Future STEP Students Get a Chance to Check Out Program

and high school students who will attend  (STEP) in the fall got a glimpse of what they will experience Tuesday during STEP’s “step-up” day.

“You are all about to enter the adult phase of your life,” Erica Ekstrom, principal of STEP, told the more than two dozen students. “When you start with us in the fall, we want you to be able to tell us three things: what kind of job or career you want, how you think you can get there either by going straight to the work force or taking some classes, and where you want to live.

“We want to help you achieve your dreams,” she added. “It’s really important for you to know what your goals and dreams are because we will help you get there.”

A panel of current STEP students answered such questions as the length of the STEP day (7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.), how to find out what businesses are hiring (the STEP Resource Room), if money is made on the job right away (probably not until after “lots” of job training) and how STEP can help participants overcome their weaknesses.

Following the panel discusses, the high school students toured the STEP facility in Bolingbrook, learned about job opportunities from STEP Transition Specialists, took part in some sample lessons and enjoyed a barbeque.

The STEP program, with a current enrollment of 52 young adults, is designed to assist eligible 18-to-21-year-old special needs students in the district with independent living skills and vocational education needs.