• UCNECT links students to their future

    UCNECTNick DeSchutter has big dreams for his future. 
     
    He wants to get permanent employment at his current job site and live independently so he can enjoy his interests in music, games and spending time with his friends. 
     
    Getting him to those dreams is what the Utica Center Network for Employment and Community Transition (UCNECT) is all about.
     
    Located in the district’s Training and Development Center, the program develops independent skills for special needs students ages 18 to 26. 

    “This program is really their bridge from high school to adult life,” said teacher Audrey Kranzo. “This gives them time to work on independence skills and grow. This is an important leap to what happens the rest of their adult life.”
     
    The program prepares students for their independence through a mixture of developing social skills – how to treat others with kindness and respect -  academic reinforcement – math and English – and through linking them to job sites for employability and financial independence.  MORE. 


    UCNECT students celebrate the road to independence

    GraduationUCNECT (Utica's Center to Network for Employment and Community Transition) is celebrating seven students who will be moving on to bigger and better things!

    Louis Paveglio, Nathan George, Hannah Relph, Dersauria Gilbert, Krista Ulrich, and Skyler Summerford have finished the UCNECT program. Many of the students will be working in the community or volunteering at Aktion Club or the Humane Society.

    These students have spent several years at UCNECT learning how to become independent adults.  They have practiced skills like cooking and doing laundry, following a school and work schedule, along with having fun in the community at places like The Detroit Historical Museum and the Zoo.  MORE