Did you know?
Students at our company, Grafton Integrated Health Network, support our mission each and every day. Our students help package the pens, name tags, and bendeez, that are used for our trainings all across the globe!
While a group of students at our school in Winchester pack up our training materials, they are working to secure a brighter future. These materials, packaged by students in Grafton’s Career and Technical Education program, are used for Ukeru trainings all across the world!
Bryan Teeter, who has been with Grafton for over 16 years, leads the Career and Technical Education Classroom and has been working with the program for seven years. Our team was excited when Teeter agreed to facilitate this ongoing project. To some it may seem like a simple task of counting out pens, name tags and bendeez, but to these students it means they are learning lessons that will support their efforts to ultimately get a job in the community.
“It’s teaching me the life skills I need,” said D.S., a student in Teeter’s classroom. In addition to packaging materials for Ukeru training, he and his classmates also work at a local bakery, at a pizzeria, and help out around the school. The students submit their own timesheets and get paid for all the work they complete, whether it is out in the community or throughout the school.
Teeter is continually impressed with the growth of the students and with the skills they have gained. “It means everything,” Teeter said of watching their progression in the program. “It’s awesome. Our ultimate goal is to get these guys into jobs after school.” One of the students in particular, L.T., is already working in the community after school as a part-time custodian for a local school system. “I like working,” he said. “I like people. I like helping people.”
The partnership with Ukeru started over a year ago. Allison Hairston, Performance Architect for Ukeru, reached out to Teeter to ask if his class wanted to assist with building the training material bundles, knowing the students would offer tremendous support!
“Bryan’s class does amazing work with any assignment they are given, so I knew they would do an awesome job helping us too,” she said. “It’s a great job for them to do in the classroom while also working on their math skills.”
The partnership is mutually beneficial, Hairston said, because it helps Ukeru and all the Learning Engineers stay prepared for all upcoming trainings, which can include multiple states a week. “I love involving our students with as many different activities as possible.”
Recently, as students counted out pens, name tags, and bendeez, they learned the training materials are taken all over the world! “Wow,” L.T. said while giving a thumbs-up. “That’s pretty cool.”
Teeter’s support staff, Kathy McDonald, Instructional Assistant III, and Brea Ford, Substitute Student Services, also work with the students to bundle all the materials and are encouraged by the progress the students are making with their job skills and the work they are doing for the community. “It’s great seeing them get that experience that is going to help them get a job,” McDonald said.
Supporting Ukeru supports Grafton, and supporting Grafton means supporting students like D.S. and L.T. We are all in this together!
