Nine graduate from RCC’s Project SEARCH
Thomas Alleman, Bendrick Chavis, Jontia Henegan, Matthew Hursey, Amber Locklear, Alaysha Odom, Kayley Oxendine, Blake Phillips, and Taje Stephen all became part of the Project SEARCH Class of 2024 last Friday at Robeson Community College, receiving a standing ovation from those attending the ceremony.
“I felt like a mother,” said Roberta Sinclair, the instructor and job coach for Project SEARCH. “It was a very proud moment to watch them graduate… I was with them from September to May and it is very humbling to know that I played a small part in their success.”
The nine students walked down the red carpet placed in the Truist Center of the Workforce Development Center and received a certificate of completion, graduating from the highly acclaimed program.
Project SEARCH is a grant program at RCC, offered in partnership with NC Vocational Rehabilitation Services and UNC Southeastern to serve individuals who may have intellectual or physical disabilities and need help with work and educational services. It helps students gain the necessary work skills needed to secure employment.
“In the first part of the program, students spend three weeks at RCC in a classroom setting, allowing me to do assessments,” Sinclair said. “I get to see how the students work by themselves, how they work in pairs, and how they work in groups… this helps me to understand them better and know where they move on to next.”
The next phase, Sinclair explains is an internship at UNC Health Southeastern. Students complete three internships, working from 8:15 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
“I escorted each one to their workstation, then we all would take thirty-minute lunch,” Sinclair said. “Then from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. we went to our classroom here at Southeastern and learned soft skills like problem-solving, how to budget money, things that would help make them successful.”
Being able to work with this population of students has brought great joy to Sinclair.
“I always wanted to help people… with this program, you have to talk and listen to their heart,” Sinclair said. “There is no greater reward than getting to watch these individuals grow…The outcome of this has been greater than anything you could imagine; the outcome is so rewarding to be able to give another individual hope.”
Sinclair had one student who did not want to be in the program at first but said her mother made her come.
“She questioned everything I did,” Sinclair said. “But on the last day, she came up to me and said, ‘I don’t want to leave you, I needed you for a long time, why did it take me so long to find you.”
And it’s moments like that which show Sinclair that it is all worth it.
“It’s a humbling experience,” Sinclair says. “I’ve watched students who were shy and withdrawn, come out of their shells and become engaging.”
“One of the Vice Presidents noticed one student and how she was interacting with visitors coming to the hospital, he saw how much she had grown,” Sinclair said. “This program helps give the students confidence and an increase in self-esteem.”
Of the nine graduates, three have found jobs or have employment pending, awaiting a start date.
“I have one student who keeps calling me, asking, have you found anything for me yet, I really want to work,” Sinclair said. “And in the beginning, she was not interested in that at all.”
Several awards were presented to the graduates during the ceremony:
Most determined – Thomas Alleman
The Hard Worker Award – Bendrick Chavis
The Customer Service Award – Jontia Henegan
Most Likely to Succeed – Matthew Hursey
Above and Beyond – Amber Locklear
Most Improved – Alaysha Odom
Teacher Assistant – Kayley Oxendine
Perfect Attendance – Blake Phillips
Silent Soldier – Taje Stephen
The invocation was provided by Crystal Tyson the CEO of Acceleration Educational Services, the agency contracted by Vocational Rehabilitation to provide job coaching and career development services to the students.
Dr. Patrick Ebri of UNC Health Southeastern provided a special presentation to the graduates, Judge Melissa Lennon gave the charge to students through her commencement address, and the Director of Career and College Readiness at Robeson Community College, James Mitchell, served as Master of Ceremony.
“It is a great honor to work with Project SEARCH and these great individuals,” stated Mitchell. “These students come to RCC in search of a better life and opportunities, they seek to stretch their abilities, to overcome barriers, and to gain knowledge and skills to obtain employment so they too can become product citizens of our society.”
About Project SEARCH
Project SEARCH was developed at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, a research environment that fosters visionary thinking and innovation. It began in 1996 when Erin Riehle was the director of theCincinnati Children’s Emergency Department. The hospital served individuals with disabilities and thought the hospital should commit to hiring people within this group. She sought to discover ways to train those with developmental disabilities to fill high-turnover, entry-level positions in her department that involved complex and systematic tasks such as stocking supply cabinets. Erin presented her ideas to Susie Rutkowski, then special education director at Great Oaks Career Campuses. It was at that time that Erin and Susie formed a partnership and launched Project SEARCH. The organization has now grown to an expanding international network of sites, including Robeson Community College. Project SEARCH’s primary objective is to secure competitive employment for people with disabilities.
