette are all included in the curriculum.
Students also work jobs around Four Rivers Career Center like sorting hardware, stacking lumber and cleaning, Siefken said. The interaction with peers and other instructors at Four Rivers gives students the opportunity to test their skills as they’re learning them.
Wendy Turnbough, director of special services at the Washington School District, said all students learn differently, with some learning information more efficiently in a practical setting rather than in a classroom.
She said the Horizons program presents an option for students that haven’t been as successful in a classroom to learn in a new way.
Horizons isn’t limited to on-campus work. About once a week Siefken said she, Schaefer and the students will visit a local business to learn about and work different jobs, which helps students feel more comfortable in a workplace and network with employers.
Siefken said she and her students have stocked shelves at the Save A Lot in St. Clair, learned about jobs at the Four Rivers Family YMCA, and washed dishes, portioned food and prepared dressings at The Creek Grill & Sports Bar in Washington.
The Washington School District has partnered with the Empac Group in the past, including with the Mercy Pathway to Employment program, which gave WHS seniors the opportunity to intern at Mercy Hospital alongside a job coach from Empac.
Both programs also benefit Poepsel and Empac because of the networking opportunities it has with the students. He said there is a service gap after students with disabilities graduate from high school and when they are connected with Empac. With Horizons, students and families are already aware of the opportunities at Empac.
“I think what (the school district) did was they took that idea, some of the skills that we have, some of the placement opportunities, and said, ‘All right, how can we help our guys a little bit earlier so they can start working their way toward community employment, or teaching them the soft skills to be able to function in a workplace?’ ” Poepsel said.
While the program is still new, administrators said they are already planning expansion. Turnbough, WSD’s special services director, said plans call for doubling the number of students to 16 and including other area school districts in the program.
Washington’s Julie Straatmann “could not be more pleased” with the job skills her daughter, Maggie, has learned so far at Horizons Academy.
“I think all of us parents have the same goal for our children in their education — to equip our children with tools to become as independent as possible, and develop their skills as far as they can be developed, ” she told the school board when it approved the program in June.
“When they are not given that opportunity to explore a variety of options, they may not find that path,” Straatman said. “(The) Horizons Academy program will give the special education children that opportunity.”
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