Vocational

P721K offers a variety of work-based learning opportunities for all our students. Currently, we offer in-house food services, print shop, bake shop, culinary, corner store, gardening, and clerical opportunities. Within these programs, students have the capacity to develop and improve multiple work skills from varying degree of exposure and actual practice. Whether a student is pursuing post-secondary employment or adult services, P721K’s work-based programs foster their overall independence in specific skills. Students learn to improve their ability to follow directions, improve problem solving skills, and work on their communication skills.

The work- based programs at P721K are often paired with stipend programs such as TOP and SYEP (Summer Youth Employment Program) to allow students to fully participate in a real work experience including receiving a paycheck. The capstone to the P721K work-based learning programs is our Project SEARCH program. Project SEARCH is a true employment training program that allows the students to receive intense work training. In partnership with ACCES-VR, OPWDD (Office for People with Developmental Disabilities), AHRC, a host work-study program site in the community, and P721K, students are provided with intense vocational training and work readiness preparation with the goal of post-secondary employment.

This school year, we expanded our work-based opportunities due to the restrictions of the pandemic – COVID. Our classroom teachers hosted various pop-up shops providing students the opportunity to make candles, jewelry, customized masks, up-cycled vases, and a host of other creative projects. Students then led pop-up shops monthly to sell the items they created. The skills embedded in creating, marketing, and selling their products were endless and have been proven to further prepare our students for independence.