Building a new program in a school district is an exciting adventure – if you have a supportive team. Beth Spaulding is a teacher of Special Education and Work-Based Learning at Oneonta Middle and High Schools. Listen, as she describes her shared process to create a work-based learning program for a small city school district in upstate New York. And when it comes to selecting and engaging community partners, it’s really about developing opportunities for students to learn deeply about future careers.

When developing a work-based learning program, having community collaborators is essential. Many of these agency partners offer free programming that schools can quickly tap into, saving a great deal of time and money. Gretchen Lernihan is a School Counselor with the High School for Service and Learning in Brooklyn. Gretchen kept her eyes open, followed a lead, worked with her administration and opened new doors for her students.

Sue Jones is a Special Educator and Work-Based Learning Coordinator for the Broome-Tioga BOCES. With funding from the New York State Education Department, she is leading an effort to develop community-based work experiences for school districts in her region. She is building her work-based learning program one business at a time.

There's more to a job than completing tasks. Consider the interactions you have, the way you dress and how you manage to get to work on time. Cheryl Gitlitz is the district-wide Transition Coordinator for Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District on Long Island. Her team of passionate, professionals provide a highly customized educational experience in close partnership with their students and families. You will hear about Bellmore-Merrick's community-based life skills program which works hand-in-hand with their work-based learning and job placement programs.

Carmel High School in the Hudson River Valley invites business representatives to meet with students through a unique getting-to-know-you process. Christine Chambers Szafranski, the Director of Pupil Services for Carmel Central School District calls this the reverse job fair. Another way for students to learn about the world of work is to manage their own business – a school-based enterprise.

When students share their goals and ideas about their futures within their educational planning meetings, courses and services for students become more individualized, varied and meaningful. Student-centered vocational goals can lead to higher-interest work-based learning experiences. These individualized work-based learning experiences result in a more career-focused path to paid employment. Through school-agency partnerships, options for on-the-job support or job coaching further expand opportunities for employment, reaching more and more students.

Kim Arruda oversees a transition program at Hawthorne Country Day School, in Hawthorne, NY. This is a comprehensive program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Students are learning about the world of work in their school and in the community. These high-quality learning experiences are carefully recorded to inform each student’s planning process, and to provide evidence for overall program improvement.

Denise Poland is an education director for D'Avolio Culinary Institute in Buffalo, New York. Even though this is an adult education program, they work closely with high schools to advance the culinary arts for graduating students with disabilities. As you will hear, work-based learning, coupled with individualized planning, is at the center of their recruitment and educational strategies.