Empowering Futures: STRIVE Program at 35
The STRIVE Boston Public Schools Wentworth Training Program celebrates 35 years of providing vocational training and true community inclusion to over 6,000 local youth with disabilities
When Raquan Wright Pritchett first walked through the doors of the STRIVE Wentworth Program at age 19, he didn’t know how to ask for help–or have the skills he needed to land a job and launch a career.
Three years into the program, Wright Pritchett sat down with pride to reflect on how far he’s come. He had just worked a morning shift using industrial equipment and chemical-free cleaning products to sanitize and polish the common area floors of an Institute residence hall. “When I got here, I was struggling. This program saved me, kept me out of trouble, and now when I look at myself, I can see that there is a big change,” he said.
STRIVE stands for Supported Training to Reach Independence through Vocational Experiences. Now celebrating its 35th year, the community-based program was created by the Boston Public Schools in partnership with Wentworth, to provide vocational training and life skills to youth with disabilities before they transition from high school to post-secondary life.
More than 6,000 individuals have successfully participated in the program—and 99.9% of them were able to apply their newfound skills to gain employment, advocate for themselves, and live independently.
Wentworth considers each of the 130 current STRIVE participants to be invaluable members of its community and staff, pays them for their time, and honors them with celebrations like a popular annual Thanksgiving Lunch.
STRIVE participants like Wright Pritchett receive the hard skills necessary to take on roles in facilities management, hospitality, customer service, business management, and public works (recycling). They also cultivate the soft skills that are critical for making friends, keeping safe, and staying healthy as adults.
Learning transferable skills on the job
“You are walking into a place of awesomeness and these students are the kings and queens,” promises STRIVE liaison to Wentworth, Brenda Tañón-Jackson, tugging open the heavy doors to the recycling center on campus, a space participants call the Green Side.
Inside, the Green Side team is working hard at various stations—taking inventory, sorting, and weighing cardboard, compacting it using specialized machinery, and getting it ready to be sent to a larger off campus processing facility.
“They are reliable employees with solid skills. If given the chance to be seen for more than just their disabilities, they are going to blow your mind,” Tañón-Jackson promised.
A special education teacher in Boston Public Schools for decades, she’s led STRIVE at Wentworth since 2015, continuing the legacy of the important community partnership that the program’s director, David Wahlstrom, Wentworth’s current vice president of Business, began.
The Green Side team picks up and processes the contents of 689 recycling bins daily—plus cardboard from around the Institute’s green campus. But it’s a lot more than just recycling. “All the skills they learn here are transferable skills,” Tañón-Jackson explained.
Participants learn to navigate the MBTA system to get to work, clock in, greet colleagues, read a daily schedule, and navigate campus from a map. An employee section of the space includes a microwave, coffee machine, and a washer and dryer for cleaning uniforms–giving them practice mastering daily tasks.
A safe place to fail–and try again
There is a big learning curve and sometimes it involves falling flat and getting back up again with the genuine encouragement of peers and staff. “Our program is a safe place to fail without getting fired—and to get up and try again,” Tañón-Jackson said.
Wright Pritchett experienced that firsthand. He started out on the Green Side and learned the value of showing up and working on a team. He said, “I learned how to take accountability here. If I don’t know how to do something my teammate might be able to teach me and vice versa. We work really well together.”
He’s prepared to take that knowledge to the next stage of his career beyond Wentworth, where he hopes to get a facilities management job at a federal building using the same industrial equipment he’s learned to operate so confidently at STRIVE. These days, that newfound confidence shines outside work too. Wright Pritchett recently started writing music and performing it in live rap shows.
Succeeding after the STRIVE Wentworth Program
STRIVE alumni can be found around the greater Boston area working as a manager at Stop N’ Shop, a dog groomer at the Animal Rescue League, an auto detailer at a local car dealership, or a transporter at Logan Airport. The most popular role is working in facilities management at federal buildings or local luxury hotels.
The walls of the vocational education training room are papered in encouraging quotes. One reads, “Think big! You are capable of more than you know.”
That’s the same message that Angela Thomas needed to internalize when she first arrived at STRIVE three years ago struggling to make friends, to stop hiding behind her phone, and to focus on work. These days, instead of scrolling, she’s learned to shine as someone who is legally blind–to the point that she now has her own YouTube channel where she offers glamorous makeup tutorials.
Thomas said, “People really push you here and Miss Brenda motivates me to get here on time and makes me feel safe and loved. You don’t have to be scared to mess up here. They are here to help you succeed.”
Regardless of the disability, STRIVE believes that all participants are capable learners. Each individual is recognized with respect for their unique set of abilities, t mentored, and assigned challenging projects. Frequent job evaluations, raises, and promotions truly prepare them for the workforce beyond Wentworth.
For the next chapter in her professional journey, Thomas dreams of working retail at one of her favorite stores like Sephora or Express, where she would like to run checkout and get to talk about the fashion and beauty industries with customers.
Tañón-Jackson and her colleagues are already on the hunt for the right employer and agency to help Thomas take that next big step and succeed. She’s constantly looking to match more experienced participants with potential employers–and educating their staff about honoring and learning from those with disabilities by becoming more inclusive.
“If you love what you do you, you want to come to work,” Tañón-Jackson said, high-fiving Thomas.
The STRIVE Boston Public Schools Wentworth Training Program is actively seeking partners and sponsors in the greater Boston business community. Contact Director Brenda Tañón-Jackson for a tour of the program and to learn more: tanonjacksonb@wit.edu.