Westerville South High School students participating in a Transition Course, Career Exploration, presented flower baskets to thank their supervisors at the end of the school year – Michelle VanVorrhis, a preschool teacher at Whittier Elementary and Janet Pritchard, a science teacher at Westerville South. This course is provided by the Transition team’s Marianne Davis, Transition Specialist, and Job Coaches, Mary Corson, Jennifer Hale, Barbara Mason.

Over the course of the past four years, VanVorrhis has worked closely with many students in this course. The daily interactions the students have in the classroom provided them with an invaluable opportunity to explore working with preschool children and to develop their basic work skills. This information has helped the students to decide upon their future career goals and it has led many to successfully complete the Early Childhood program at the career center; to obtain a college degree in Education; and to secure employment within the early childhood industry.

For many years, Pritchard has been an ongoing advocate for participants in the Career Exploration course. She has provided the students with opportunities to learn to use the copy machine to fill work orders and take upon other job tasks that not only help her department, but provide the students with opportunities to practice a variety of basic work skills such as taking responsibility, working independently and completing tasks as requested.