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Continental Project

Welcome to the Continental Project

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. 

  • U.S. Dept. of Ed. Transition Coalition's "Model of Success 2003"
  • National Association of Career & Technical Education's "Outstanding Vocational Special Needs Program 1999"
  • "Flagstaff Citizen of the Year 2004" Stephanie Rust

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.

A man and woman pose for a photo on a golf course, with a city skyline in the background.

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

    • Visit the following link for FUSD's School Tax Credit brochure and donation form.
    • FUSD Tax Credit Brochure
    • Write "Continental Project" under 'Other eligible activities' on the form & on the memo line of your check.

    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.

    A young person smiles while washing a large pot in a kitchen.

    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.

    A woman in a blue vest and jeans stands next to a vacuum cleaner, ready to clean.

    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:

    • Continental Country Club-2003 National Employer of the Year                                     
    • JC Penney-2008 Natl. Employer of the Year
    • Jotini's
    • Wyndam Resorts-Flagstaff Employer who Cares-2005
    • Babb's Financial Group
    • Assistance League of Flagstaff/The Cedar Closet
    • The YMCA

    COUNTY, STATE & FEDERAL PARTNERS:          

    • Coconino County Career Center
    • DES Rehabilitation Services Administration
    • DES Division of Developmental Disabilities
    • US Department of Labor

    A group of people stand together in a room with a stone fireplace and a clock on the wall.

  • 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: 

    • Willingness to engage in physical work
    • Desire to change work adjustment & interpersonal skills
    • Habitual display of honest & ethical behaviors 
    • Deference to authority
    • Redirected behaviors sustained over time & setting
    • Supervision needs at approximate 15 minute intervals with sustained attending
    • Ability to follow 3+ step directions
    • Cognitive skills in the low average range (below 80)
    • No significant mental health issues
    • Age of 17 years or older

    Five people stand in front of a stone fireplace, smiling for a photo.

    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:

    • accept supervisory directives 
    • engage in appropriate reciprocal conversations
    • return to work in presence of naturally occurring distracters
    • solve routine work related problems
    • greet & offer help to others
    • respond to & use site appropriate humor   
    • accept corrections & redirections
    • initiate standard job responsibilities
    • meet quality expectations on all tasks
    • ask for clarification, lodge complaints
    • maintain a positive attitude
    • request & report leave
    • schmooze
    • adjust voice volume to setting
    • establish trust
    • refrain from revealing sexual or personal information
    • demonstrate good listening & attending
    • sustain good personal hygiene
    • honor the dress code
    • habitually meet productivity expectations                      
    • sustain work activities absent proximal supervision                   
    • adjust work pace to reflect schedule & event time pressures               

    Our dedicated faculty include:

    • Ms. Lori Bain
    • Ms. MaryBeth McGrath
    • Ms. Connie Rohrbaugh

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