Disability service for high schoolers empowers Evan to work

Evan Hall has cerebral palsy and hadn’t thought much about working until he participated in a Goodwill disability service for high schoolers called Bootcamp. Through Bootcamp, Evan realized he can work and now he wants to pursue his dream job — as a wheelchair tester.

Cerebral palsy is a disorder that affects a person’s ability to move and maintain balance and posture. Symptoms vary from person to person, and in Evan’s case his symptoms are mostly physical.

The 17-year-old senior at Hall-Dale High School in Farmingdale, Maine uses special equipment to move and talk, including an eye-movement tracking device. This device allows Evan to communicate, do schoolwork, use his cellphone, play his favorite game Uno, tell lots of jokes and more.

At school, Evan participates in Bootcamp, a Vocational Rehabilitation program aimed at high school students who have a disability. Program participants learn essential job skills in the classroom before their graduation day. Career advisors teach a combination of soft and hard skills to help prepare students for the transition following high school.

The disability service for students is free to participants and schools, making it more accessible. Bootcamp currently serves about 400 students in roughly 70 schools across Maine.

“I like Bootcamp because they get us out of schoolwork,” Evan said with a laugh, his sarcastic personality shining through. “They also prepare us to work and help us find the best job based on our abilities.”

Bootcamp students can take part in informational interviews, job shadows, and work-based learning experiences. Evan completed a paid work-based learning experience as a greeter at the Augusta Goodwill store.

“I love working at Goodwill. I am a very social person and I have fun greeting everyone,” Evan said. “People are very friendly and laugh when I tell them to spend lots of money.”

Finding a good fit

Evan’s Bootcamp career advisor, Laura Weeks, worked closely with Evan and his parents to find a good job fit.

“Working with Evan is so rewarding because Evan has this glow about him,” Weeks said. “Evan is a kid who really wants to work and he has a lot of barriers. But he just says, ‘Barriers? Those are just challenges I haven’t met yet.'”

Bootcamp helped Evan and his family explore different things for success based on his abilities, according to Evan’s mother Kim Hall.

“I think we’ve always pushed Evan to do what he wants to do, as much as he can,” said Evan’s father Brent Hall. “And now that he’s had a little taste of working and getting a paycheck, I think he kind of likes that.”

Kim and Brent support Evan’s career exploration in lots of ways. They take Evan to work — taking time off from their own jobs to do so — and helped him set up a bank account.

“We knew that’s important for Evan, and he really enjoys it,” Kim said.

Bootcamp helped Evan determine that he wants to work after high school. He wants to be a wheelchair tester and continue working at Goodwill.

“We always told him he’d be a good wheelchair tester because he’s really hard on his equipment,” Brent said, sharing a laugh with Evan.

“I hadn’t thought a lot about working until I learned more about it from Bootcamp,” Evan said. “Bootcamp opened up opportunities for me and helped me find the best fit.”