Program prepares students for life beyond classroom

Several Whitefish High School seniors are getting a head start on the difficult transition from school to work.

Through the Whitefish High School jobs program, students with disabilities are given opportunities to gain real-world work experience in integrated workplaces around the community.

The program just completed its first full year, said Christian Bitterauf, special services teacher at the high school, with about eight to 10 students participating.

“The whole focus is on high schools and other agencies collaborating to get kids working out in the community in an integrated setting for competitive wages,” Bitterauf said.

Bitterauf said the program got its start after federal legislation in 2014 focused on providing funding for transition services for students with disabilities. Whitefish High School collaborated with Vocational Rehabilitation Services and several other agencies in the area to get the program on its feet.

Students are placed with appropriate businesses to create a good learning environment tailored to each kid.

“We kind of do placement based on the kids’ interest and skill level. Every student is kind of unique and we come together as a team and talk about what the kid is interested in, what placements are available, and then we go out and talk to the potential employers and let them know and get the kid placed.”

Seniors Wes Hayden and Ryan Hanson have had success in the program’s first year.

Hayden just wrapped up his work at the Whitefish Community Center, where he served food, set tables and cleaned dishes. Previously he’d worked at Western Building Center in Whitefish and in internal jobs at the school.

The community center work was similar to what he had done at the cafeteria in Muldown Elementary School, but the best part of it, Hayden said, was being able to relax and not worry about a fast paced work environment.

“What I enjoyed the most about it is not having a time crunch on my hands,” he said.

In June he’ll also be starting with a new farm care program based in Kalispell, where he’ll get to purse one of his biggest passions — farming.

Hayden will be involved with a planting and growing operation, operating roadside stand to sell vegetables and helping to host a community dinner every couple weeks.

“You kind of get all aspects of growing, selling, serving food. It’s a new program and he’s kind of piloting it to see how it goes,” Bitterauf said. “I think it’s going to be an important transition after school, giving you some structure and good experience.”

Hanson just began a new job at Acutech Works on Montana 40 near Columbia Falls. The jobs program also had him working at Western Building Center, where he’s still working on weekends and in the summer.

Getting back in a metal shop and continuing on what he learned in shop classes at school is the highlight of working at Acutech, he said. Having a fun group of coworkers doesn’t hurt either.

“I was too excited to be working on the machinery. It feels good to be back here in a shop,” Hanson said. “The guys here in the shop are hilarious. Usually if we have free time we’ll joke around and then go back to work.”

Right now Hanson is working between eight to 10 hours a week at Acutech, cutting and shaping rebar for metal railings for the new Snow Bear development on Big Mountain. He will continue working there in the summer as well. While he knows he needs to start on the bottom, he’s optimistic that he’ll be able to work his way up into some more complicated tasks.

“In any job you’ve got to start from the bottom and work your way to the top,” he said.

Hanson said he’s looking ahead at working and starting his career in metalworks and fabrication as graduation arrives quickly.

Right now, he said he’s focused on using the jobs program as a transition into the working world.

“I’m pretty glad I got both of these jobs, because I kind of want to get prepared for the adult stuff,” he said. “I’m trying my best to keep my grades up. I just grind in the flex periods.”

Along with teaching students the basics of getting and keeping a job, like working with a boss, following directions and filling out paperwork like time cards, Bitterauf said one of the most important aspects of the jobs program is to show the students how to be more self-sufficient.

Teaching students how to seek help with an issue or go to their boss for advice will be key once he is no longer there for support, Bitterauf said.

“I’m their case manager now, but after they leave they won’t have a case manager,” he said. “The more of a chance the kids have to practice that, the better equipped they are to go out on their own.”

As Hayden and Hanson and the rest of his first graduating class head off into the real world, Bitterauf is happy to see them getting more and more opportunities to find work that they love.

“These guys are growing up,” he said with a smile.