By Andy Furman
Point/Arc
The Zembrodt Education Center (ZEC) will celebrate the largest graduation class in school history, Tuesday evening, May 7 at 6 p.m. at the Gardens of Park Hills (1622 Dixie Highway, Park Hills).
The ZEC is an extension of The Point/Arc. ZEC is a community in which all people are celebrated.
In making the announcement, Katie Lanham – Education Administrator and Transition Coordinator – said there will be a total of 50 individuals wearing their caps and gowns and receiving their diplomas that evening.
“Students will range from 16-to-22-years of age in the class,” said Lanham, who was a Child and Family Studies major at Ohio University. “To earn the degree, students have to complete one of our programs in a school year.”
Those programs are: Elevate Job Training, Career Exploration and One-on-One/ Small Group Pre-Employment Transition Skills (ETS).
“Students receive innovative, interactive instruction to build the skills necessary to succeed in work and life,” said Lanham, who is in her fourth year serving at ZEC. She said lessons include following directions, demonstrating enthusiasm, self-confidence, problem solving, initiative, accountability, and much more.
Varied work experiences in the community are explored in Career Exploration, according to Lanham. “Rather than providing specialized training towards one career interest,” she said, “This program gives exposure to a range of work environments and tasks.
“We’ll go to job sites in the community,” Lanham, an Anderson High School graduate said, “And get firsthand practice. We have community partners in both Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati.”
Small group instruction to learn pre-employment transition skills at their school; or within the community are stressed in the One-on-One/Small Group Pre-Employment Transition Skills (ETS) program, Lanham added. “These skills will help students succeed in the workplace and beyond,” she said.
As Transition Coordinator for The Point/Arc, Lanham is all about workplace readiness for her students. Everyday skills like following directions, increasing communication skills, money and time management, and even practicing good hygiene, she says.
The featured speaker – via tape – at the dinner and graduation will be Kentucky Lt. Governor Jacqueline Coleman, Lanham said.
To enroll at ZEC, a student must have documented disabilities, according to Lanham, and an open-case with OVR – The Office of Vocational Rehabilitation.
And she said, after graduation, students either enter Gateway Community and Technical College, enroll at a vocational school or work with supportive employment – at The Point/Arc – for jobs.
“It’s a credit to the great staff at ZEC headed by Executive Director Brandon Releford,” said Judi Gerding, President, and Founder of The Point/Arc. “It will be one of highlights of the year for us, and a wonderful evening for students, parents and friends.”
The Point/Arc was founded in 1972 by a group of parents fighting for the educational rights of their children, who were diagnosed with an intellectual and developmental (I/DD) disability. The mission – to help people with disabilities achieve their highest potential; educationally, socially, residentially, and vocationally. More than this, The Point/Arc has been an organization that identifies gaps in services and provides care and support to fill these gaps – even when government funding sources are not available.
“We’re all about recognizing where a person’s talents and skills might be best served as well as appreciated,” said Lanham.
And that might be the biggest and best transition of all.
The Point/Arc