Our Extended School Year (ESY) and Vocational Immersion Program (VIP) started off with great excitement on Monday, July 1. Staff had just completed a week-long training and everyone was gearing up to welcome students back to campus. This year, ESY ran Monday to Thursday from July 1 through August 1 and VIP ran Monday to Friday from July 1 through July 26. ESY is an academic program for children and adults ages 4-22 and VIP is a vocational program for young adults ages 18-24. Each program provides a holistic and collaborative approach to summer programming for children and adults with special needs.
ESY
ESY not only helps curb summer learning loss, but it also provides an opportunity for new and prospective students to have a ‘test run’ ahead of the school year to confirm if Vanguard is a good fit for their needs. ESY offers several learning activities that students engage in during the typical school year— 170 students experienced a full academic curriculum, Community-based Instruction (CBI) trips, Community-based Vocational Training (CBVT) opportunities, enrichments like art and daily living skills and social experiences such as picnics, fishing, and outdoor play.
Many Vanguard students participate in CBI trips throughout the school year and in ESY. CBI allows students to gain real-world skills by interacting with the public and learning how to be more independent in community settings. This summer, ESY students took CBI trips to local businesses such as Home Depot, Boscov’s and Rita’s Water Ice. In preparation for CBI trips, students participate in pre-outing exercises where they identify the type of venue they’re going to, the mode of transportation the class will take, how long it’ll take to get to the venue, what they will learn or practice and what their feelings/concerns are about the trip. During the trip, they may learn how to use shopping lists, count out money to pay for items on the list and, occasionally, learn how to navigate public transportation. Following the CBI trip, students participate in a reflection exercise, which reinforces what they learned and experienced.
This summer, 70 High school and VTC ESY students participated in CBVT experiences at the Phoenixville YMCA, White Horse Village and Boscov’s. Through CBVT, students worked with 8 job coaches to hone vocational skills, such as following directions, keeping workspaces tidy, interacting with staff and the public, and completing work-related tasks.
In addition to sharpening academic skills, students also participated in enrichment classes such as Art Club. Vanguard’s Art Teacher, Mary Campbell, led middle and high school Art Club students in a special art project this summer. As part of this project, students painted ‘kindness’ rocks. This week, the rocks will be placed around the original Vanguard School sign that sits in front of the Mierley Building. "The students are very proud of their work and how they are helping to spread kindness and hope it will lift people's spirits," said Campbell. Elementary classes learned about rainbow fish and used construction paper to create paper fish in an array of different colors.
ESY students also learned life skills in the Daily Living Center (DLC), an apartment-style immersive classroom that allows students to experience different aspects of independent living, such as using a clothes washer and dryer, cooking meals, making a bed, and maintaining a neat and functional space. In the DLC this summer, students made “Shark Chum” as part of a lesson about ocean habitats and marine life. During this lesson, students cut up and mixed ingredients to make salsa and used tortilla chips to represent shark fins.
VIP
Our Vocational Immersion Program (VIP) welcomed 20 participants this summer. VIP is a four-week intensive, pre-employment program with a strong focus on work readiness, career exploration and community-based vocational experiences. We were pleased to work with six amazing business partners this summer: Upper Main Line YMCA, Elmwood Park Zoo, United Sports, Old Navy, Brandywine Valley SPCA and Canine Partners for Life. At these worksites, VIP participants were trained in the following areas:
- Classroom, community and workplace instruction
- Assessment of strengths, interests and needs
- Self-advocacy training
- Workplace readiness training
- Portfolio development
- Career exploration and discovery
- Workplace Internships
- Independent living residency
The first week of VIP, participants learned employment-related skills in a seminar-style format. These skills include developing a resume, searching for jobs, interviewing and practicing appropriate workplace behavior. Students were grouped with their peers and assigned to a dedicated VIP Job Coach and worksite according to their interests and strengths. Weeks 2-3 included two hours of vocational training at worksites and participants settled into the routine of working with their job coaches to complete tasks. Week 4 included four hours of vocational training at worksites and a supported residency experience at the Avia Residences in Malvern. During residency week, participants made dinner with their roommates and overnight staff, prepared their clothes and lunches for the following workday, practiced going to bed and waking up to an alarm clock and enjoyed socializing with other participants.
At the VIP worksites, participants completed several tasks daily. At Upper Main Line YMCA, participants cleaned the fitness area, unloaded packages, filed documents and organized supplies. At Elmwood Zoo, they shared animal facts as guests toured habitats, fed animals and greeted visitors. At United Sports, participants cleaned equipment and recreational areas and organized supplies. At Old Navy, work tasks included stocking retail items, unloading boxes and greeting guests. At Brandywine Valley SPCA, participants cleaned work spaces and prepared kennel areas. Finally, at Canine Partners for Life, participants played and socialized with dogs, cleaned and prepared whelping rooms and feeding areas and assembled handmade harnesses.
To close out this year’s VIP program, we held an awards ceremony recognizing and awarding our VIP business partners and VIP participants. . Families and friends applauded as participants received encouraging words from each job coach about how they improved throughout the program and how their strengths will set them up for work success!
For more information about ESY at The Vanguard School, click here.
For more information about VIP, click here.
