Onondaga Pathways to Careers (OPC) at Onondaga Community College (OCC)
…for Young People with Disabilities
Greetings!
Engaging our Scholars
OPC Scholars and staff have begun to meet monthly. During these meetings, Scholars participate in engaging activities that will help them to plan their transition from high school to college. Below is a description of the Scholars' activities for each month this fall:
In November, the Scholars:
Received a "primer" on college admissions
Reviewed OCC's application process
Learned about financial aid, FAFSA and paying for college
Had their individual questions answered
In December, the Scholars:
Reviewed different types of disabilities
Practiced self-advocacy by describing their own disability in writing
Described the accommodations they use to help them be successful
Presented information about their disability to the group
In January, the Scholars will begin to:
Look at their own skills, interests and personalities and understand how they align with different career fields
Explore different careers, including educational requirements and life-long earnings potential
Identify expectations for the workplace
Jason Benetti presents "Media and Disability: Fighting First Impressions"
Jason Benetti is a television sports play-by-play announcer. He also has Cerebral Palsy. Benetti visited OCC in November to deliver a presentation called "Media and Disability: Fighting First Impressions."
Benetti spoke about the media industry. He described the "snap judgments" that many decisions are based on. He also shared stories about some of his experiences on television, on the road and in life.
Benetti's message was powerful. It was geared toward understanding and shattering first impressions.
Benetti's visit was part of a Fall Speaker Series that was hosted by OPC. The series provided various disability awareness events to the OCC community.
A captioned video of Benetti's presentation will be available soon. You will be able to find it on the Onondaga Pathways to Careers website.
Savvy Students Learn About Secret to Success
Over 1600 students have learned about the secret to success. That’s the number of savvy learners who took advantage of free services at the Learning Center this Fall.
This newsletter was developed under the Onondaga Community College Pathways to Careers Initiative funded through a cooperative agreement from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (Number #OD-. OD-26453-14-75-4-36.)
