Project SEARCH graduates six

EASLEY — Prisma Health and School District of Pickens County celebrated its fifth year of the student-initiative Project SEARCH, graduating six students from the program at Prisma Health Baptist Easley.

The students graduating in the class of 2021 include: Skylor Carterr, Grant Chapman, Chris Chastain, Arial Pace, Keli Grace Powell and Dakota Rigdon.

According to officials, the School District of Pickens County, Prisma Health Baptist Easley Hospital, Pickens County Board of Disabilities and Special Needs and SC Vocational Rehabilitation have collaborated since 2016 to bring Project SEARCH to young adults with special needs. Project SEARCH is a business-led school-to-work transition model with demonstrated success in developing internships for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are in their last year of high school, they said.

Interns completed a total of three 11-week internship rotations in a variety of departments throughout the hospital. Placement options included positions in Environmental Services, Food and Nutrition Services, Supply and Distribution and a physician’s practice. Students engaged in an inclusive work environment and learned department specific skills from their teams. They were included in department trainings, meetings, and celebrations to experience every aspect of being an employee, they said.

Each intern also planned and executed multiple personal Employment Planning Meetings throughout the year to guide their support team in decisions related to their future job interests.

“As one of South Carolina’s largest employers, Prisma Health Baptist Easley believes in the power of collaboration for career training,” said Todd Walker, chief executive officer of Prisma Health Baptist Easley Hospital. “From the beginning, this partnership has been about helping students find a path to successful employment. We are proud to say we’ve been able to continue this effort even during a pandemic. Prisma Health has been able to add some of the students to our team but more importantly, they finish the program confident and ready to work. This is another way we have been able to give back to our community.”

Since 2016, 32 interns have completed the program. The program at Baptist Easley has an 85 percent job placement rate with a 77 percent retention rate from all job placements.

“We are grateful for the real-world opportunities this partnership with Baptist Easley provides for our students,” said Danny Merck, School District of Pickens County superintendent. “SDPC appreciates the many employees at Baptist Easley who work with our students each day to provide work-based learning.”

Pickens School District serves nearly 2,200 students with disabilities annually, providing a variety of programs for students in grades 3K-12.

School officials said the Project SEARCH initiative is just one of the programs the district has implemented to ensure special needs students and families have access to services.