Program Name: EAGLE ENTERPRISES
Nominator's Name: Dr. Phil Heery
Nominator's Telephone Number: (609) 646-7911
Title: Assistant Superintendent of Schools
The nominated school system is: High School
Organization: Egg Harbor Township School District
Districts: Egg Harbor Township School District
Address: 202 Naples Avenue, PO Box 31
City/State/Zip: West Atlantic City, NJ 08232
District Superintendent: Mr. Fred Nickles
District Telephone Number: (609) 646-7911
Date of Program Initiation: September 1, 1989

Area 1: Goals:

The Egg Harbor Township School District has established the successful transition of secondary students with disabilities from school to the work place as a district priority since 1989.

The EAGLE ENTERPRISE PROGRAM is a school/private industry/government collaborative formed for the purpose of assisting secondary special education students in the oft times difficult school-to-work transition process through "hands on" learning. The program fosters development of generic skills and competencies for positions in entry level employment in the area's most prominent service industries. The process starts upon entrance into high school and includes career awareness, participation in one or more of four student-operated businesses and/or summer employment experience (6wks), self-assessment to determine selection of appropriate educational vocational track, and employment training through a senior year work study experience, mastering the following thirteen JTPA Youth Employment Competencies prior to graduation:

1. Making Career Decisions
2. Using Labor Market Information
3. Prepare Resume
4. Filling Out a Job Application
5. Interviewing
6. Understanding Punctuality
7. Maintains Regular Attendance
8. Demonstrating Positive Attitudes and Behaviors
9. Presenting Appropriate Appearance
10. Exhibiting Good Interpersonal Relations
11. Completing Tasks Effectively
12. Demonstrate Proficiency In Mathematical Computation Skills
13. Demonstrate Proficiency in Reading Skills

Area 2: Activities:

Students receive career acquisition assistance in cover letter and resume construction and critiquing of student videotaped mock job interviews through the help of an advisory council assembled by the district's Job Developer. The council meets quarterly and is comprised of parents, alumni, teachers, business leaders and government service organizations such as the New Jersey Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and the Atlantic-Cape May Private Industry Council (over forty representatives attended our last forum on January 19, 1995.) Each year members of the council participate in our district sponsored CAPE-ATLANTIC CAREER FAIR with over sixty-five private businesses and public agencies as well as the armed forces participating. Representatives meet with and interview students as prospective entry level employees.

Through transforming conventional classrooms into active competency based "hands on" learning environments, implementing real life learning activities, the special education staff, students and volunteers have become a high performance organization. Students work cooperatively in the various businesses and work experiences of EAGLE ENTERPRISES, implementing problem solving strategies through pairing over one hundred fifty students, twenty teachers and forty-two mentors in the learning process. The students participate in BIZ's BAGEL SHOP, EAGLE'S NEST SCHOOL STORE, THE EAGLE GREENERY FLORAL SHOP and MASON'S MUNCHERIA SNACK BAR. In addition, students participate in community service projects. For example, one was recently initiated to meet the recreational needs of the local senior citizen's center entitled: PROJECT P.A.R. (Providing Ageless Recreation). Student-workers designed, solicited private industry donations and constructed an outdoor recreation center for the seniors of Egg Harbor Township, thus, providing an activity to serve the community while adding an intergenerational plank to the school/business/government/ bridge.

Students gain valuable work experience through EAGLE ENTERPRISES by doing ledger entries, cash register operations, customer service, inventory control, security, completing bank deposits, sales slips, receipts, merchandising, sales marketing, plant and flower care and a variety of other skills.

The school district has actively solicited the support from the local business community through the establishmert of a partnership with the local Atlantic Cape May Private Industry Council and the Wakefern Supermarket Corporation and other local industry representatives. Through this innovative school-business marriage, the school store has been converted through Wakefern/AK-Pharma funds into a mini-mart with merchandise that goes beyond school fare. Close to three dozen students have since been hired at the two local ShopRite Supermarkets. In addition, the Atlantic Cape May Private Industry Council provides salaries for work study positions, and casino license fees for student-workers interested in working in the casino industry upon graduation. The area casinos send representatives to participate in an orientation workshop cosponsored by the Atlantic Cape May P.I.C. and the Egg Harbor Township School District on an annual basis.

Area 3: Evaluation:

Information was recently gathered on student graduates (75%) of the Eagle Enterprise Supportive Employment Work Study Program from 1989-1994. Of the respondents, seventy-eight percent of the former students are currently employed in private industry. Sixty-eight percent are full-time, the remainder being part-time. In comparison, The Fifteen Annual Report on the Implementation of the Education of the Handicapped Act 1994, compiled by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services indicates that of the handicapped students out of high school more than one year, twenty-nine percent are employed full-time and seventeen percent part-time while the remainder were not in unsubsidized employment.

As a result of empirical statistical validation through the longitudinal study, the community as a whole has embraced the program as a successful "righteous cause." Parent participation in school events has increased dramatically as evidenced by attendance at our annual EAGLE ENTERPRISE AWARD'S CEREMONY. It went from ten in 1989 to over one hundred fifty in 1994.

Area 4: Stability:

The Egg Harbor Township School District has made school-to-work transition for classified students a priority since 1989. A Job Developer has been on staff to coordinate the various components of the EAGLE ENTERPRISE PROGRAM since it's inception. The funding for the program is provided through a mixture of local school district funds, Atlantic Cape May Private Industry funds, Carl Perkins funds, Federal IDEA funds and local private industry donations. Gross revenues from the student businesses have exceeded $175,000.00 since 1989. This income has helped fund community service projects, gift certificates, U.S. Savings Bonds, and over forty-five enrichment trips for approximately five hundred students during this period of time.

The program has been recognized and included as a model program in the National SCANS: Blueprint for Action Booklet, the U.S. Department of Labor's Training Technology Resource Center's Computer Bank and most recently the recipient of the 1994 NEW JERSEY' S BEST PRACTICES AWARD by the state Department of Education.

Area 5: Endorsements:

"I sit as a member of the Advisory Board of the NJ Chapter of the National Center of Productivity. I have been asked to recommend programs that are so clearly innovative and successful that they can be copied elsewhere, and thought at once of the excellent job you are doing with public/private partnerships in the EAGLE ENTERPRISE program." Joseph Wilkins, President N.J. Institute of Law and Justice

"Something great is going on at EHT High School. Someone cares. Students are listening. You are setting these students up to win in the job game. The tourism and hospitality industry needs people with the savvy you are able to teach through this program." John Gwynn, Director of Human Resources, Mariott Seaview Resort

"We have been proud partners in the EAGLE ENTERPRISES Program since 1989. We would like to see it replicated in other school districts throughout the Cape-Atlantic Region." John Bettis, President Atlantic-Cape May Private Industry Council