001Thanks for being here. I was happy to recognize you and I couldn't remember when you sat here. I was like, "Oh yeah, that's right. Been in a couple meetings with good to see you again." >> Yep. I'm glad I think you were a little bit behind, so I'm glad that you were available. >> Yes. >> Well, Friday night it worked out. Okay. >> Nobody else. >> Excellent. Well, and you were willing to take a little bit of time out of your Talk amongst Yeah. >> Not quite ready. Well, good afternoon everyone. My name is Nick Hayes and I'm one of two administrators that works for Community Transitions. It's I'm actually an administrator. Um it's an honor to welcome you here. Family and friends of our graduates. Um our amazing CT staff is here. Thank you
002for being here. Um our Bellingham Public Schools administrators and board members are here. Um most importantly, it's an honor to welcome our graduating class of 2026. Here they are. Before we begin, we Bellingham public schools acknowledge that we are residing in the traditional, ancestral, and unseated territory of the Co Salish peoples, including the Lummy Nation and the Noosack tribe. LMI and Noosack are the original inhabitants of Washington's northernmost coastal region. Since time immemorial, Co Salish people celebrated life on this land, the waterways, and on the traditional ancestral and unseated lands of their people to perpetuate their way of life. We honor their ancestors and acknowledge the past, present, and future of the Co Salish people. Now, please welcome our superintendent, Dr. Baker. Thank you very much, Nick. And uh I also want to just extend
003my um welcome to everybody uh here. Um and somewhere to Nick. Um some thank yous. First to this is such a How many of you have been to one of these before? A lot. Okay. It's like a family. Um and it's really the CT staff is the culmination of our staff's experience with these wonderful students. We have staff every year in the audience who have worked with our students for many years. And it's fun to just see teachers and paraprofessionals and custodians and food services and bus drivers and um these young people have made an impact on us um over many many years and so it's always a great celebration to come together for our entire district, our entire staff. So um on behalf of all of our staff um CT and across the district
004um congratulations to our students. Um, I've known many, many of you for many, many years and I'm very proud to see you sitting here today. And, uh, to our families, congratulations to you on this important evening. Um, you've been great partners for many years as we've worked together to, uh, raise such outstanding young people. So, we're going to get right to the fun of the night, which is to, uh, get to our, uh, students themselves. So, thank you for being here and for all your support. So, our first graduate is actually a Victor Mahia, and he's not here yet, but if he shows up during the time, we'll pop him into the program. So, I also just want to say that Liz and Zach and I are um we just feel a great honor in
005honoring all of these humans tonight. We've known a lot of them for a very long time. Okay, so our first graduate is Kaylee Keller. This is Kaylee. We had technology this year, so we decided to actually put some things together um to show you um Kaylee and Mark in some visual representations of their times at Community Transitions. Words are not their mode of communication, but connection is. And so we wanted you visually to see a little bit of their time with us. So, I'm just going to give you a second to absorb this Snapchat over here to the left. So, definitely one of um Kayle's fan favorites. So, sensory um need sensory activities, art activities. Um this vibe in the store. When you see Kaylee Keller in the store, she owns it like none other.
006Um, so bubbles, smiles, connection with others, handholds, anything um that Kaylee has built up over the last four years with the staff that have had um the ability um the chance to work with her. So, um I'm going to talk a little bit more specifically about Kaylee. So, she was successful with many things at Community Transitions. She built routines of independent living. She enjoyed matching, sorting, and engaging in sensory and art related activities. um her she had many connections with community members and peers at Max Higgby and that was one of her greatest accomplishments. Um she traveled in the community to grocery shop, to eat snack, to go to civic field and she even dabbled in attending the mentor class on campus at Western Washington University. Her two biggest successes um like I said were
007Max Higgby and going to work. Um Max Higgby truly is a place for friends. Um, and Amy Johnson sent a beautiful picture of her connecting with another member just recently, and we're hopeful and excited that she can continue those connections throughout her life. She began her work journey by completing a trial work experience at the OT PT department um with u making beaded fidgets for other students and also sorting supplies. The Ark of Watcom County hosted Kaylee um for a trial work experience and it was so successful that they officially hired her for a paid job to to address labels, shred and stuff envelopes. Seeing her dad post about their first day of work will always be a highlight for me. Um, Zach, who worked with both Kaylee and Mark during his time at Bellingham
008High School, noted that one of his fondest memories of Kaylee and Mark was listening to them hum along with a class while Take Me Home Country Roads was playing and the power that music can bring in bringing us all together in a universal language. Aaron noted so accurately that Kaylee is an intelligent, capable, and highly complex human with so many fascinating layers. A sound that will be dearly missed is the happy squeal of delight and twinkle in her eyes when something amuses her. Like I said, Snapchat filters are her favorite. Um, I will miss her walking um I I will miss walking down the hallway and seeing her face at the glass door waiting to get in. So, you just turn the corner and there's Kaylee ready to come to CT. Um, it just always
009made me smile to see her enter with the swagger and vibe that is Kaylee Keller. Congratulations, Kaylee. Okay, the next graduate is Mark Keller. And Mark, you're welcome to join us up here if you want. Can you come over right here? >> Can you come around this side? Okay. Can I Can I trade you? Okay. Hi. That's you. these photos when I got all these baby pictures. They're just great. Okay, so we're gonna talk a little bit about Mark. Okay. Uh Mark in the store. Check out that mall vibe in that chair. Loves puzzles. You love their You can see their shirts. Both of their shirts. Their dad is just spot on um with all the cool things um that are out there. Um he loved just building sensory items. You can see how much
010of a jokester he is um putting things on his fingers and those type of things. So, and baking cookies. Okay. Right. So, I've always tried my best to respect Mark and Kaylee as individuals and tried to talk about them separately at their IEP meetings. I always try to set that standard, but in the end, the power of being a twin always rose to the top. They are forever intertwined and accomplished many of the same things. So, built routines of independent living, enjoyed matching, sorting, engaging in sensory and art things, connections with the people at Max Higgby, including a love of the swing chair for this person. um travels in the community to grocery shop, eat snacks, civic, higgby, and also dabbled in going to Western. He joined Kaylee at the OT PT department, and he
011was also hired at the Ark. Mark is a man on the move. Yeah. So, this is just where we are. Um their twin connection was best demonstrated through a story that happened four years ago. We embarked on supporting them and accessing the school of vans to go access the community. Kaylee was right on top of getting in the van. She was ready to go, but not so with Mark. It took a bit, a lot of coaxing, a lot of patience on all of our parts. And at one point, Mark just reached out and just cried for her, for Kaylee. And if Mark had had words at that point, I guarantee he would be saying, "Save me from these people, Kaylee." It was just like the most beautiful twin connection you've ever seen. Um, but after
012he got over the anxiety, van rides were the thing. cruising around Bellingham, listening to music, doing his community living stuff. A highlight for Mark is that he learned how to navigate his iPad for preferred things, sometimes having to go through numerous pages. He transitioned really well um when he switched devices earlier this year. Laurel noted that she will miss seeing his proficiency at using his iPad to meet his needs. He has such determination and drive to communicate his needs or wants and has been a joy to watch that growth over the last four years. I will miss seeing him standing at the door watching until his dad leaves. So very two different very different things. And he will not turn and go into CT until he sees that his family, his caregivers and his dad
013has left. The bond between Mark and both his children and also the caregivers and um both Kaylee and Mark is something to behold. His Facebook page is a continual source of joy and something we will stay up and watch the next steps in their journey from DVO concerts to mall walks to just enjoying the small moments in life. So congratulations Mark. The next graduate is Levi Frasier. You are more than welcome to join me up here at any point. Levi. Okay. Um Levi has a little speech prepared too. So Levi, I've known Levi for 12 years. So, since Levi was in the fifth grade, um I remember one of my greatest and fondest memories of him was when I um heard from his high school that he went on his first community outing with a
014parro educator to the store. It was an incredible accomplishment and led him down a path of being able to be successful in the community transitions environment. It began the process of being able to introduce Levi to trial work experiences in community settings. He also accomplished u numerous other things. He's a longtime consistent member of the Max Higgby program. He bowls with the Watcom County Crushers. He dabbled in some unified basketball. He connected with work opportunities to start the journey of pursuing paid work. And just recently, he learned how to ride WTA Specialized Transportation on his own. So, a couple of things in here. Are you sure? Okay. Um, in culinary class, he loved pizza, yogurt parfets, tacos, and cookies. He worked at, and this is a lot, Habitat for Humanity, the Central Office, where we
015are, the Firehouse Cafe, Happy Valley Elementary, Barkley Hagen, Goodwill. He's been with us a long time, the Restore, and Ferndale Grocery Outlet, of which he said his favorite job was at Ferndale Grocery Outlet Facing cans. Okay. Staff noted that they enjoy talking with him about movies. They are continually impressed with his recall for dates, names, languages, and facts. He does great impersonations and likes asking people what they had for dinner the night before. Bob noted at Hagen that Levi developed professional ways to interact with site staff and customers. One example is he repeatedly and enthusiastically located workers to connect with customers to have located to connect them with customers to have questions answered. He demonstrated a greater awareness of others and showed interest in their point of view. His last evaluation was put on my
016desk just yesterday. I came around the corner and here's the Happy Valley evaluation. And Laura from Happy Valley noted, and I quote, "He is amazing and such a light to have around. In high school, I had the opportunity to work on a unique curriculum with Levi. The main concept of the curriculum was the old me versus the new me. And it is a concept I've applied to so many situations. Levi is intuitive. um insightful, reflective, and really wants to do well at his core and is always looking to be the new professional me. It's been 12 years. I really don't know life without Levi at this point. I imagine our paths will continue to cross, so I'll not think too much about missing him. He's Oh dear. Okay. He's ingrained into the soul of my
017teaching career. He's been there for half of it. Um, Jill, make sure that you keep me posted when he gets a paid job and any other successes that come his way. And Levi, remember the new and professional you, okay? And you will go far. Okay, let me back. Okay, I just need to get myself oriented. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Victor Mahia, >> does Victor want to join us up here? So, we're going to talk about Victor and some pictures of Victor. The mere fact that there is two pictures of Victor sitting down is a feat of strength. Okay. Victor is the biggest man on the move that we've ever seen. Okay. But you also see pictures of him in his natural environment which is outside absorbing nature and taking in all our beautiful community has
018to offer. You'll also see in the bottom right hand picture if you can there's some apples in that room. Okay. Victor knows where food is and um he can find it unknown to where even us so he has a radar for that type of thing and it was just always like keeping us guessing about him being able to find things. Okay. As I reviewed the last four years of Victor's journey through CT, he accomplished many things. He learned how to use his device to request food and to greet people. He traveled on the city bus. At Goodwill, he learned how to carry hangers. At Habitat for Humanity, he used the magnet roller. At Carl Koser Library, he sharpened pencils. At Bellingham High School and the central office, he delivered mail. At Wiku facilities, he picked
019up litter outside. And Brooks noted that he really improved his independence at work. He showed the ability to use tools like a trash picker and a broom and a dustpan independently. He tried out the YMCA and I don't know that he got over it, but he really tackled his fear of heights even just as of yesterday. So going over bridges, which was a big thing. He also went on many a walk enjoying our beautiful city. Staff noted that they will miss going on walks and enjoying nature with Victor the most. It is his natural habitat. As of late, Victor has demonstrated a significant streak of independence regarding where he would like to be moving about CT and outside. He really wanted to go to the van with the class to go somewhere and was adamant
020about getting out the door. Despite our efforts, he made it out there and went straight to the van, indicating that he wanted to go into the community. I used it as a communication opportunity and asked staff to present him with his iPad so he could tell us where he wanted to go. you um immediately upon being presented with the page of places, Victor just went park. And um you are a young man, Victor, that knows what you want and know how to use that device when you are motivated. That is for sure. So keep at it, Victor. There's so much in that mind of yours. Show your stuff whenever you can. I know at some point we will see you cruising around and get to see you out in your element. Congratulations, Next is Adrien
021Duplantis. >> Okay. Hi, I'm Adrian Duplantis. I started my CT journey in fall of 2022. Origely CT was in the crammed back room on the corner of Bellingham High School. There were two measly classrooms for 70 students and one single oven. It was so cramped that 3 weeks in or so the teachers were like, "Okay, fine. We're moving to the boardroom. We're having district offices. We're having class the boardroom." That was not much better. Then in my second year, we moved into an equally cramped bank where we had to where we had to email the district just to get lights that actually turned on and off with a switch and working bathrooms. Still only two ovens. I'll be completely honest though, I initially didn't want to come to CT. I wanted to win publishers clearing
022house and win the $5,000 a week for life without ever having to work. Seemingly, seemingly I didn't realize that mommy and daddy wouldn't be able to feed me and house me forever. Plus, guess what? Last year, PCH went bankrupt and discontinued the contest for entirely. Meanwhile, I did get hooked on culinary class pretty fast. My first one was with Charlie, but then she retired or as she calls it took a took a gap year. Same thing in my opinion. Then in my last year we had we what we dubbed Liz's cooking club. So much a club for three students. Every month we would go to Trader Joe's 2.0 electric boooo less Canadian traffic edition for ingredients for a planned random dish. My favorite dish we ever cooked in my opinion was the marry me chicken.
023Ping is my savory tooth. Pasta sundried tomatoes chicken all that. Okay, moving on. Every meal has food you don't like, though. In my case, the canned peas on the plate at CT was the budgeting math. Every week, I was presented a big, bulky, ominous binder of endless budgeting worksheets and credit this, credit that lessons. But the budgeting was branded into my brain with a hot iron. So, guess what worked? Oh, and speaking of canned peas, the boiled canned carrot coins of CT at first was a mere idea of work. At first, I was quite adamant that Felicia was my enemy working against me. And then every Monday when it was time to go into the hallway to do work planning with Felicia, let's just say I wasn't exactly looking forward to it. But over the
024past four years with work sites like Hagen, Super Feetat, and NC, I've changed that stance after she asked me, "Then why are you at CT?" I insisted my animosity to the office of job coach, not the person. I've since changed my tune after pondering the question hard and I enjoy our midwork conversation. She always agreed with me. She knows what I mean. Currently, I'm working with Kinsey at work opportunities, a nonprofit formerly was bail before he zoomed off to another nonprofit. I'm going to keep asking around at business after business in the hopes of earning the one in the job sense, mind you. I have been rejected from job after job and ghosted from dozens more. But well, waiters never prosper. I want to work at some small local business that actually knows what a
025living wage is, not a big corporate overlord. Sorry, not sorry, Walmart. You too, McDonald's. So, if you have any leads, let me know. I'm great at a lot of things. I want to thank Dominic for sucking me down the rabbit hole of CT in the first place. I want to thank Liz Vib with being hosting cooking club. I want to thank Vicia for pushing me to want to work. I want to thank her for being pushy at all because that really woke me up. I want to thank Aaron, not that one, that one, for keeping CT running behind the scenes with her less than glamorous job and for always correcting my vocabulary. I want to thank my parents for convincing me to come to CT and for giving me 2,000 calories in a roof over
026my head for 21 years. I want to thank the voters for passing the bond and letting the new CT building begin construction so we don't have to stay in this cramp bank and sketchy parking lot. Oh, and one more thing. For the love of the deity of your choice or lack thereof, Washington, please bond special ed. Well, how do you follow that? Right. All right. I'll follow it with this. Every once in a while, we get a student who is not coming to CT. I ain't going to do that. This is not where I want to be. You don't need to be at my IEP meeting. This one. Um, it was COVID. We were coming out of COVID and I showed up at Esqualcom High School IEP meeting over Zoom, black screen, just said Adrien
027Duplantis and I was not necessarily welcome there. Gave my bit and talked about community transitions and oftentimes when we have students that say that they really come out as shining stars within community transitions. Okay. Adrien has many accomplishments um at CT. They um attended classes. They increased their professionalism. They engaged in work sites like they talked about. They got a cell phone during the time that they were at Community Transitions, which was awesome and fun. U they passed the knowledge test to get their driver's license. They traveled on the city bus. Don't say anything. Um and they connected with agencies to support their next steps in life. Okay. um four years um from the time that I went to that IEP Zoom meeting. I walk into the classroom and Liz and Adrienne are working together
028to write the city council a letter to ask them to get moving on approving the permits to build the new comm community transitions facility of which Adrien was super happy when they found an email back from the next day back yeah from the city. Um, Adrienne is smarter and more knowledgeable on global topics than anyone in this room. And to be quite honest, more than anybody that I know um out there, we will miss their opinions and their take on the world. They are juicy, spicy, and you're going to get them even if you didn't ask for them. Okay. I will miss their kind and loving hearts and all the small moments where it shines through from their love of planning a budget to buy presents for their family. when they would text pictures of
029CT events they enjoyed so we have photos to remember it by or when they saw rainbows or beautiful pics in the wild would send them to me and ask me what I thought of the photos I will miss their desire to continually improve themselves and to be quite honest what I'll miss is I'm sad that this is my last Duplantis we need more dupluses in the world they bring a perspective on life that is purely one of a kind and >> you better get moved to Louisiana then and they hold a very special place in my heart. Okay, congratulations. Okay, the next graduate is Eva Johnson. Hi, my name is Eva. I went to school from high school. I graduated in 2023. My favorite classes at CT were job skill, culinary, and independent living. I
030really like western class 2. I worked at Goodwill. I started item by colors. I worked at GR for kids. I helped clean the preschool. and I play with kids. I worked at Ste Home. I did pizza boxes and collect carts. My favorite item. I like going to Camp Horizon and and the H games. I am working with Max from work opportunity to find a job that will work best for me. Thank Thank you for family and friends. Yeah, they're going to wait while I talk about you lights. Okay, they're on a timer, I heard. Okay. Um, Eva's accomplishments are best described through the notes written on her work site evaluations. I read her work site evaluations and there was just no other way to explain Eva than what I read. So, at Ferndale Grocery Outlet,
031Amy noted, "Eva is a hard worker. She is friendly and kind to her co-workers and customers. Her positive attitude makes her approachable and a joy to be around. Eva has learned how to do new tasks with little to no difficulty. Halfway through the semester, she watched a video on how to bagg groceries and then jumped right into this task the same um the same day. She was friendly, calm, and accepted support when needed on how to correctly um pack a grocery bag. Eva stays focused on her work with a smile on her face. She has taken initiative on tasks when told to divide up the work with her co-worker. When Eva is proud of accomplishing something, she just glows. At Habitat, staff noted Eva is friendly, hardworking, and learn new tasks well. She follows a
032task list and works independently on assigned tasks. She's flexible with changes and has a positive attitude when problem solving. She often comes up with creative solutions. She brings great energy and enthusiasm to the team. Who wouldn't you want to hire with all of those skills, right? It's just amazing. I will miss Eva's professionalism. She was the most prepared and excited student I've ever had for her IEP meetings. She always looked forward to mock interviews and receive strong ratings on her confidence and demeanor. Eva has been her own strongest advocate by saying that she is ready to graduate and take the next steps in her life all on her own. I'm excited to hear about her first paycheck in the near future. Congratulations, Just want to say one more thing. Okay. Um, I want to shout
033out to my family for coming. I want to thank my mom and I want to thank my dad. I want to thank my friend Karina for Thank you for my support. I just want to make sure thank you for coming to my graduation. You're going to walk around, >> Eva. The next graduate is Maddox Kern. Okay. Um, so Maddox spent a little time with Liz to talk about the things that they would want said about themselves at the graduation. So, I'm going to share those things first. Um, in the beginning, they did not like CT when they first started. They shared they felt different and hated feeling different. When they got to know people, they started liking it and liked having friends and people to talk to. They took level two and three classes. The
034classes were good. Cooking class was a standout and they also enjoyed the western mentorship class. >> They participated in a work experience at Gabriel's art kids. With support of the teacher of the class, they were able to lead some art instruction, have interactions with the children, and facilitated play. They realized after trying out a different classroom, they liked a work environment with more structure. They have been working with Max through works work opportunities to find paid work. They want to find a part-time job. They are currently looking for any job, but they have a long-term career goal of working in child care or teaching. They're going to do an online class at Watcom Community College for early learning to explore that career pathway. So, that was their insight. I'm going to add this and all
035the things that they accomplished. They successfully completed traffic safety class while at community transitions. They successfully completed the video game design program through the Northwest Career and Technical Academy and they were very excited when they finished their final project and came to share it with their classmates. They completed a summer internship with the makeshift art space. They learned to navigate the WTA bus system fixed routes completely independently. They earned their first aid CPR certificate. They completed the 10-hour Stars training program to increase their skills working in the early childhood field. At their last IEP meet IEP meeting, we were all able to reflect on how they are a true exemplar of the transition process. By experimenting in different fields and industries, they found a passion of working in their field of early learning and now
036they have a clear path on their journey. Congratulations, Smith. The next graduate is Cameron Leechman. Sounds good. I'm gonna read this on behalf of Cameron. Okay. Hi, I'm Cameron. When I first came to CT, I didn't know what I wanted out of it or what I wanted to do after. But over the years, I've learned to speak up for myself and better accommodate my needs. CT has helped me find a direction to work toward in regards to a career path. I'm currently attending Bellingham Technical College in hopes of getting a degree in auto mechanics. I'm also working with DVR and Payton at work opportunities. This summer, I'm working at Camp Lutherwood. I worked there last summer and enjoyed the work experience and the community it provides. After the summer, Payton and I are working on
037getting automotive internships to make sure this is what I want to pursue. I wish to thank my family for always being very supportive, my friends for being there for me um during rough times, my teachers for guiding me through this journey, and myself. I have some advice to future students and they shared this in class one day and I grabbed it and I kept this forever and I want this to be the mantra of community transitions. Cut yourself some slack. Take a breather. This is not high school. There are no tests. The teachers aren't strict. Everyone here is treated equally. If you need a day for yourself, that's okay. Just let your case manager know, and they will almost definitely understand. Always remember that attending is not mandatory. Listen to yourself and your needs. If
038you are feeling stuck, let your case manager know. Everyone at CT is here to help you get the most you can out of this experience. Don't be afraid to speak your mind. So, the teachers at Community Transitions, we have um a great honor. We get to go to a lot of high school meetings to talk about transition and the incoming journey that they're going to have. And I went to Cameron's meeting and um Cameron had their head buried and all of these adults were around talking about this human that just had their head down and their hair down. And I I was just watching Cameron this whole meeting probably for about 40 minutes while all the staff talked about them said great things. Um but after that 40 minutes I actually said their name and
039they looked up at me and it was the first time that I had seen their face during that meeting. And I knew that once I saw that face that we were going to be on a really successful journey and it reminded me of the power of transition. It starts within us. It starts within the human that we look at and we need to start with them and look at their face and what it is that they want to do and what they need um what they have in themselves to speak out. Cameron recently participated in a meeting with the school board where they represented CT as a student. Cameron was in the group of Analisa Fickland, the special education director. Anaisa came up to me after the meeting and talked about how incredibly impressed she
040was with Cameron and the insight they provided to the group, including giving suggestions to a family about ways they could support their student based on their own experience. I will miss sharing them sharing with us when they accomplished something. When they got their driver's license, when they got an internship at Allied Arts, when they got their first summer job, when they texted me and asked to look into Bellingham Technical College, and when they scored a 23 out of 25 on their college math text, as we were setting goals for the year in transition planning class, Cameron asked me about mine. This is the type of human they are. Thinking outside of their own world to think about others. They made me promise that I would follow through on my goal to make a doctor's appointment
041to fix my crooked finger. And they checked in. Remember this? >> Yeah. They checked in with me about it weekly until I did. It was because of them that I finally went through with it. When the PT asked me what brought me in, I told them a caring and thoughtful student made me promise. So, they are wise beyond their years, and I'm incredibly proud of what they have accomplished from the moment of seeing them. um their head down at that IEP meeting to listening to them be up or to having them up here with me today is the good stuff. The next graduate is Jake Magna. Right. I'm just going to read this on behalf of Jake. My name is Jake Magna. I graduated from Squallum High School. I've been at CT for three years.
042Um, I really hated school, but CT was a little bit different. I was able to play music in the background to learn. I made a connection with a western mentor about Pokemon. I worked at Habitat for Humanity. It's kind of cool to work around knickknacks. I loved building and constructing shelf units to hang stuff on. I worked at Goodwill, which was also kind of cool to work around knickknacks. I organized the shelves. I worked at the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association. I put pots plants in pots. I really like that and found it fun. I want to keep on volunteering to do that. And this is the best. I have a paid job at the OneUp Lounge. I clean pinball machines. This is like a dream job for me because I have gone there forever. I
043want to keep working at OneUp. I want to keep making money to buy things for my personal loadout list. I want to keep working on my personal needs and being more independent. That's Jake's words. Uh my words are this. Um Jake started taking the city bus while at community transitions and he came in to CT in a panic one day and I was like oh my goodness. And what was so great about him coming in a panic is that the problem was already solved. He had done it. He a lot of times students show up and like I have this issue or I can you help me through this? Jake showed up told me the whole story of his computer getting left on the city bus and the whole process he went through to get
044the computer back and he had the computer in his hand. And so, and this was after like not really wanting to ride the city bus. And so, it's just a testament to him that yeah, things can be dramatic, but he can problems problem solve himself through um any situation if he just puts his mind to it. Um I the thing that I'm going to miss about Jake is when he would come in and smile with good news. You saw how happy he was when I just said the OneUp lounge in his paid job. Things that he would share with us would be when he made new slides on his powerpoints, when he bought something new for his tactical kit, when he made some changes in life, and this was a big one to hear, that
045would allow him to work on increasing his independent skills at home, when he when the new computer his family had been saving up for finally arrived. When he talked about how he really liked potting plants at NC and wanted to get keep doing that over the summer, and most importantly, when he officially landed the paid work at OneUp Lounge, his most desired place of work. but plainly stated, "I'll just miss Jake walking in the door. He always has a vibe and way about him um that just makes me smile in return." Okay, congratulations. >> Unplanned. Unplanned. >> Okay. Okay. I'm going to introduce Zach Melgard. You want to come up? Should I read it? All right. Um All right. Introducing Owen Frier. Uh Owen's favorite class at Community Transitions uh was YMCA basketball. He worked
046at the Firehouse Cafe. He worked at the Central Office. He worked at Ferndale Grocery Outlet. He worked at Goodwill. He worked at Hagen. He worked at Ferndale Food Bank. And after he graduates, he looks forward to golfing with his boys. YEAH. He would also like to say thank you to his family and thank you to his teachers. >> All right. My journey with Owen's transition started freshman year at Bellingham High School. I started the new job as a PAR educator that helped support him there and I was starting as he was starting his high school career. He chose to sit in the hall at his IEP meeting, but on this day he's very much the person driving his education. Through Owen's experiences at CT, he's worked in a variety of jobs that I've mentioned. Owen's
047a beam of light to the people that work with him. His positivity and infectious smile brings joy to those around him. Felicia noted that Owen has been a pleasure to work with and that his perseverance won't stop when the task list ends. His job coach Bob shared that Owen works well alone or with others and he's a man of precision. Um, no one has folded towels as straight as his edges are. He's an extremely hard worker, has a great attention to detail, and he loves to organize. Owen's transition goal is to work part-time in the recreation and retail industry, and I have no doubts in my mind that he will find his dream dream job through supported employment. Um, you'll be missed at CT, but you are so ready for this. Congratulations on graduating, Owen.
048It's golf season. Let's go. All right. Next up, we have Moy Hernandez Rodriguez. Hi, my name is uh Moy Hernz Rodriguez. I have been here at CT for three years. My favorite class with Dominic for job skills. I made a portfolio and learn what I was expected when I go to a job. My other favorite class was with Liz at Western University. I connected with mentors. I like talking about WWE unified go against balance go against uh go against unified uh but I play for independence versus uh but my favorite work site was grocery outlet at Hagens. I learned about stocking shelves facing merchandise sweeping floors and cleaning tables. I want to stay working for the Bellingham public schools as a event worker for all sports. I also want to go to college in the
049fall Walom Community College. I want to learn how to fix computers and find a part-time job. I'm also interested in becoming a soccer referee. Thank you to all my family and friends, my bosses, my teammates, my coaches. They help get to work and learn about having a job. Thank you to all the CT staff having me at the school in three years. I learned a lot. One more thing and this Monday there's a soccer game Bellingham Independence versus CT. But I'm going against against CT. >> All right. Uh Moy entered CT thinking that success was was marked by being the first person done with something. If you asked him now what the biggest marker of success, he would say that it is his quality control. checking your work, doing things right. It's been an invaluable
050lesson in workplace soft skill for him as he's gained over his time at CT. He has successfully brought together Brings closure. Um, he has successfully brought together his passion for sports and Bellingham public schools into his job as an event worker for high school and middle school sports. He's very proud and he earned his first aid CPR certificate. He continually seeks more and more opportunities to engage his time and build his resume. Examples include wanting to work for the Bellingham Bells in the future and also being interested in volunteering in a hospital setting. Megan noted that Moy is one of the hardest workers she knows. He fills his day with all sorts of activities and loves to share his accomplishments with others. She loves talking about sports with him. Laurel noted that Moy brings so
051much joy to CT. He's a hard worker and always has a story about one of the many sports teams he works with. He's so persistent and working hard. All right. Congratulations, Moy. You're going to do great. Oh, maybe I need the stool. Um, no, I can stand on my toes. So, normally I have 105 graduates, but today I just have one. And we saved we saved a good one for the last of our evening. Donald Thompson. Hello, my name is Donald Thompson. This will be my last year at CT. And if you told me three years ago that I would graduate CT, I would not believe you because I would thought that I would do my own thing and just work at uh Fred Meyers. Um, and honestly, that was the case for a while.
052I I just went to do my stuff, went to work, went to get money and ignore CT as this thing that was helping people until one day a certain someone, I won't name names, Liz, uh, decided to come to my store and promote this program and tell me that I think you should go to it. I really didn't want to go to it. I'll be totally honest. I thought why try to go to it but after begging and begging and begging and begging I decided to just go that one day. I can't tell you that day generally changed my mind to CT. Not only that, CT shown me a lot of good qualities, but generally also made me realize that I wasn't ready for um adult life yet. I wasn't ready for all the struggles
053and all the problems that I went through the whole time while I was at CT. And if it wasn't for CT um helping me through it, I probably would been off with a lot of terrible things, but because I was with CT, I had that support I needed. Um I know how true friendships are. I know how to control my emotions, but most importantly, I know how to be able to speak out what I need instead of just bringing this anger towards anything that was causing problems. That was also the reason why I quit uh Fred Meyers because it wasn't good for me. I now have a new job at Safeway that I love to death because it taught me more of happiness and not just work work work work work and maybe a little
054bit of appreciation. Just a little bit, not too much. Um, I want to say thank you to everyone the parts TT that took a chance on me cuz like I said before, I thought it wasn't a big deal, but it was. And I'm glad that I took this uh opportunity to meet more people that were more friends than acquaintance or uh colleagues. Thank you so much. Oh, thank you. Oh, thanks. That's better. I don't think it's just really short. Um, this guy would never get into trouble, just so you know. Um, so I met Don during his time at BHS. Went to a couple IEP meetings. He didn't remember me, but I remembered him u because he's a very memorable guy. He was very well-loved by the BHS team, especially Miss Lenbach. She told me
055that I needed to get Don to CT whether he wanted to go or not. So, I took that as word. Um, and then fall 2024 came. Yeah. And I found myself unable to get a hold of Don. For such a strong communicator as Don is, he actually did not have a cell phone number. We fixed that, right? I knew that he had worked at Fred Meyer, so I went a few times after work on different days until I spotted him. Um, and that was all it took, uh, a nudge in the right direction to get you to CT. During the three years at CT, Dawn has flourished. He left a job that didn't serve him and he went on a journey of self-discovery. He took some time off from work to focus on growing himself
056as a person. Don had a work-based learning placement at Hagen as a dishwasher and he quickly became a professional dishwasher. He truly just excels in the world of work. He's an entrepreneur and a self-made reseller on Facebook Marketplace and he can spot a score at a thrift store and flip that three-fold. Right at the end of last year, Don began working with work opportunities. And after one work-based learning shift, I think it was, he was approached by a manager at Safeway and and offered a paid job. Literally just one one moment is all it took. Yes. He got hired that same week. And just a couple months later, this is the best. He came into CT and gave me the news that he was employee of the month at Safeway. Yeah, if that doesn't tell
057you something about Don's work ethic, I don't know what would. Yeah, I feel so proud of the advocate that you have become for yourself over the last three years, especially most recently in a meeting with DVR and work opportunities. Um, you led that meeting to identify your direction and the services that you needed. I sat back in awe and just watched Uh, I feel so proud of the advocate that you've become for yourself and um, Don, I am going to greatly miss our conversations about life, about problem solving, and especially your intro introspection. Throughout his time at CT, Don has brought joy, friendship, humor, and vulnerability. Don is generous, kind, communicative, and extremely responsible. He's going to call you on something. He is responsible. He is He's going to call you on something with humor.
058His career goal was to be a stand-up comedian, just if you didn't know that before. And now we've shifted a little bit to a therapist, right? And a a pair educator. So, we're we're on the right track. Um, so Don will call you on something with humor and compliment you with grace. It's such a good quality. You're truly a good human and you're going to make this world just so much better. I know your voice will be missed in the small halls of CT, but Don, I know I will see you every Monday in those wide halls of Goodwill. Yeah, congratulations. And now I introduce Bethany Barrett. Can I get one last round of applause for these incredible graduates? Can I also get and a round of applause for the incredible CT staff, these teachers
059and these PAR educators here. They're they are the heroes behind the scenes here who walk alongside your students um and celebrate their successes and lead them um to all of these incredible opportunities that they have. I want to thank um the district for this beautiful room. Thank you. And um we hope that you have a lovely evening. Make sure you congratulate the graduates in person. Um, thank you for taking your Thursday evening to come and celebrate um the great accomplishments of these incredible graduates. So, thank you and good night. Cookies and soda out in the foyer. Thank you. Soda and cookies out there.