Students from Hinsdale South’s Deaf
and Hard of Hearing program
earn school credit, paychecks while learning new skills
Hinsdale – Four students enrolled in Hinsdale South
High School’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing
program are working part-time at Adventist
Hinsdale Hospital
as part of a new partnership between the two organizations. The students work
in various areas of the hospital, including the cafeteria, central supplies,
and linen department.
Students receive school credit and earn a paycheck
funded by an Illinois Department of Human Services grant. They work one-hour
shifts three days a week. Because the students use sign language, a job coach
from the high school works with the students at the hospital to help them
communicate with hospital staff.
Tony Vermejan, the hospital’s site manager of
materials, initiated the partnership between the hospital and the high school.
Before coming to Adventist
Hinsdale Hospital,
Vermejan worked at a different hospital that hosted students from Hinsdale
South’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing program. According to Vermejan, the
arrangement benefits both parties; the hospital gets hard-working employees at
no cost and the students gain valuable job skills and real-world experience.
“When I first took these students on a tour of the
hospital, they weren’t aware of the variety of non-clinical positions available
here,” Vermejan said. “They thought working at a hospital meant you were either
a doctor or a nurse. But our employees perform an array of duties, all of which
contribute to our mission of extending the healing ministry of Christ.”
Candy Butler, vocational coordinator for Hinsdale
South’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing program, said she appreciates the hospital’s
support.
“Everyone’s been open to having our students
working in their departments,” Butler
said. “And the students are so excited. Receiving their photo IDs from human
resources was a big deal to them. They really feel like they’re part of the
hospital staff when they arrive for their shifts.”
Two of the students working at Adventist Hinsdale
Hospital during the 2008-09 academic
year are high school juniors and the other two are enrolled in the school’s
transition center in La Grange,
where young adults 18 to 21 years old receive additional vocational and
academic support.