Fledgling Falcon PRIDE Program Prepares for Launch

It’s been nearly 5 years in the making, but Falcon PRIDE has liftoff.  Ricky Sauls and Lisa Johnson spoke about the new Southeastern Illinois College initiative at Kiwanis Thursday which provides college learning geared specifically towards individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.  On September 9^th, Sauls joined WROY’s Open Line program.  You can find that interview at

https://www.wrul.com/local-news/open-line-on-demand-sic-falcon-pride-program

On Thursday, it was Johnson’s turn to explain the program which will officially kick off with classes October 1^st.  Johnson’s first step was creating a curriculum.

Some of the topics we have are career preparation, money management, self-care and hygienic habits, emergency and safety skills, food management and preparation skills, transportation in the community, and home maintenance.

Six students will embark on the first flight and there are three instructors.  The aim for the program is multi-pronged.  It aims to serve the students by giving them real life skills they’ll need while also preparing them for jobs in the communities they live.  While they’re in class, Johnson will be looking for businesses looking to hire in the areas of interest of those students.

While the students are in the classroom, my job is to go out into their community, talk to business owners and employers to see if they are interested in taking on these students as an employee.  So what I’ve done is intake form assessments asking them several questions so we can see where their developmental skills are at, but also to learn where their interests and hobbies to see where they’d want to be placed in a job.

She says so far students have expressed interests in stocking shelves and organizing.  Another likes to clean, and others are into arts and crafts, cooking and baking.  Layton Sauls, Ricky’s son, says he would love to work at Tequila’s or Mr. Jalapeno’s.

In addition to Sauls direct connection to the program, Johnson says she had an experience that resonated with her when she was working at a library that also underscores the importance of the Falcon PRIDE initiative.

I worked at a public library and we had a patron in his 40’s who had an intellectual/developmental disability.  He was very focused on checking out books on Taylor Swift, the Titanic, and wrestlers so those were things that he constantly checked out.  One day he came in and checked out cook books which kind of threw us off.  So we asked him if his interests shifted and he said no, that he needed to learn how to cook in case his mom dies.  So that broke our hearts, because who’s going to be there to help him when his parents pass on.

The Falcon PRIDE program is funded through a grant that runs out in March.  Leaders including Sauls and Johnson are looking for further funding avenues to keep Falcon PRIDE in flight.  Learn more about SIC online at www.sic.edu.