Lisa.Laqua@k12northstar.org

all messages by user

10/22/2019 Topic: Internships in hospitals with approx 150 beds Lisa Laqua	Fairbanks Project SEARCH grew from having 9 internship sites in 2015 to over 20 in 2016. I found that getting into department meetings worked well for presenting them with our purpose. You have to be able to explain how your intern can "lighten the load" for some of their staff members. Word of mouth is always the best, so I utilize quotes from our long-standing supervisors when presenting to potential department leaders. It also helps if you can get a member of the HR team on your steering committee. Fortunately, our business liaison is part of the HR department here, but her supervisor was made a part of the team to help build those relationships throughout the hospital. Keep in mind that the folks you are talking to are very busy, so keep it brief and to the point. Create a handout that can be viewed at a later date. It also helps if your hospital has a Public Relations department that will help highlight your program.
10/22/2019 Topic: Rotation Interview Feedback Lisa Laqua	I am wondering how other sites conduct the interviews for each rotation. We have each intern interview with two departments, and we typically make the determination based on the skills. However, this year I would like to use feedback from the interviewers to help in the placement decision. Does anyone have a form that you provide supervisors for feedback?
11/21/2019 Topic: Holiday Celebrations Lisa Laqua	As our program has grown, so has our need to find ways to make our interns feel more included. Does anyone host a gift exchange/holiday party for your interns and supervisors/mentors? I have an intern with no family holiday traditions, so I want to give all of them a new "work tradition" this year. Any and all suggestions are appreciated.
1/6/2020 Topic: Project SEARCH in small towns and rural areas Lisa Laqua	Erin, I would be more than happy to chat with the folks in B.C. I know that our program is very unique in that our district provides transportation, and we are pretty spread out in terms of distance. Feel free to share my info.
3/11/2020 Topic: URGENT - IEP change when intern gets a job! Lisa Laqua	If your intern is no longer receiving services from the program (district), you should exit him or her from the program. While they may still qualify for services based on age, they are not receiving services by choice. Here is one option you could use if the student would still qualify for services if employment is not successful: StudentName will not receive special education services at this time. StudentName will be considered to be on the inactive special education list and no special education services will be provided at this time. StudentName is still eligible for special education services until the age of 22 and will be made active again upon contact from his/her parent/guardian" An IEP amendment meeting is not necessary, just an exit with written notice.
3/11/2020 Topic: Pharmacy Internships Lisa Laqua	Tina, are your interns required to complete HIPAA training? Our host site requires us to provide training to all interns, regardless of internship placements. This is done as a part of our orientation process. This year, it was done online. There was a test that had to be completed. We provided accommodations as outlined by IEPs. This might help you get back into the pharmacy if your liaison can help you with the training.
3/21/2020 Topic: Online learning resources Lisa Laqua	Hello! I don't know what the situation is like in your location, but we are struggling with interns that do not have access to internet or have spotty service. Alaska is just entering the phase of knowing we will not be returning to the classroom/work site. My suggestion is that you reach out to interns/families of those who are not completing tasks assigned to see if there is a reason. Perhaps they sent an email and forgot to BCC you. For us, I am working closely with our business liaison as well as our DVR counselors to move toward employment where possible. Again, this may not be possible for your area, but I wanted to share what steps we are taking here to insure our interns remain a priority. I set up an Edmodo page (much like a Google Classroom page) so that I can send assignments and activities throughout this break. Yesterday the assignment that was due was to email their email mentor and bcc me on it. Only 3 of my 8 interns did this. Any ideas on how to hold interns accountable for this outside work? Especially if they don't think they are coming back to Project SEARCH this year? Thanks in advance! Tasha
3/21/2020 Topic: Online learning resources Lisa Laqua	Nearpod is a great online resource. It gives teachers a platform for creating interactive lessons that can be self-paced. They have a great library with lessons you may be able to use already created, or you may just need to tweak them. I have some non-readers in the Fairbanks program, so I am taking some I have used in the past and adding audio. I will continue to add more resources as I work with my team here to develop an online learning plan.
3/23/2020 Topic: COVID-19-Ways to Engage Interns Lisa Laqua	Let me start by saying how much I appreciate all the ideas being shared here. If anyone out there has come up with a way to work with interns without internet service, I would appreciate that information. Here in Fairbanks, we struggle with outlying folks having connectivity. I know that I have at least one intern with no internet service, relying solely on his cell phone to stay connected to our program with spotty service. Unfortunately, that is very limiting in what I can send him.
3/25/2020 Topic: New Intern Interviews Lisa Laqua	Tammy Maddox wrote: We were suppose to hold interviews today, March 24th, but our school system is shut down until May 15th. What are you doing about the interviews for candidates for next year?
3/25/2020 Topic: New Intern Interviews Lisa Laqua	Lisa Laqua wrote: We are going to use a video conferencing platform to conduct our interviews next week. Tammy Maddox: We were suppose to hold interviews today, March 24th, but our school system is shut down until May 15th. What are you doing about the interviews for candidates for next year?
8/2/2020 Topic: Internship Roll Out Schedules Lisa Laqua	Macy, Our host site is prepared to have interns return to the hospital, but the district has not given us the green light yet. Will you have skills trainers on site to work with interns? If so, I would plan a staggered roll-out, just as you would if you were in the building for class instruction. Utilize your virtual instruction for training specific skills that would prepare the remaining interns for the job site. There are some very useful ideas posted in other areas of the chat. Once I learn from our district leadership if we will be allowed to return to the host site for instruction, I will post more information. Macy Kellenberger wrote: Have any sites that are only doing virtual learning and using their host sites for internships only began creating or thinking about how you will be placing and training the interns in their internships? We always utilized the classroom space for interns who have not been trained in their new internships yet and had a rotating schedule of training/classroom time when placing all the interns in new internships. Without having the classroom space to utilize, we were wondering if anyone has come up with any ideas for this. Thank you in advance!
11/24/2020 Topic: Recruitment for 2021-2022 Program Year Lisa Laqua	We already know that hosting our Annual Open House is not possible this year. I am concerned about how we will manage recruitment without the ability to host potential candidates for tours and Meet & Greet events. We have discussed the possibility of hosting a virtual Open House, but I am interested in learning what other sites might be doing to reach families this year.