Every Wednesday and Friday morning for the past two months, high school senior Ethan Hitchcock has gone to work at Modern Barber Shop. He sweeps up hair, washes the windows, deep cleans the bathroom and takes care of a lot of the tasks that the rest of the staff often find themselves too busy for.
Hitchcock is an important part of the Modern Barber Shop team and his disability doesn’t get in the way of that.
Hitchcock is one seven Franklin High School 11th- and 12th-graders in the exceptional children and occupational course of study programs who are getting a head start on their careers with the help of Macon Citizens Habilities.
Employment specialist Jane Coburn said that Habilities has a contract with Macon County Schools to work with these students as part of their curriculum.
Habilities has always offered occupational counseling to exceptional adults, but the in-school program only started three years ago and is aimed at making the kids career-ready by the time they’re done with high school.
“We’ve always worked with adults, and we still do, but I get so many calls from parents who say that their child graduated years ago and still hasn’t gotten a job,” Coburn said. “This helps a student learn how to contribute to their community and learn the basic skills that they’ll need to do well in all of their future jobs.”
When a student first comes to Habilities, they begin working on both physical and digital applications. Habilities workers help them with their interview skills and go along with them to any job interviews to make sure they’re well prepared. Job coaches stay with students at their work sites through orientation and the early days of their job. Exactly how long a student needs their coach around could be anywhere from two days to two months, depending on the individual, but Hitchcock’s job coach, Bob Bobber, said the transition into the job is usually seamless.
“My job is to make sure that everyone’s happy, but we have very few problems,” Bobber said. “We appreciate the cooperation that employers show us.”
Fred McCaskey of Modern Barber Shop said the program is a big benefit to the shop. Hitchcock is responsible for a lot of quality-of-life tasks around the store that the staff would otherwise have to either stay late to complete or handle while customers are waiting. McCaskey said he is glad he can trust Hitchcock to do a good job.
“It makes a huge difference to have him around,” McCaskey said. “He has a lot of attention to detail, and that makes things a lot easier around here.”
As for Hitchcock, he enjoys the chance to earn a little bit of spending money while preparing for the next step in life.
“I’m getting paid every time I work and earning spending money,” Hitchcock said. “It’s going really well so far.”
Coburn holds up Hitchcock as an example of what positive life changes the partnership between Macon County Schools and Habilities can bring about. Seven of the nine students in the program are working right now and are thriving in their positions, she said.
Coburn added that most of her students turn out to be excellent workers and that she’d like to see more employers show interest in them.
“A lot of employers are a bit nervous or unsure at first, but our kids end up being some of the best employees you’ll ever have,” Coburn said. “I wish more people would give them a chance.”
There are still two students looking for jobs in the program right now. For more information on services offered by Macon Citizens Habilities, call 828-524-5888 or go to maconcitizens.org.