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Department Feature
VAC / Job Coaches
A PURPOSE
EVERY PIECE HAS
FASTfacts
3
Job coaches
2
Certified Orientation
and Mobility
Specialists
50 (approx.)
Current VAC
students
16 years
There is no better place for special education students to receive
real-world training than the real world itself.
This is the philosophy of the vocational adjustment class
(VAC), a work/study program designed to transition students with
disabilities into the world of work. In VAC, vocational training and
job experience are combined with academic courses that lead to the
development of employment potential.
“We want students with disabilities to have opportunities for
employment and postsecondary education so they’ll have successful
lives,” said Kathy Mattox, special
education transition and family
services coordinator. “VAC is
one part of the big picture of
transition, as we help students
fulfill their dreams and their
desires and interests of having
employment.”
The VAC program currently
has approximately 50 students
taking advantage of the work/
study program, a figure that
routinely fluctuates as students
leave jobs and other students
join the program.
Students with disabilities
may enter the program after
they reach 16 years of age.
The program awards one credit
Minimum age
requirement
5-15
Hours worked per
week
5
Hours per credit
Cy-Fair HS student
Alyssa FloresRousseau assists
Haulmark Trucking,
Inc. vice president
Laura Branson
at the workplace
through the VAC
program. Laura’s
husband, Mark, the
president and CEO
of Haulmark, is a
Cy-Fair HS alumnus.
(continued on page 4)
eConnection / 3
Department Feature
VAC / Job Coaches
per five hours worked each week,
and students can earn up to three
credits, or 15 hours worked per
week.
To assist students with finding
these opportunities, CFISD
employs three job coaches and two
vocational adjustment coordinators
who each monitor up to five
campuses every week and make
30-40 job site visits every month.
The job coaches serve as
liaisons to a variety of businesses
in the Cy-Fair community and
VAC job coach Nicholas Zasowski, far left, and vocational
maintain a portfolio of potential
adjustment coordinator Joan Potter, far right, present
employers interested in giving
a certificate of appreciation to It’s Ribs! Manager Pery
opportunities to high school
Vivar and cashier Rebecca Bradfield for being partners in
students with disabilities.
CFISD’s VAC program. Through the VAC program, a special
“On occasion, employers will
education student from Cypress Ridge High School is
contact us if they’re interested in
transitioning into the world of work with a job at the local
employing students,” said job coach
barbeque business.
Nicholas Zasowski, who assists
students at Jersey Village, Cypress
Ridge, Langham Creek, Cypress Springs and Cypress Lakes. “The other way is being out
in the community and talking to people; being aware when a sign pops up that a business
is looking to hire someone. We also maintain relationships with employers from the past.
There’s a certain warehouse that has hired a different student each year for four years.”
According to Mattox, the job coaches and vocational adjustment coordinators also
assist students with writing résumés and filling out applications, and sometimes present
information about employment at occupational training classes.
Zasowski, who has served in his role as a job coach for five years, said he frequently
sees cases of students who are struggling academically succeed in the workplace—which
carries over into all their classes.
“This gives them an avenue to see how school can help in the long-term,” he said. “It’s
sometimes refreshing for them to be learning something besides Shakespeare and numbers
or letters.
“The students truly do love what they’re doing. They are learning a skill they can see
in action and
in practice,”
he said. “The
Clockwise from bottom left, CFISD
opportunity I
vocational adjustment coordinator
have to see a
Carolyn Jenkins, job coaches Gail
student who
Marshall and Therese Velez have
finally puts it
built a partnership through the VAC
all together
program with Haulmark Trucking, Inc.
and meets their
president and CEO Mark Branson and
potential is my
vice president Laura Branson.
motivation.”
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