Media Minute – Career Education

Many TSBVI staff and students look forward to a delicious lunch on Friday’s made at the campus Bistro, one of the on-campus work environments in Career Education offered at TSBVI. Students prepare and serve meals, often with fresh produce they’ve grown from our garden. They practice customer service and teamwork skills. This Media Minute will feature media from the various on and off-campus Career Education experiences provided by Comprehensive, Short-Term, and Summer Programs.

To prepares students for their unique adult schedule and life in their home community, TSBVI collaborates with a team comprised of the student, their family and care providers, local district, state agencies, and other community members. Career education is one of the areas of the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC).  Texas Senate Bill 39 states that evaluation in all areas of the ECC is required for students with visual impairments. TSBVI Comprehensive Programs provides a continuum of Career Education experiences for students in K-12, the 18+ Experience In Transition Program (EXIT), and the Post-Secondary Program (PSP) in coordination with Criss Cole Rehabilitation Center (CCRC) and the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC).

During the school year, students in Comprehensive Programs receive TEA-approved College and Technical Education (CTE) credits towards their High School graduation requirements by participating in a variety of courses at TSBVI including General Employability, Work Exploration and Training, Child Development, Human Services, Nutrition, Hospitality, Audio/Video Production, and Computer Science, among others. Students in Middle School, Grades 6-8, also learn about prerequisite skills for general employability.

Students engage in on-campus routines that include deliveries, recycling, gardening, stocking bird feeders, and paper shredding. Assembly and Manufacturing is an on-campus rotation where students use various tools and machinery to assemble products. TSBVI students receive orders to embroider apparel for various TSBVI and outside events. During a monthly Farmer’s Market, students prepare treats, create crafts, and design original items to sell on campus.  Students also create and tend gardens, plant for community service, nurture a vertical green space, and volunteer at the Sunshine Community Gardens. Read more about our gardening and horticulture programs in the Gardening Media Minute.

For nearly 15 years, TSBVI has had an Animal Care classroom on campus where students learn to care for small animals by grooming, bathing, brushing, cleaning up after the critters, feeding and socializing them. Students may also gain work experience by volunteering at the local Austin Humane Society. Students go on outings to area farms and animal rescue locations to further learn about how community organizations care for animals. Read more about our Animal care programs in the Animal Care Media Minute.

Please enjoy this video from 2011 which highlights the original TSBVI Animal Care classroom!

Students in Comprehensive and Summer Programs engage in off-campus work experiences with the support of local business and agencies who train them to become successful employees and future business leaders. These include DoubleTree and Westin Hotels, HEB and Wheatsville Food Co-Op, Goodwill, and Café Monet Art and Clay Studio, among many others. Please view the long list of community groups on our website that provide invaluable off-campus vocational experiences to TSBVI students that help inform them about their preferences for future work.

TSBVI Career Education staff are highly skilled and creative. They accompany students to Career Fairs, schedule visits with various agencies like the Lighthouse for the Blind and TWC, coordinate a mentor program with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) that pairs adults who are blind with TSBVI students, and host on-campus Career Café’s, which bring guests to campus to discuss different professions in-depth. Staff also seek out enriching volunteer experiences to give students important service-related Career Education. Students assemble hygiene kits for individuals experiencing homelessness, work at Ronald McDonald House, and wrap presents for the Brown Santa Toy Drive.

For students not enrolled in Comprehensive Programs School-Year, Summer Programs Summer Work Experience in Austin, TX (SWEAT) provides training in the ECC with a focus on living skills, Orientation and Mobility, social skills and lessons on employability skills. Students will also have a paid job opportunity in the Austin community supported by a job coach. Summer Programs Working and Living in the Community (WALIC) provides students with vocational and independent living experiences. In WALIC, emphasis is placed on developing independent living and community access skills, as well as promoting personal responsibility and initiative, during work and throughout all other activities. Short Term Programs is offering “High School Independence Weekend: College and Vocational Prep with Parents,” a new course in the 2024-2025 school year. This course is designed for students and their families interested in understanding the challenges and considerations involved in preparing for college, choosing a vocational school, or selecting a career path.

Thank you to the many Job Coaches, Teaching Assistants, and Instructional and Residential staff in Comprehensive and Short Term Programs for sharing the great Career Education documentation!