Students with Intellectual Disabilities Graduate from Internship Program Aimed at Giving Them Real-World Job Experience

Students with Intellectual Disabilities Graduate from Internship Program Aimed at Giving Them Real-World Job Experience

It's graduation season, and students across Hamilton County are celebrating their accomplishments and looking toward the future. Five Hamilton County students celebrated a particularly special milestone Wednesday as they completed Project Search, an on-the-job internship program at BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee for people with intellectual disabilities. The students, who have all completed special education programs at their home high schools, spent the school year at the BlueCross campus, doing rotations in different departments and performing real jobs alongside company employees. Brittany Barnett said she really liked her coworkers. "They treated me like any other employee," she said. Her classmate, Martin Boatwright, agreed, saying the whole group felt that way. Boatwright spent time working for BlueCross' environmental services department in the cafeteria and the fitness center, as well as in the company's BlueCare department. Read More