Marion County Able Trust

High School/High Tech (HS/HT) Program

A Success Story

by Emma Eldred

One of Marion County’s HS/HT students is a young man with a learning disability. The student recently graduated from Lake Weir High School this past May (2003). Before HS/HT this student was not sure what his future held for him. He had no future plans and was living life day to day. Because this student completed all of the requirements, he was able to have a summer internship to help him decide on a career path. After much consideration, this student decided he would like to work with computers this summer. The student was placed at Verteks Consulting, a computer and phone systems company. He was very excited about his interview and even came into the Center for Independent Living (CIL) for extra practice in preparation for his interview. This student had never had a professional work experience before and was ready for the challenge. “For once”, he said, “I have some direction in my life”.  This student was very prepared for the interview and was asked to start the following Monday. He was ecstatic and went out shopping that day for new clothes to fit his new “image”. 

A few days into his internship I stopped by to see how he was doing. The student looked like a professional and acted in such a mature manner as he showed me around the company. The technology there was unbelievable, with a lot of hands-on experience that he craved. In his first week, a student who knew almost next to nothing about computers was building PC’s and installing operating systems. Later on in his second week the student learned how to configure PC’s, by the third week the student was able to work on his typing by entering data. By the fourth week the student was taught how to fix PC’s.  At his evaluation at the end of the four-week internship the student received an excellent evaluation from his employer. He rated excellent in almost all areas, only needing to improve on his creativity, problem solving skills, and ability to remember instructions. The employer also wrote the student a stellar letter of recommendation that will be useful when the student applies to his top two choice colleges, Valencia College and ITT Tech in Orlando. Without the HS/HT program, this student would still be living day to day with no direction. This is only one more example of what the HS/HT program can do for our students with disabilities. 

(To find out more about HS/HT contact Emma Eldred at the Center for Independent Living - 368-3788)