Eight graduates complete Project SEARCH internships
On May 24, eight students representing five Coulee Region schools were celebrated for their hard work and accomplishments at the 2024 Project SEARCH graduation ceremony at Gundersen Health System. Project SEARCH is a year-long employment prep program for young people with disabilities that takes place entirely at the workplace. In this case, for these eight interns, that workplace was Gundersen.
This year’s Project SEARCH graduates are Abby Britain, Holden Olstad, Raygen Sturm and Ariel Volden of Holmen High School; Darius Myren of Logan; Emma Monk of Central; Sierra Braun of G-E-T; and Jakob Dwyer of Westby.
“Learning is really what this was all about,” said Dr. Todd Kowalski, chief medical operations officer at Gundersen, who spoke at the ceremony. “I’m sure all of you learned a lot over the last nine months. But to teach is to learn, and I am certain that everyone you interacted with who was part of shaping your experience also learned and got better because of the time they had with you.”
The interns at Gundersen are among the 1,800 Project SEARCH graduates nationwide and 200 in Wisconsin, hosted at 28 businesses across the state. Of the local class, five have jobs lined up, one has an internship, and two are actively interviewing.
“These stories, these experiences, they barely scratch the surface of what makes this program so special,” said Amy Grotzke, the WDA 9 district director for the Wisconsin Division of Vocational Rehab. “What I’ve heard from Project SEARCH participants is way more than about the job. They were expecting to go to work, take on assignments, to gain job skills. But what they didn’t expect is how Project SEARCH would change their lives.”
The interns worked in a variety of departments at Gundersen, including environmental services, facility operations, the child care center, outpatient pediatric therapy and food service. Throughout the year, they completed three 10-week rotations in three different departments. They learned hands-on skills while working in their departments and soft skills during an hour of daily classroom time.
The School District of Holmen holds the license for this chapter of Project SEARCH, but it’s open to young adults age 18 to 21 from any school district. Interns have come from as far as Prairie du Chien and Independence.