Vocational instruction is an essential component of the Bridge Program at Village Glen West. Pre-vocational and vocational skills are taught at every grade level using a variety of approaches. One approach is direct instruction with each student being responsible for a job. All students perform age-appropriate jobs including classroom chores such as sweeping or taking out the trash. As students grow older, increases are made in the complexity of their jobs and in their job responsibilities. A café, snack shack, gift shop, and coffee cart are operated by our students on campus. Students get the opportunity to practice employment skills (such as counting money, serving customers, and following directions) as well as to engage in job/task sampling on a daily basis. The Middle School and High School classes run our other businesses as well as individual classroom businesses (i.e. “Baked Potatoes”; “Fruit Smoothies”; “Lunch Salads”). Participation in school wide vocational tasks allow students to practice and develop skills (such as stocking, making change, assembly, customer service, inventory, taking & filling orders, making copies, and designing flyers) aimed at increasing their future employability. A second approach to teaching vocational skills is student-directed. This approach focuses on taking responsibility for daily activities including following a class schedule, completing homework, cleaning up after oneself, taking initiative when a task needs to be done, and clocking in/out during assigned work times. It is through these opportunities that students learn future vocational skills from Kindergarten through High School.

 Teachers and staff are both instructive and supportive. They model and encourage responsibility, independence, and dedication. Teachers also employ a variety of curriculum (i.e. “From Classroom to Workplace” and “First Job Survival Skills”) and strategies (such as role playing, video modeling, and task analysis) to help meet each student’s individual needs. 

 Additionally, all the vocational/ transitional activities that students perform resemble “real-life” job tasks. Once the students are 16 years old they are then eligible to participate in paid jobs (often through Workability). Students also have the opportunity to expand their vocational and transitional knowledge through community based outings to various agencies and locations for on-site job tours, question & answer sessions, and mock job interviews (at places such as “Vons” or “Boston Market”).

  The Bridge Program’s overall goal is to improve students’ quality of life beyond school and to have a long lasting effect on their lives.