Our community’s journey to achieve successful high school transition through collaboration

How the Journey Began Leaders with a Vision created a Mission for others to follow The vision was for the community to prepare students for adult life The mission was to get members of our organizations together for that common goal The leaders gave the members the latitude and freedom to succeed

To improve employment outcomes for students with disabilities through enhanced partnership between Columbia Public Schools, service providers, and the business community Mission

Stray the course The focus of our effort wasn’t on duplicating what others had done (although we did look at what other programs were doing) The focus was on the needs of the students in our community and what resources were available to meet or address those needs

What We Needed The ability to understand each other Students and teachers A local business willing to provide the location for the program Agencies to provide supports to the students as they prepared for and sought employment Somebody to pay for all of it

STEP Partners

Students follow school and work place standards Attendance & Punctuality Professional appearance Display appropriate interactions with peers, supervisors, and patients Partners focus on successful outcomes for all with every effort Setting the Bar High

The Speed of Trust (SMR Covey) The more we build trust as partners, the more we can accomplish and the quicker we can accomplish it In our community the group of partners continues to grow as we expand our efforts, but the core partners remain and form the basis of the trust relationship

EXAMPLES OF COLLABORATION Community Transition Team Seamless Transition through Enhanced Partnership (STEP) University Hospital Program School Based Enterprises Common Curriculum Parent/Youth Workshops Resources/ Information Agency ConnectionsFutures Fair Parent/ Business Mentors Show Me Careers Grant Professional Development/ Building Capacity Transition Teams Elementary- High School Disability Awareness Activities Moberly Area Community College (MACC) Partnership Lincoln University and other campus visits Work Experience Coordinator Parent Network

The Results of Collaboration