– Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana hosted a graduation ceremony today for seven Project SEARCH interns.
This marks the third year the Navy has hosted this innovative program, which connects high school students with intellectual and developmental disabilities to internships and on-the-job training.
Project SEARCH is a collaborative effort between Virginia Beach City Public Schools, Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, Virginia Department of Education, Didlake, Inc., and Virginia Commonwealth University Rehabilitation Research and Training Center.
“Today is all about recognizing these seven interns’ hard work this year, their openness to learning new things, meeting new people, and truly becoming a part of our team here at NAS Oceana. It has been an absolute pleasure getting to know, and learning from these extraordinarily talented individuals,” said NAS Oceana Commanding Officer Capt. Steve Djunaedi. “We hope we’ve changed these interns’ lives as much as they’ve changed ours.”
Combining classroom instruction and hands-on training, Project SEARCH engaged its interns in a ten-month, holistic approach to starting a career. Since September, the military-connected interns worked side-by-side with employees at NAS Oceana’s Commissary, Navy Exchange, MWR, Public Works, and the Navy Gateway Inns & Suites.
“We have had all hands on deck throughout the whole planning process, which has made all the difference in the outcomes for our interns,” said Senior Chief Air Traffic Controller Amber Khoryati, NAS Oceana’s Project SEARCH business liaison. “The goal is to get interns moving toward competitive employment in their communities beyond high school.”
Since starting the program in Sept. 2021, Project SEARCH interns have completed 72 internships across 16 businesses at NAS Oceana, according to Jan Varney, Instructional Specialist for the Virginia Beach City Public Schools’ Office of Programs for Exceptional Children. Collectively, they worked over 15,620 hours, while gaining employability and independent living skills that they will use throughout their lifetimes.
“The partnership, support, and mentorship that the installation and its businesses have provided to the Project SEARCH program have made all the difference in the lives of these young adults,” said Varney. “These efforts will, in turn, benefit our community by increasing the pool of dependable, skilled workers ready to join the labor force.”
To date, 18 Project SEARCH graduates have found long term employment upon completion of the program at NAS Oceana.
| Date Taken: | 06.05.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 06.06.2024 10:40 |
| Story ID: | 473224 |
| Location: | VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 53 |
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