1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:19,280 Welcome to Students Incorporated, a podcast where we dive into relevant topics and issues 2 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:23,600 related to the world of business, technology, education, and design. 3 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:25,600 I'm your host, Mr. Jason. 4 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:29,980 Episodes include student conversations, interviews with thought leaders, and inspirational stories 5 00:00:29,980 --> 00:00:31,920 with an international flavor. 6 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:35,880 This podcast is created and produced with the help of students from the International 7 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:47,000 Community School of Bangkok. 8 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:50,980 In today's episode, we will be discussing the importance of life skills training for 9 00:00:50,980 --> 00:00:51,980 young people. 10 00:00:51,980 --> 00:00:56,880 I'm joined by our special guest, Ms. Mary Kate, a life skills teacher at ICS for part 11 00:00:56,880 --> 00:00:57,880 one. 12 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:02,080 Part two includes a pre-recorded interview with Mike and Michelle Beard of the MAGA 13 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:03,800 work from Hanoi, Vietnam. 14 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:08,040 But before we jump into part one of our episode, let's hear our quote of the day and get some 15 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:09,040 headline news. 16 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:12,260 Audre Lorde said, It is not our differences that divide us. 17 00:01:12,260 --> 00:01:15,840 It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences. 18 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:20,320 Lorde was an esteemed poet, novelist, and professor of English at John Jay College of 19 00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:22,520 Criminal Justice and Hunter College. 20 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:26,480 As an African American poet, she discussed topics such as race and gender. 21 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:30,120 Her first volume of poetry, For Cities, was published in 1968. 22 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:34,120 She was also an essayist, and in her nonfiction work titled The Cancer Journals, she discussed 23 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:35,480 her own struggles of cancer. 24 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:40,720 Although she passed away in 1992, she is remembered for her powerful poetry and literary works. 25 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:45,120 Disney is planning to fire around 7,000 employees from its worldwide staff. 26 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:50,700 Disney Plus is also losing monthly subscribers as they've only added 200,000 subscribers 27 00:01:50,700 --> 00:01:55,880 in the US and Canada, bringing its total to 46.6 million subscribers. 28 00:01:55,880 --> 00:02:00,840 They plan to reorganize the work structure to reduce costs and be more coordinated. 29 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:04,280 In East Palestine, Ohio, a 50-car train derailed. 30 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:08,720 This caused a huge fire and released tons of dangerous chemicals. 31 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:10,560 Residents were told to evacuate. 32 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:13,200 There is no information about what caused the accident. 33 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:19,000 Plenty of the cars contain hazardous materials such as flammables and combustibles. 34 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:22,840 Fourteen cars contained chemicals and were exposed to fire. 35 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:26,600 However, at this point, the evacuation order has been lifted. 36 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:29,560 The Super Bowl drew in 113 million people. 37 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:33,000 Rihanna's show itself had over 118 million watchers. 38 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,080 15% more than 2022 halftime show. 39 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:40,360 It was a huge success coming in as the third most watched Super Bowl ever. 40 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:44,960 Each 30-second commercial cost 7 million and 51 spots were sold. 41 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:52,480 FC alone dozed out $14 million for two 30-second spots, not including production. 42 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:58,600 They hired actors Steve Martin and Ben Stiller. 43 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:03,440 Thank you for the quote in the headline news and we are here for part one to discuss life 44 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:08,520 skills for all and I'm joined by Pukal who will be saying in as co-host one. 45 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:11,520 Alright Pukal, can you start us off with our first question? 46 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:12,520 Yes sir. 47 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:16,360 So Ms. Mary Kate, can you please introduce yourself and describe your role at the school? 48 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:17,360 Sure. 49 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:23,800 So Ms. Mary Kate and I teach elementary life skills so any students K through 5th grade 50 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:25,880 in the life skills program. 51 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:32,380 Next question is, why is a life skills program so significant not only for the students participating 52 00:03:32,380 --> 00:03:35,200 but also for the surrounding community? 53 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:36,440 Great question. 54 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:41,680 I would say for the students participating it's important because it gives them an opportunity 55 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:48,360 to be in an inclusive environment which they may not get outside of school. 56 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:53,640 It creates opportunities for them to learn, develop relationships with peers but for the 57 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:59,040 surrounding community it is beneficial and significant because it creates more awareness. 58 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:06,740 I would say I know some students in the elementary they just aren't aware of disabilities or 59 00:04:06,740 --> 00:04:11,760 individuals with disabilities until they're in class with somebody with a disability and 60 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:16,640 then that creates really awesome conversation about what is a disability, what is this specific 61 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:21,320 disability and how can we be friends, how can we relate to them. 62 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:25,080 Learning that they have a lot of things in common with one another. 63 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:30,360 So that's been really cool to see as are some of my students join their homeroom classes 64 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:34,200 and develop these friendships and seeing the way that their community in their homeroom 65 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:38,680 class learns to love them and learns to relate to them and they have this opportunity that 66 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:40,400 they might not have elsewhere. 67 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:43,840 How do you think the school best accommodates students in the life skills program? 68 00:04:43,840 --> 00:04:50,920 I think ICS does a great job of allowing students the opportunity to be included in the Gen Ed 69 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:52,080 program. 70 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:57,040 So for elementary that's joining a homeroom and going to specials with their homeroom 71 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:00,840 and middle and high school is going to electives. 72 00:05:00,840 --> 00:05:05,440 Beyond that it's joining academic classes as well so some elementary students are joining 73 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:11,440 for reading and social studies and science and Bible, they're going to chapel and just 74 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:16,280 joining their homeroom for as much of the day as possible which I know there are other 75 00:05:16,280 --> 00:05:21,280 programs where it's more of a self-contained classroom so the life skills students are 76 00:05:21,280 --> 00:05:27,000 special ed program is they're just in their classroom all day with their peers who have 77 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:28,000 disabilities. 78 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:32,240 I think ICS does a great job of allowing them to be encouraging and allowing them to be 79 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:37,280 in their homeroom or in the Gen Ed classroom as much as possible throughout the day. 80 00:05:37,280 --> 00:05:42,480 So that's helping with the socialization and then regular other classes and all that 81 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:43,480 kind of stuff? 82 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:47,840 Totally, yeah helping with socialization, social skills for sure and yeah just allowing 83 00:05:47,840 --> 00:05:54,360 other students to see that students with disabilities are able and capable of participating in 84 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:56,800 a lot more than they might assume. 85 00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:01,520 I have one student recently he made a comment of like why isn't so and so in our class 86 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:06,320 more like he's smart he should be up here more and it was because he had seen him do 87 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:12,960 a certain math problem and he recognized that this student was able and capable and so that 88 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:15,840 comments like that are encouraging. 89 00:06:15,840 --> 00:06:20,200 I read recently too that researchers, this was a study I'd read about, researchers 90 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:25,280 tracked nearly 24,000 adolescents who qualified for special education and they discovered 91 00:06:25,280 --> 00:06:31,120 that spending a majority of the day at least 80% in the general ed class improved reading 92 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:37,640 scores and math scores by like tremendously compared to the scores of those who were more 93 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:40,720 in self-contained classrooms and isolated from their peers. 94 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:46,440 That alone just it not only increases their social skills but it also allows them to grow 95 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:47,920 academically as well. 96 00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:49,720 And the data is there to prove it right? 97 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:50,720 Right. 98 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:55,440 So this is a little bit I know you don't have this question but describe maybe what your 99 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:56,960 average day looks like. 100 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:01,720 Sure in the elementary I know it's somewhat similar for middle and high school but for 101 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:04,360 me it's kind of running all over the place throughout the day. 102 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:08,800 I have three students in the elementary and they all start their day in their homeroom 103 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:12,560 classes so that's between two different homerooms a fourth grade and a fifth grade homeroom. 104 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:16,780 So between my TA and I were up there supporting them in their homeroom and then throughout 105 00:07:16,780 --> 00:07:21,760 the day they're either one will stay up there for Bible and some specials and stuff like 106 00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:26,760 that another will come down and do math and reading with me but throughout the day it's 107 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:32,040 kind of back and forth between homeroom going to specials and then working individually 108 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:36,840 with me and when they're down in my classroom it's working on math reading and writing. 109 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:41,140 Okay the next question then is how have you seen the program develop? 110 00:07:41,140 --> 00:07:46,260 This is only my second year here at ICS so I was able to have a conversation with Miss 111 00:07:46,260 --> 00:07:52,920 Nan and Miss Julia who have been here a little bit longer and they shared that the program 112 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:58,120 started at with nothing there was no program and then it started as two students in middle 113 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:02,960 school and then as those students moved up they added in the high school program and 114 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:05,640 then eventually the elementary program was added. 115 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:09,360 Started from nothing and now to an elementary middle and high school program. 116 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:14,040 It's continued to develop to just being able to meet more of students needs having more 117 00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:19,660 staff to support their needs right and the other side of it is the community developing 118 00:08:19,660 --> 00:08:25,560 in awareness and inclusion and just openness to having students with disabilities in their 119 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:26,560 classroom. 120 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:31,560 Initially I know in the elementary at least it started out as just students going to specials 121 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:39,480 and now students are up in homerooms for Bible for reading sometimes science and social studies 122 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:42,520 so that's a huge development. 123 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:46,600 I would say also something that Miss Nan and Miss Julia pointed out was that teachers in 124 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:52,440 the secondary are welcoming the life skills students into their class where I think initially 125 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:57,240 maybe it felt strange or it felt a little awkward to have life skills students in their 126 00:08:57,240 --> 00:09:02,200 class and they weren't necessarily sure how to teach them how to accommodate them so it's 127 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:09,160 been really cool to see in across all levels the homeroom teachers and secondary teachers 128 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:12,120 just welcoming life skills students into their room. 129 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:16,600 Can you tell us more about the new life skills teachers assistant program and how local students 130 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:17,880 can sign up for it? 131 00:09:17,880 --> 00:09:24,800 The life skills TA program we're starting to call links program so you can apply to 132 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:29,360 be a link and that'll be when you register for classes for high school students so when 133 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:37,040 you apply to for register for classes you can specify TA for the life skills class and 134 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:44,640 once you do that you'll get a application and once you apply to teachers we'll get 135 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:46,800 two teacher recommendation forms. 136 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:50,040 What benefits would the students gain from joining the TA program? 137 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:56,520 I think just growing in openness and awareness of individuals who are different than you 138 00:09:56,520 --> 00:10:01,080 I think that's a life skill for all people is learning how to relate and work with people 139 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:07,440 who are different than you and so I think that's a huge skill that all students benefit. 140 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:13,640 Growing in awareness, openness, empathy as you learn how to interact and relate to individuals 141 00:10:13,640 --> 00:10:15,040 who are different than you. 142 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:19,320 I think something that was really cool to see is after the first semester we had three 143 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:27,000 links and they all commented on how just going to that block was a highlight of their day 144 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:30,860 of how much joy that the life skills students brought to their day. 145 00:10:30,860 --> 00:10:36,880 So I think that is another thing that you gain is just a really fun opportunity to relate 146 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:42,880 to people to get to know and build relationships but also the joy that they provide you in 147 00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:43,880 your day. 148 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:49,600 Okay well we're on to our last question and if someone wants to pursue a career in special 149 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:55,160 education how should they go about doing so and do you have any advice for them? 150 00:10:55,160 --> 00:11:02,360 I would say for ICS students if you are thinking about pursuing a career in special ed becoming 151 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:06,760 a link or a life skills TA would be a great opportunity to see if that's something that 152 00:11:06,760 --> 00:11:08,960 you're really passionate about. 153 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:12,560 It gives you a great opportunity to be in the classroom or go to different classes with 154 00:11:12,560 --> 00:11:13,840 the life skills students. 155 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:18,480 I think also finding opportunities to volunteer and work with individuals with disabilities 156 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:22,720 outside of school if that's something you're thinking about just to get that experience 157 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:28,280 and then going forward in university finding a school or a university that has a program 158 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:29,960 for special education. 159 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:36,080 Yeah advice for students who are looking to pursue special education but also just advice 160 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:43,020 for individuals in general I would say is the idea of presuming intelligence not looking 161 00:11:43,020 --> 00:11:47,960 at individuals with disabilities and assuming that they're not able or not capable. 162 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:53,760 I think that's oftentimes when we yeah we're proved wrong the most is when we think like 163 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:57,360 oh they are going to need extra support in this or they're going to just because they 164 00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:02,360 can't communicate what they're thinking or can't communicate what they need right now 165 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:09,040 they must not be smart and so I think that would be the biggest piece of advice for anybody 166 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:15,240 pursuing special ed or life skills or just in general is viewing each individual whether 167 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:19,840 they have a disability or not as able and capable because oftentimes they're a lot smarter 168 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:22,240 than we often assume. 169 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:26,600 So yeah having that mindset going into working with life skills students here at ICS but 170 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:28,720 also just in general. 171 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:32,840 Okay and with that we'll be right back with the short PSA but if you're interested in 172 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:44,400 links and you're here at ICS check it out it's a great new program. 173 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:48,000 Speaking of diversity International Day is right around the corner. 174 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:51,280 This is the day that ICS celebrates its very own diversity. 175 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:54,920 ICS has over 22 countries represented in its student body. 176 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:58,600 There will be amazing food music and games at the after school event along with the show 177 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:01,640 featuring dances and acts representing the countries. 178 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:04,640 Represent your country by wearing traditional clothes during the school day on February 179 00:13:04,640 --> 00:13:07,700 24th. 180 00:13:07,700 --> 00:13:12,200 We are back for part two of our episode that's focused on the topic of life skills. 181 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:14,960 Life skills also include vocational training. 182 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:19,960 Previously I was able to sit down with my business partner and his wife to discuss a 183 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:23,280 social enterprise they started in Hanoi Vietnam. 184 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:28,120 The following conversation was recorded on one of my trips to visit them. 185 00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:33,240 All right could you introduce yourselves and then explain the vision behind Imago work. 186 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:36,400 Sure my name is Mike and I'm here with my wife Michelle. 187 00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:42,400 We've been in Hanoi for 12 years and I've been friends with Jason for a long time and 188 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:45,480 I'm also Jason's business partner in Vietnam. 189 00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:51,760 We started Simple Coffee here a few years ago and that was a few years after Jason started 190 00:13:51,760 --> 00:13:52,760 in Bangkok. 191 00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:59,240 Imago work is a vocational training program for young adults that are 16 and above that 192 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:00,880 have cognitive disabilities. 193 00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:06,520 Yeah the vision for this really kind of comes from our own personal experience of having 194 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:08,720 a son who has special needs or son Evan. 195 00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:11,240 He's 26 this year and he has Down syndrome. 196 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:17,480 And when Mike and Jason and Julie opened up Simple Coffee in Vietnam we invited our son 197 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:22,680 Evan who had had an opportunity to study vocational training in the U.S. 198 00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:26,520 We invited him to come back and work with us in this coffee shop and we just saw how 199 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:31,840 much life it brought to him and just kind of this sense of purpose, sense of dignity. 200 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:35,880 And we thought you know what we would love to do this for more young people not just 201 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:36,880 Evan. 202 00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:42,800 And so we as we've been meeting families living here in Vietnam that are similar to ours we 203 00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:47,880 started to yeah just catch this vision for how we could help other young people like 204 00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:49,160 Evan go to work. 205 00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:53,600 I really like the meaning and vision behind Imago work. 206 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:58,720 Maybe you can give a little information about how you came up with the word Imago. 207 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:01,920 Imago work actually comes from the phrase Imado Dei. 208 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:06,160 So that's a Latin phrase that means image of God. 209 00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:12,720 And so it comes from our own faith background which is this which is the sense that all 210 00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:18,640 humans are created in the image of the creator that they're brought into this world with 211 00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:26,400 special gifts and talents and abilities and they are meant to use those gifts to contribute 212 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:28,680 to our world and to make our world a better place. 213 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:31,000 And so we need these gifts. 214 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:34,980 We need these young people to be using their gifts. 215 00:15:34,980 --> 00:15:39,320 And so when you go to work that's one way that you show that image. 216 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:46,360 And so it's just this way that we can really instill dignity in young people who often 217 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:52,060 are kind of on the margins often are not welcomed or included and don't have a lot of opportunities 218 00:15:52,060 --> 00:15:53,060 for work. 219 00:15:53,060 --> 00:15:57,640 And so we thought well this is a great name for the program. 220 00:15:57,640 --> 00:15:58,640 Imago work. 221 00:15:58,640 --> 00:15:59,640 I really like that. 222 00:15:59,640 --> 00:16:04,560 I'm sure some of our listeners would love to hear about some of the workplace initiatives 223 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:07,040 you've been promoting through this program. 224 00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:11,200 So maybe you can explain some of those initiatives are some of your partnerships with partner 225 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:14,600 businesses as well as some of the training as well. 226 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:20,720 Yeah so actually the inspiration for Imago work and the idea first comes from Thailand. 227 00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:25,600 Actually we met Max Simpson who is who runs Steps with Tira in Bangkok. 228 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:30,320 So that's where we first saw this model of training in a vocational training center for 229 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:36,600 one to two years and then partnering with local businesses within our city to create 230 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:39,180 jobs within these businesses. 231 00:16:39,180 --> 00:16:46,160 So we are in our third year of operation in Hanoi and we currently have about five different 232 00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:48,280 partner businesses in the city. 233 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:54,140 So we work with places like Intercontinental Hotel of course Simple Coffee other coffee 234 00:16:54,140 --> 00:16:57,960 shops like Joma Bakery and Horaberry Coffee. 235 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:02,060 We're just now beginning some partnerships with international schools such as the United 236 00:17:02,060 --> 00:17:04,160 Nations International School. 237 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:09,400 So what we do is we go to these companies and we just share with them this vision and 238 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:14,560 we say hey you know we have some great young people who are looking for work would you 239 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:17,240 consider opening up some jobs for them. 240 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:23,320 And so they get creative and look for different types of jobs that would be suitable for students 241 00:17:23,320 --> 00:17:24,320 like our students. 242 00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:28,160 So what kind of training do you actually do within the program? 243 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:33,120 I know there's different like elements or different segments and there's specific things 244 00:17:33,120 --> 00:17:37,840 you've trained them for in the workplace so maybe you can explain some of that too. 245 00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:42,160 Yeah so there's we train in three basic areas. 246 00:17:42,160 --> 00:17:48,120 A lot of our students are trying to develop skills that will help them with sort of their 247 00:17:48,120 --> 00:17:55,200 basic life and just living skills and so we provide training with basic life skills and 248 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:57,420 then we provide training with social skills. 249 00:17:57,420 --> 00:18:03,560 Some of our students struggle in the area of communication and connecting with other people 250 00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:06,160 and so we provide some training in that area. 251 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:10,760 And then the third area would be vocational skills so these would be practical job skills 252 00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:16,140 and we are just identify the skills that you need in the workplace and we break those skills 253 00:18:16,140 --> 00:18:22,940 down into individual steps and basically help our students learn how to like make a make 254 00:18:22,940 --> 00:18:28,640 a cup of coffee or clean a window or serve a customer. 255 00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:33,120 But we think about these things and then we think about what are all the individual pieces 256 00:18:33,120 --> 00:18:38,340 that go into making a cup of coffee and then breaking it down into those individual steps. 257 00:18:38,340 --> 00:18:46,000 I know there are challenges obviously in working in business and hiring and also training but 258 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:51,240 within your program maybe you can explain or tell us what are some of the challenges 259 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:57,400 you face with this type of work and specifically about when you get some of your trainees ready 260 00:18:57,400 --> 00:19:03,760 and then release them into certain businesses what does that kind of look like? 261 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:05,760 Yeah there's a few different challenges. 262 00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:11,000 I think for us like I was talking about with the training is making sure that we're providing 263 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:17,640 training that is individualized to the needs of our students and so that can be a challenge 264 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:23,560 because some of the students might have challenges in one area or other students have challenges 265 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:29,160 in another area and trying to create a training program that accommodates for all of the different 266 00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:32,880 individual needs at times can be challenging. 267 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:37,880 It's not impossible obviously but it's something that we constantly are revising and then I 268 00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:43,520 think probably but bigger than that the biggest challenge that we face is just the attitudes 269 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:50,080 in society when we're approaching people about this they tend to think of it first in terms 270 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:58,080 of charity how can we help people with these cognitive differences and we try to approach 271 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:02,480 it in a way where we're encouraging people that it's not about just helping them but 272 00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:08,280 it's also about allowing these young adults to access their gifts and their talents and 273 00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:12,880 be able to bring those gifts and talents into the workplace because they do have a lot to 274 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:19,300 bring to the workplace and so part of the challenge is showing businesses what those 275 00:20:19,300 --> 00:20:23,840 benefits are and how they can benefit from these students being in the workplace. 276 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:29,040 And my next question is how have your participants responded to the training it seems like there's 277 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:35,040 been a great positive response but maybe you can speak specifically about some of the individuals 278 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:39,760 that you've been working with and some of the growth that you've seen in them. 279 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:43,700 What they love is just this idea that they are going into training and they're being 280 00:20:43,700 --> 00:20:48,360 trained to go to work and for many of them you know they just haven't had that experience 281 00:20:48,360 --> 00:20:55,000 before and so it's already just exciting it's exciting to come in and be able to learn how 282 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:59,440 to operate an espresso machine learn how to fraud milk and these are things that they 283 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:04,880 often see in a coffee shop but then for them to get to try it and step by step become more 284 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:10,680 confident it's very exciting. One of our first trainees his name is Zwi and he has Down 285 00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:16,840 Syndrome just like our son Eben. I remember them showing up at Imago one day and his dad 286 00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:22,360 saying you know we have a vision for our son to be able to go to work and so it was neat 287 00:21:22,360 --> 00:21:29,500 to see Zwi come from knowing not a single thing about how to pull a shot or how to fraud 288 00:21:29,500 --> 00:21:34,460 milk and then over the time of him being in our program be able to make all the different 289 00:21:34,460 --> 00:21:38,640 kind of coffee drinks that you can make in a coffee shop and then what's very exciting 290 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:45,560 is that now he is in a really great internship at Intercontinental Hotel where he works he 291 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:55,000 gets to work in the bakery and he is part of that team he goes every day and works on 292 00:21:55,000 --> 00:22:00,720 doing different things with packaging their cakes and their pastries. Probably the best 293 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:04,400 part of it though is because you know as we started there they didn't really know him 294 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:08,200 and I think the staff there were also like not sure how they're gonna work with him but 295 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:12,380 now that he's been in there over a year he's part of their team and so they're excited 296 00:22:12,380 --> 00:22:16,560 to have him and they love him and so I think that's that's what we want to see you know 297 00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:22,000 it's not just us training them and then getting them the job but then seeing the staff in 298 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:26,280 the workplace environment feel confident and excited to have someone like Zwi on their 299 00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:30,080 team. And one thing that I would add to that too is that the type of students that we work 300 00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:35,200 with they've been labeled disabled and so because they have that label people tend to 301 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:40,640 approach them with the attitude of how can I help this person what can I do for this 302 00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:46,560 person and through a MAGA work they're able to to sort of move out of that environment 303 00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:52,320 of receiving and get to a place where they can now actually contribute to to the workplace 304 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:56,620 contribute to the community and that really does a lot for their own personal sense of 305 00:22:56,620 --> 00:23:02,240 dignity because instead of just being on the receiving end of things they can now use their 306 00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:06,640 gifts and they can use their talents and they can bring that into the community and and 307 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:11,320 have it be something that benefits you know the the workplace that they're in. 308 00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:17,140 Let me move on to our final question as we're running out of time but this kind of is similar 309 00:23:17,140 --> 00:23:22,160 to the previous question but what are some of those special things that you see that 310 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:28,400 make this type of work worth it. I know it's hard work and I've seen how hard it is and 311 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:33,440 but maybe you can talk about some of those things that you see personally as well as 312 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:38,720 maybe in participants but also in some of those businesses that just make going and 313 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:44,000 doing this every day worth it for you. I think for me we can both answer this I think 314 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:51,520 what makes it worth it is just being able to see other people have a changed mindset 315 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:56,200 you know so for example we have volunteers that come every week and they spend time in 316 00:23:56,200 --> 00:24:01,160 our social skills club and in the beginning they feel nervous they don't know how to even 317 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:06,680 like talk to somebody that is different and they feel really kind of unsure but then it's 318 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:12,320 just fun to see over you know a few weeks how those relationships become like normal 319 00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:17,260 friendships for our peer mentors when they come in they all of a sudden don't even pay 320 00:24:17,260 --> 00:24:22,000 attention to the disability but it just seems like a normal friendship to them so I think 321 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:26,280 that's what I like seeing that happen in this friendship relationship and then in the workplace 322 00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:31,880 too just that they have just these normal relationships they don't notice the differences 323 00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:37,000 anymore. Yeah and as a as a business owner for Simple Coffee we have part of the training 324 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:42,560 program is that the students come down into the coffee shop where they can get some experience 325 00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:48,180 and what's really cool about that and what's worth it for me isn't so much the experience 326 00:24:48,180 --> 00:24:53,200 that they get as the students but the fact that they have an impact on our staff and 327 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:59,060 our staff just by interacting with our students it changes their perception of what disability 328 00:24:59,060 --> 00:25:04,840 is it changes their perception of maybe somebody with autism and Down syndrome that they didn't 329 00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:09,240 know how to interact with but then just by working with them in the coffee shop now they 330 00:25:09,240 --> 00:25:14,720 feel more comfortable and so that for me is very much worth it. Okay actually I have one 331 00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:21,760 more question we always want to end with asking the question about if you were to give advice 332 00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:27,160 to our listeners what advice would you give? Sure yeah so from a business standpoint when 333 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:33,220 we often think about diversity in the workplace what comes to our mind most immediately is 334 00:25:33,220 --> 00:25:40,000 probably like ethnicity or skin color or gender you know when we think about a diverse workplace 335 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:44,800 we think of people from different ethnic backgrounds and and people from representing different 336 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:49,580 genders right? Also realizing that diversity has to do with more than just that it has 337 00:25:49,580 --> 00:25:54,920 to do with like people's physical abilities people's intellectual abilities and so recognizing 338 00:25:54,920 --> 00:26:01,880 that a workplace for it to be truly diverse it needs to have people that are that have 339 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:06,960 physical challenges or that have intellectual challenges or developmental challenges having 340 00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:13,240 those people in the workplace helps to create diversity. My advice is just to everyone in 341 00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:21,160 general as a mom who has a child with special needs I think it is so amazing that he can 342 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:27,400 have his own friends and he can have a social life and so I really encourage you if you 343 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:31,200 don't have someone like that in your life if you don't know someone with Down syndrome 344 00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:39,000 or autism or other types of cognitive differences then I would really encourage you to go find 345 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:44,800 a place where you can interact where you can meet them and make friends with them and like 346 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:48,880 as Mike said not like in a pity way but in a way that your life is going to be so enriched 347 00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:57,600 by these relationships and so I just think that that is just a great thing to do. As 348 00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:01,840 we end this episode we'd like to thank our guests for joining it has been a pleasure 349 00:27:01,840 --> 00:27:07,280 to have you on the podcast our next episode is going to be AI related featuring a new 350 00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:12,760 language model this podcast would not be possible without the hard work and support of our international 351 00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:17,600 student production team. All music and sound effects are a courtesy of Pixabay.com a vibrant 352 00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:22,920 community of creatives sharing copyright free images videos and music and we are signing 353 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:27,800 off until next time we're students incorporated because your voice matters.