On May 19, Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health celebrated the class of 2023 graduates of the Project SEARCH program. Project SEARCH is an internship program at LG Health that provides work, social and life skills to local high school seniors with intellectual challenges. Through the program, students gain confidence, independence and experience as they reach for their goal of employment at Lancaster General Hospital (LGH) or within the broader Lancaster community after graduation.
LG Health partners with local Lancaster-area organizations including the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry, Lancaster County and the Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 (IU13), an education service agency, to operate Project SEARCH.
Students are fully immersed in three separate LG Health internships for the entirety of their senior year, with each internship lasting 9 to 10 weeks. The students follow a schedule of learning job-specific skills on-site Monday through Thursday, followed by classroom work on Fridays learning a life skills curriculum that includes how to write a check and how to obtain a learner’s permit and driver’s license.
This year’s annual graduation ceremony was held at the IU13 building, with an additional drop-in celebration at LGH where LG Health mentors had the opportunity to congratulate this year’s class of seven graduates.
“The evolution our students experience starting in September to graduation in May is an amazing one,” said Maria Shedleski, manager, Volunteer Services & Community Outreach. “The program is not only about the job skills but also the social and life skills which transform students into confident young adults.”