MAY 4, 2009 VCU WEBCAST Services Provided By: Caption First, Inc. >> Hello. I'd like to welcome you to PEATC's Webcast, building effective partnerships and accessing resources, for transitioning youth with disabilities, their families, and transition professionals. We have a really exciting program today. We have been exploring opportunities, career opportunities, for transitioning youth, who are leaving high school, and getting ready to enter the world of possibilities. Today, we have Betty Siegel who is the accessibility director for the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. She will be talking about opportunities for youth with disabilities in the arts. I would like to tell you that today's Webcast is funded by a grant from the U.S. department of education rehabilitative services administration. And we are grateful and thankful to our partners, Virginia Commonwealth University, RRTC. We would like to invite you to participate in a web board discussion immediately following this Webcast, and we would also ask that you please send us an evaluation sheet with your input, your insights. We really value your feedback, because it helps us to develop the flow and the content of our program. Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center is a Virginia parent training information center and a parent information resource center for Virginia. We love to talk with parents and educators about how to better access services for students with disabilities, and for all students in general. We welcome your calls. Please call us any time at our 800 number, which is 800-693-3514, or 703-923-0010. And once again, we hope that you will take part in our web board discussion. Right now I would like to introduce Miss Betty Siegel from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. >> BETTY SIEGEL: Hello, my name is Betty Siegel. I'm the director of accessibility at the John Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. I'm delighted to be part of the webinar series. I need to start by telling you who I am not and what I am not. I am not a vocational rehabilitation specialist. I'm not a professional educator. I don't have a masters in social work. I'm not an expect on the issues of transitioning students from schools to jobs. I'm a passionate advocate for inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of the cultural arts as audience, visitor, performer, volunteer, intern and employee. For the last ten years I've created and worked on several projects specifically focused on the issue of arts as a valid career path for people with disabilities. I've worked on several internship programs, and especially my favorite, an internship program for individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Let me give you a history. For the past 15 years of my work in this field, I was almost exclusively focused on the inclusion of people with disabilities in the arts and its audience. In 1998 I attended the National Endowment for the Arts careers in the arts forum for people with disabilities, and the outcomes of that gathering were the identification of ten recommendations to overcome barriers to employment in the arts for people with disabilities. One of those was to create more internship opportunities for students with disabilities. The idea clicked with me. I could see tangible proof that internships led to jobs in the arts, by just looking around the education department at the Kennedy Center. Approximately one-third of the people in the department started as interns. My immediate supervisor and vice-president of education has started at the Kennedy Center as an intern. Internships rocked! Internships were a sure way to open doors for people to be included in arts jobs and arts careers. Around the time that I had this epiphany, the center was approached by the Conner foundation. They wanted to support a program for individuals with intellectual disabilities. This was an opening to try out my own little social change experiment. I proposed that they establish an internship program for individuals with developmental or intellectual disabilities that would not otherwise qualify for the center's existing college internship program. They fell in love with the idea. Eight years ago the Experiential Education Initiatives, EEI internship program for individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities, was born at the center. This helped social service providers, parents, teachers and self- advocates. I became more fascinated and convinced that experiences in the art could and did open doors to careers in the arts and jobs and employment. What we are going to discuss today are the hidden or potential opportunities to have jobs in the arts, or to use an arts-based experience to build a valuable job, to build valuable jobs-related skills. But before we do that, we have to discuss a few things about careers in the arts. We need to be all on the same page. What is a career in the arts? Believe it or not, the arts are a fertile employment ground as well as great place to get training, motivation, develop talents and skills that can be applied in a variety of different fields. When I talk about jobs and careers in the arts, five things pop into people's minds. Those five things are actor, dancer, musician or singer, artist, writer. Those are just the tip of the iceberg when we talk about careers in the arts. I did a quick web search and I came up with a listing of over 168 individual jobs that are in the arts or are arts-based. I know that there are many, many more out there. So, why don't we take the arts more seriously as a potential field for transitioning, training and employment? I think it's because most of us know so little about the field and thus the opportunities that might be available in the arts. We get stuck. Actor, dancer, musician, artist, writer. Jobs behind the scenes and in production, design, sales, development, arts management, arts education, just to name a few, are where you find most opportunities. But how do you find out about these behind the scenes jobs? A good starting point is actually the Occupational Outlook Handbook. It's put out by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. And a second resource is a wonderful site run by the government of New Zealand, called Career Services. These two sites not only list every job you can possibly imagine, but they discuss the training and education needed to do that job, the earning and job prospects, and what workers do on the job and the working conditions. And here is a little tip for you hot out of the Occupational Outlook Handbook. Employment of artists and related workers is expected to grow 16 percent through the year 2016. This is faster than the average for all other occupations. There are numerous arts job posting Websites, and I've listed a few here, as examples. Perusing these Websites will help give you an idea of the variety and diversity of opportunities in the arts across the nation. The arts can also run themselves, to being a fertile area for self-employment, entrepreneurship and microenterprises. For example, an article in the Seattle Post regards a young woman with Down syndrome who with the help of her local voc rehabilitation services started her own business turning her artwork into cards. Prior to that, she had been in a job placement program and was working as a self-stocker and office helper, jobs as the article said that weren't a good fit for a free-spirited artist. The following are four good informational Websites, where you can begin to explore the concept of and ideas for self- employment and entrepreneurship and microenterprises. We have The Abilities Fund, Self-Employment in the Arts, JAM, the Job Accommodations Network and Start-Up USA. The arts can also be a really important transition tool. Exposure to and participation in the arts is a means to gain valuable skills and experiences, to discover and explore where one's interests and talents lie. It's a great way to identify the kind of environment where one is comfortable and successful, all of which can be applicable to future jobs and future employment. There are several transition models that involve internship and apprenticeships, and these models are my absolute favorite. I have two here, one in Hawaii, Arts@Work for Youth, a summer apprenticeship program. It is focused on the creative industries, and it's aimed at youth in transition, and it helps to promote the acquisition of marketable job and job skills. It's arts focused, creative career and technical education -- it's an arts-focused creative career and technical education project, which provides mentoring by professional artists and career planning. A second program that I like is the Williamstown Theater Festival Apprenticeship, because of its integration. This program takes place in Massachusetts. Every summer the Williamstown theater festival apprenticeship program offers 70 promising students classes in acting, voice, and movement. They include discussions and matches classes with theater professionals. Students learn about the business side of the arts through rotating work assignments as well. For the past four years VSA Arts has supported several students with disabilities as apprentices in this program. Finally, really my most favorite type of transition program, internship. Internships are incredibly valuable for both the intern and the placement site of the employer. The intern benefits by acquiring hands-on training and practical experience, opportunities to apply skills and knowledge learned in the classrooms, and the internship fosters self-confidence, responsibility, independent and social skills. This is an intentional learning experience. So one should distinguish between an internship which is very intentionally education-based, with a volunteer experience where there is no specific educational agenda, and with the employment experience where the process is much less important to the employer than the product. With an internship, not only does the intern gain essential skills and real life experience, but the employer or internship placement benefits too. They benefit by getting support for projects, an energized work force. Internships provide an employer with an opportunity to get to preview the intern's abilities, to get to know that person, their work habits, their strengths and observe them in action, and see whether or not the intern and job are a good match. Another benefit for the employer is that the internship works as an extremely effective tool for training and recruiting potential employees, and it lowers the time and cost of the process of hiring and training. I've been lucky to be working closely with three internships that are specifically focused on interns with disabilities being placed in integrated and mainstreamed arts organizations. These internships are the CAIM program, Careers in the Arts Initiative Internships and Mentorships, program funded by the National Endowments for the Arts, and ran for three years and placed students who are 18 years or older in internships at cultural arts organizations across the nation. Unfortunately, we were not able to get that particular program re-funded. But a second program sprang up, the HSC Foundation Internship. The focus is on the placement of the students 18 to 25 years old with disabilities or chronic illnesses in cultural arts organizations across the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area. Finally, the Experiential Education Initiative, internship specifically tailored to the inclusion of individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities aged 18 through 30 at the Kennedy Center. I'm going to do a quick overview of the first two programs to give you a better idea of what they entailed and how they turned out. The CAIM program was originally developed to overcome barriers that individuals with disabilities confronted when seeking employment in the cultural arts. To make it possible also for them to get significant education and professional development opportunities, the program also focused on facilitating the entry of individuals with disabilities into competitive employment in the cultural arts, and to explore the role that internships could play on future employment. Over the three-year period of the CAIM program, we placed 43 individuals with a variety of disabilities in 31 arts organizations. Following their internship, 14 of the interns went back to either high school or college. 14 found employment. Of those 14 who found employment, following the internship, six were employed by the organizations where they interned. Two became self-employed. The remaining 13 followed other paths that were not employment related, for one reason or another. The HSC Foundation internship is currently being developed. A total of ten interns will be placed at cultural organizations across the D.C. metropolitan area. Some of the potential placements include placements at cultural organizations both large and small from the Smithsonian institution and the museum to the rep stage, signature theater and atlas theater. These are examples of a few of the possible placements. This program is really too new to talk about the outcome. But to date, we have had five successful placements of interns with a variety of disabilities ranging from autism through deafness through physical challenges. Finally, the Kennedy Center's Experiential Education Initiative Internship. I hope you don't mind indulging me. This is a program I administer and it's my absolute favorite. I might take more time to talk a bit about that. The Experiential Education Internship Program was the Kennedy Center's effort to look at opportunities for a specific community of people that the center felt were being excluded from opportunities to gain the kind of valuable experiences that make pursuing a job or career in the arts possible. We were finding that people with disabilities were not competitive because they weren't getting the same competitive experiences as other students coming to us. So the EEI internship program focused specifically on the population of people with intellectual and cognitive disabilities. We wanted to provide people with ample access to the performing arts, hands-on practical job experiences, social and job skills, training, role models, peer support, and mentors. The internship offers full time, individually drafted EEI internship for a semester at a time. All interns are paid a stipend of $900 per month. To be eligible for the program, the applicants must have a documented intellectual or cognitive or developmental disability, must be between the ages of 18 and 20 years old and have a demonstrated interest in the cultural arts. Applicants are referred to the EEI internship program through a partnering social service agency. Applicants come in for individual pre-interviews and then participate in interviews with potential supervisors. Once the interns are selected, they enjoy close working relationships with experienced arts professionals, and their college-aged peers. EEI interns had placements in a variety of programs and offices around the center. Former interns have had placements in usher services, events for students, youth and families programming, education registration, D.C. collaborative, finance department, document center, human resources, retail operations, and sheer madness administration. Intern placements vary by semester depending on the individual skills and job assets each intern brings with them. Equipped with these professional and interpersonal experiences the interns gain during their internships, many of the interns have moved on to jobs of increasing responsibility. To date, but not including this current year's internship pool, we have had 29 interns participate in the program, and of these 29 interns, just over 50 percent have found employment. 16 are currently employed. 5 found employment with other employers as a direct result of their intern experiences at the center. Five joined the paid staff of the Kennedy Center. Six were placed in employment by the social service providers. 11 of the interns are now currently involved in other various aspects of job development. Six are enrolled in training programs, to develop skills and to improve their competitive employability or have returned to school. Five are currently seeking employment. We have lost contact unfortunately with two of our former interns. What have we learned? Well, we have learned that we need to ensure that the interns coming in have clear educational agendas for themselves and a clear idea of what they want to accomplish. We know we have to obtain knowledge about the interns' learning styles prior to their placement. We don't want surprises. We know we have to be prepared to carve out a job that fits the individual instead of carving the individual to fit the job. Using existing services to their fullest, this is really essential. We need to take advantage of the professionals in the field, the service providers, the job coaches, the family support. We need to not be afraid to admit something did not work and be willing to try something new. We need to give the interns the opportunity to succeed. And most importantly, what we learned was that we need to be flexible. I usually at this point talk about a few success stories of some of our interns. But I'm lucky today because I'm being joined by one of my former interns, a charming young man named J.P., who had a lifelong love of the theater. To take the EEI internship program at the Kennedy Center, he left his job at a grocery store, the only employment he has been able to find since leaving high school. As a young adult, he found his employment opportunities were limited, perhaps because prospective employers too often saw his disability rather than his abilities. The chance to combine a work experience with his first love, theater, was a dream come true. He works as assistant to the stage manager on several new productions in rehearsal at the center. And his supervisor said, "J.P. is one of the best actor wranglers and rehearsal assistants I've ever worked with." Following J. P.'s internship he applied and got a job as an usher at the center. Additionally he auditioned and was cast in new visions, new voices, a program that produces new plays for children and in the opening ceremonies for the VSA arts international festival, choosing to work part time as an usher to pursue his career as an actor. He has been cast in numerous performances around the Washington, D.C. Area. Thank you for joining me here today. >> You are quite welcome. >> BETTY SIEGEL: Before you were an intern at the Kennedy Center, what jobs did you do? >> Before, I work at the (indecipherable). >> BETTY SIEGEL: Why did you decide to become an intern at the Kennedy Center? >> Because of my background with various arts and thanks to the suggestions of Mrs. Joyce Laner who has volunteered for many years at the Kennedy Center, I thought I would be a good candidate as an intern. I applied and was accepted during the winter, spring 2001. >> BETTY SIEGEL: Okay. Tell me a little bit about what jobs you were doing while you were an intern at the Kennedy Center. >> I did three basic assignments. As the rehearsal assistant, I showed the school children around the center and escorted them to the rehearsal rooms, and which involve (indecipherable) I helped serve them their drinks, and under the directions of the director and stage manager, as an office assistant, I worked under two supervisors for the youth and family programming, assign me to start an organize (indecipherable) which I then filed. I collated the material for the actors to use for their rehearsals and performances. In the education department under Michelle, I did data entry projects and help her with printing out purchase orders and invoices. And last, but not least, as an usher in both the theater lab and (indecipherable) I escort patrons to their seat. I also handed them programs and gave them directions to various places. The internship also involved at its ending a lot of performances, which was very fantastic privilege. And I even have to write a journal for everything I did. >> BETTY SIEGEL: Okay. What did you like best about your internship? >> Meeting the rest of my fellow college and EEI interns, which include all, would include attending important meetings together. But I also loved being with all the wonderful people who work at the Kennedy Center, and just being there every day. >> BETTY SIEGEL: What kinds of jobs are you doing now? What are you involved with? >> I am now working as a part-time staff member, as an usher in the Eisenhower theater on Wednesday night, and Saturday matinees, and also work as a volunteer every Friday morning in the education department reception desk, taking phone calls and helping with the various assignments. I currently also belong to a (indecipherable) rehearse on Monday nights, and to a theater group, which rehearses on Tuesday night. So the internship, I have had the opportunity to act professionally in a number of plays with several theater companies, such as Imagination stage, and the Kennedy Center. >> BETTY SIEGEL: That is great. Like a good actor, J. P., you and I stuck straight to our scripts. But now we are going to do a little improvisation. >> I would love that very much. (Laughter). >> BETTY SIEGEL: Let me ask you a few questions that we didn't prepare in advance. How do you get involved in theater? Did you start when you were in high school? >> I started during my high school, after, it's an after- school program. At that time, stage (indecipherable) next door to high school and there I joined a team program called Pegasus. We did various plays like for example, I did Death by Grammar and Once Upon Today, which is kind of a (indecipherable) once upon a time. >> BETTY SIEGEL: You got involved in theater through the after-school program? >> Yes. >> BETTY SIEGEL: You didn't get involved in the theater program at high school? >> No, I did not. >> BETTY SIEGEL: No, okay. What did you do after you graduated high school? What kinds of arts and programs were you involved in then? >> Arts and programs after the high school, which by the way I graduated like any other student which is quite different from I look like in high school. I got involved with taking, what started out in shows and the name of the company is the Paradigm Layers which is three shows. I also got involved with (indecipherable) Seize the Day which is her own dance company, which it is, but later on suspended. I also got involved with Susan Richard and I started with her as when we were acting together in some pieces, and then she started her own open circle theater. The first shows she did, I did not do. But then later on, I managed to be casted in various roles in different performances. >> BETTY SIEGEL: You are not just an actor, because you mentioned that you have been a dancer and you are a member of a band right now? >> Yes, I am. Member of a band is really in the old days. It was known as the mighty (indecipherable) but in the end they decided to be called the interplay company band. >> BETTY SIEGEL: What kind of dance have you done? >> In Seize the Day with Susan Richard I did the book that kids always read, called the (indecipherable). >> That is a Dr. Seuss one, that is a great story. >> And I did another dance with another dance company, the dance exchange, and we did the (indecipherable). >> BETTY SIEGEL: Great. J. P., a lot of other high school students and young adults might want to have a career in the arts. But their parents may not know how to encourage them to become actors or dancers and musicians. Do you have any advice for those students? And do you have any advice for their parents? >> About jobs and stuff like that? >> BETTY SIEGEL: How to get involved in the arts and what they should do. >> Okay. To get involved with the arts, first of all, if you are in high school, let's say, there are many different departments, and one of them is the theater department. And so they should audition for roles, to see what fits them in a particular play they are auditioning for. If they get casted, then they get the part. If they don't, they might be an extra, if it's a big theater production. I would say that this is just, be patient, and they tell, they get called by the director or stage manager. Anything else? >> BETTY SIEGEL: What about for the parents? What would you tell parents? >> For the parents, well, first of all, first of all, parents, you have to support your child. Even if your child is adult, you still have to support your child. Be there for them. Attend their performances, and because they feel less, they feel less as you will mention sometimes when you are up on stage -- >> BETTY SIEGEL: Less nervous? >> Less nervous. That way they would know their lines, and think of them as any performer that you have seen, not just in the high school performances, are there any performance, either like the Kennedy Center or like, you know, so it's kind of like an acting atmosphere. Be there for them. Love them as you always do. And just be a good moral support for them. >> BETTY SIEGEL: That sound like great advice for everybody. >> Yes. >> BETTY SIEGEL: Let me tell you. One last question for you. What kind of skills do you feel like you get as an actor, that you can use when you are not acting, just in your real life? >> In real life, the skills that I use is, don't do nothing. It's like do something in your life, like read a book or be sociable with someone, go to the movies. If you have any athletic abilities, you can go swimming, go bowling. And I mean, there's so many things out there, that can keep you going, that can keep you being you, and who you are inside and out. >> BETTY SIEGEL: Wow, J. P., you remind me very much of a quote that I found by Maya Angelou, the poet and writer, and she said that "I've learned that making a living is not the same thing as making a life." >> Repeat that again, briefly. >> BETTY SIEGEL: I've learned that making a living is not the same thing as making a life. Thank you for joining me on this. >> You're quite welcome, Betty. ****** 1