MPS Work Program for Students with Disabilities

Many students in Milwaukee Public Schools are focused on what their next steps will be after high school, which includes valuable work experience they can use when they graduate. Deandre Ray, a senior at the Milwaukee School of the Arts, is no different and has plans after graduation.

“I want to go to Sheperds College out of Kenosha,” said Ray. “I want to go to school for cooking hopefully.”

Sheperds College is the nation’s largest higher education institution with a focus on teaching students with disabilities.

Ray is currently taking part in the School-to-Work Transition Program in Milwaukee Public Schools. The program is designed to help students with disabilities develop life skills and achieve independence by the time they are ready to graduate high school.

“The students are exposed to a variety of different occupations and careers, showing up on time, a good work ethic, things they wouldn’t otherwise learn by being in class all day,” said Nick Verban, the worksite teacher at the Hilton Garden Inn in Milwaukee.

Verban has been a special education teacher in MPS for 30 years and transitioned to the work program 10 years ago. Verban also discussed other ways the program has helped the students in the past.

“I’ve also witnessed some students who maybe didn’t have that drive while they were in class, come to the jobs sites and light up, so when they went back into their classes their grades improved.”

The program does not only help the students in their life after school, and the multiple work sites over the city of Milwaukee also gain from the experience.

“We’ve had students hired in the restaurants that they work at post-graduation, and it was mainly due to their ability to be punctual, and they demonstrated those abilities while they were in the work program,” said Verban.

The program includes job locations like the Hilton Garden Inn, but also places like the St. Paul Market or Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s, letting the students gain many different experiences while discovering what they want to do.

Other members of the staff, like Barbara Renfro a paraprofessional the Hilton Garden Inn, have also gained experience from being with the students every day.

“When I applied to MPS, I thought I was going to be working in the classroom with the students, but I’m glad I get to be out here with the students every day. It’s really a lot different because you think you’re going to be teaching them, but really, I’ve learned from them.”

MPS has been running the School-to-Work Transition Program for over 30 years, allowing students to have opportunities they otherwise wouldn’t have post-graduation. Each student can work for two years in the program, so the students typically will wait until they are juniors to start in the program. The program is divided into four different sections. The Community Assessment and Training Program, on-the-job experience, on-the-job training, and the Employment Training Program.