The Pride Program

Utica Safe Schools Healthy Students Partnership, Inc. program through the Utica School District has given us funding to provide two employees to the Utica School District.  'Pride' is a program for teenagers in junior high that allows Arc staff to work with junior high students and help them adjust to the special challenges faced by teens with a disability. These teachers provide structured socialization skill training and outreach program to identified groups of children with developmental disabilities in both Kennedy and Donovan Junior High Schools.  The program teaches and assists the youth in learning how to constructively integrate their behavior with others in the school, community and home environments.  The Arc also assists in providing a linkage between the home and the school and the community.
The long-term outcome that we expect would be that the students served by this program will develop skills that will enable them to interact more effectively with peers, adults, and future employers.  They would also learn to take an active role in their community.  It is expected that the students will develop skills that will allow them to cope with the diverse situations that they encounter when they leave the school building.  They will learn to recognize what they can offer to their community as a service and how they can participate as a part of a social network of family, friends and community.