Skills for Life Through Work
Self Discipline, Respect, Responsibility, Work Ethic, Personal Value, & Wholeness
Students discover their strengths as they acquire the behaviors critical for job retention.
Direct behavioral training, role playing, and job coaching supports our students in the entry level jobs we access through our industry partners.
Considering how to better support the students we served, Dave Penny & Stephanie Rust spent most of 1991 designing and developing the Continental Project. Dave Penny pioneered the program as Continental Project's first director.
Upon his retirement in 1995, Stephanie followed his collaborative lead and slowly found a way to continue without his daily wisdom, guidance & humor. Our singular purpose in this program design is to help students with special learning needs gain the work adjustment and interpersonal skills critical for job retention. We do this in partnership with seven local businesses who allow us access to their entry level jobs as the training sites for our students. In these sites our students learn not only the skills needed for the specific jobs, but they also refine and polish the behaviors research has told us are critical for keeping a job. Our students receive high school credit for their work as well as an hourly wage based on their individual level of productivity. They often come to us with little sense of their skills or talents, having spent years focusing on their disability-related weaknesses. We have a substantially different philosophy, for we start with our student's strengths, and help them realize how those skills have value in the labor market. Then, utilizing Mrs. Rust's skills as a nationally Certified Vocational Evaluator, we alert them to their behavior patterns which will likely cause them to struggle as an adult; offering to help them if they are ready to make changes and polish 'those old bad habits'. It doesn't take long before our students find relevance in all they do . . for now they are acutely aware that every change they make brings another layer of success.
Continental Project is a good steward of your tax directed dollars!
The state of Arizona will give residents a dollar for dollar tax credit, $200.00 for individuals & $400.00 for married couples, if you designate your donation to the Continental Project students. Yes---there is effectively no cost to donate up to $400 for our students! (Arizona Tax form 322, Credit for Contributions Made or Fees Paid to Public Schools.)
We ensure that your contributions are used to assist students in acquiring the work-related clothing, shoes, personal hygiene products, etc. that are critical for entry into the labor market. We take our job seriously . . . we are helping students, who have often been consumers of tax-supported programs, to become tax-payers. We are helping them become active members of our community. We love what we get to be part of; for our students often come to us with little sense of self worth---yet leave with the realization that they have talents & skills that have value in our labor market. Won't you join us? Help our students find the wholeness of who they can be.
For more information about tax-credit and monetary donations..
...please contact Continental Project at 928.527.3712
OR
...make check to "FUSD", write Continental Project in the memo line and mail to:
Continental Project
2380 N. Oakmont
Flagstaff, AZ 86004
We will mail you a receipt verifying your donation for tax reporting verification.
OR
sample donation form with "Continental Project" under 'Other eligible activities'.
Over the years, Continental Project has garnered attention for it's unique concept, collaborations, and success.
In 1999, the National Association for Career & Technical Education named Continental Project the "Outstanding Vocational Special Needs Program" for the country.
In 2003, The US Department of Education, through the Transition Coalition, named Continental Project a "Model of Success", urging replication for school districts across the country.
Two of Continental Project's premiere business partners (Continental Country Club and Bill McGrath, General Manger of Flagstaff JC Penney) have been named "Employer of the Year" through the National Council of Exceptional Children.
After researching transition programs world-wide, Australia's Ministry of Education representative spent a week with us in 2009, taking our methods, assessments & delivery model back to her country for replication.
Stephanie Rust, through her work with the students and families of Continental Project, was named Arizona Daily Sun "Flagstaff Citizen of the Year-2004".
Continental Project's success in supporting so many students over so many years is reliant upon the collaborative nature of it's many community partners. Immeasurable benefits have been realized with our founding partner, Continental Country Club. They provide not only access to their entry level work sites, but have fully opened the country club to our students, providing classroom & office space as they have embraced and supported our student's growth.
BUSINESSES PARTNERS:
COUNTY, STATE & FEDERAL PARTNERS:
Students eligible for Continental Project must be at least 17 years old and receive educational services under an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) geared for students with maximum cognitive skills in the low average range. Minimal indicators of readiness to benefit include:
While students working at Continental Project will easily learn the tasks of the entry level jobs they complete, the work adjustment and interpersonal skills are the critical components of our program and of our student's future success. We teach our students how to:
Our dedicated faculty include: