ALBANY – Deaudervest Gervin is a retiree at Westover Comprehensive High School that works with students with disabilities both within and outside the Georgia High School High Tech Program (HSHT). During her day, she uses her time to hold training sessions, be involved with her students, and check on her students.
The HSHT Program caters to students with disabilities that have an average to above average IQ and who are capable of attending secondary education. The purpose of this program is to teach students how to advocate for themselves, facilitate a successful transition to post-secondary education or gainful employment, and reduce the dropout rate of students with disabilities.
The program has had a significant impact increasing opportunities for the students it serves. According to Zero Project, the average graduation rate of students with disabilities in Georgia is 36.5%. HSHT was able to raise this graduation rate to an astonishing 92.6% for students within their program according to the Institute for Educational Learning.
According to Gervin, to achieve these goals, HSHT offers many different services to get students college and job ready. College and career fairs, workshops, post-secondary tours, and various training sessions are just a few of the many provided opportunities for students to learn and achieve success. With these training sessions, the students are able to learn about financial literacy, employability skills, interview skills, soft skills, maintaining success on the job, self-advocacy skills, responsible social media use, and financial aid.
Outside of the classroom, HSHT students attend a 3-day training program that focuses on preparing them for manufacturing jobs while providing a hands-on learning experience. Gervin says that during this process, students will get to learn how to safely use different on-the-job tools like drills and saws. At the end, students are awarded industry-recognized certifications like OSHA 10, Lean Six Sigma White Belt, and Hands Only CRP/AED.
Besides these training programs, students are also placed in the Dougherty County School System’s Work-Based Learning (WBL), where students will be able to take what they learned in class and apply it to the real world. This version of WBL is very similar to your traditional program, except the WBL coordinator(s) are more hands-on with the process. For example, they might place the students into a job or role instead of the students trying to find a job site themselves.
In order to accommodate the students’ disabilities on the job site, the employer is made aware of the student’s disability, and they are given job coaches, Gervin says.
With these services, HSHT and its instructors strive to set students on equal footing with their normal peers. Gervin describes her and other instructors in the program as a guide and encouragement for the students.
“We are looking beyond their disability, and we’re looking at the possibilities, and their possibilities are great,” Gervin says.
With dedicated instructors like Gervin and a support team of talented educators and advocates leading the way, the HSHT program continues to break barriers and open doors, ensuring that students with disabilities are empowered to reach their full potential and thrive in their futures.
