LEXINGTON, Ky. — Inside an office at UK Chandler Hospital, intern Ella Ricketts,19, is hard at work. She methodically moves from task to task like it’s second nature—sorting mail, refilling copy machines, and cleaning, among other tasks.
She smiles and greets her coworkers as she joyfully moves through the workspace, often sharing a laugh with employees or offering her help. Ella’s work might sound mundane or typical for an intern, but she describes her experience in a much more positive light.
“Amazing,” said Ella, who wears her joy like a badge of honor. “Like, really amazing.”
Ella is one of six Fayette County Public Schools students working at UK HealthCare through Project SEARCH, a nine-month program giving high school students with intellectual or developmental disabilities job experience. The new program aims to help students, like Ella, transition into the workforce.
“It just makes me happy because I’m actually doing something,” said Ella.
Each Project SEARCH intern is paired with a UK HealthCare employee who mentors the student. Jenna Lowe, Ella’s mentor, is a Hospital Administration Manager for Kentucky Children’s Hospital. She has watched Ella’s confidence grow since she started working in their office, and she’s inspired by the excitement she brings work each day.
“Being a part of a team, and having dedicated workspace, and having autonomous work that [Project SEARCH interns] can do every day—it just really builds that sense of confidence that they can do this and can enter the workforce and find roles that fit with their skill set and the things that they want to do,” said Lowe. “It truly is a privilege to be a part of that process.”
Holly McCombs, Project SEARCH Program Instructor and an FCPS teacher, said for years she saw a disconnect between what they were doing in the classroom and how students transitioned into life beyond high school. While the program includes time in the classroom, McCombs said being able to work on-site has made all the difference for her students.
“This is like everything that I worked for as a teacher,” said McCombs. “It’s like watching it all come to fruition, like all the skills that we teach for all those years. It’s like being able to watch them manifest here on the worksite as you, like, kind of let go and let them be independent. And that’s been so rewarding.”
The immersive internships have students working in various areas, including hospital administration, environmental services, patient experience, central sterile services, purchasing and materials, and integrative medicine. The goal is to create a pathway for each student to find competitive, fulfilling employment through mentorship and real-life workplace experience.
Ella is just one of McCombs’ students who is thriving at UK HealthCare.
“I would say the biggest difference [in Ella] is definitely her confidence, and her ability to be independent and her initiation,” said McCombs, adding that she hopes Ella returns as a mentor in future years to help the students who participate in Project SEARCH after her.
Ella has noticed a positive change in herself, too.
“I’ve seen like more of like the independent work of it, like real independence,” said Ella, sitting at a desk where she sorts mail and eagerly talks herself through the task at hand.
Project SEARCH is more than a meaningful experience for her. It’s an opportunity to leave her unique mark on the workforce.