The Suwannee County School District, in conjunction with Lake City Medical Center (LCMC), launched Project SEARCH for the first time this year with three students participating as interns.

According to Project SEARCH's website, the Project SEARCH High School Transition Program is a unique, business-led, one-year, school-to-work program that takes place entirely at the workplace. Total workplace immersion facilitates a seamless combination of classroom instruction, career exploration, and relevant job-skills training through strategically designed internships.

The three selected students will work at LCMC to gain the necessary workplace skills.

The goal for each student participant is competitive employment. The program provides real-life work experience combined with training in employability and independent living skills to help youths with significant disabilities make successful transitions from school to productive adult life.

The program is broken down into three 10-week internships at LCMC after the students go through a three week orientation process.

Students in the Project Search program will have a workday consisting of approximately 1.5 hours of employability skills curriculum and 5 hours at their internship. 

The Project SEARCH model involves an extensive period of training and career exploration, innovative adaptations, long-term job coaching, and continuous feedback from teachers, job coaches, and employers. As a result, at the completion of the training program, students with significant intellectual disabilities are employed in nontraditional, complex and rewarding jobs. The presence of a Project SEARCH High School Transition Program can bring about long-term changes in business culture that have far-reaching positive effects on attitudes about hiring people with disabilities and the range of jobs in which they can be successful.