University of Akron and Charles and Salome Reymann Foundation team up to create the Urban Youth Transition Center

Keeping with its values of providing education excellence and real work career preparation, the University of Akron is extending its reach to a new demographic. Partnering with the Charles and Salome Reymann Foundation, the two organizations have introduced the Urban Youth Transition Center. The Center will act as a place to prepare high school students with disabilities to prepare for a promising future with good job opportunities.

This new program was started earlier this September and represents a huge milestone as it is the first program of its kind in America. The center will welcome between eight and 10 high school students from Cuyahoga Falls High School. The initiative will focus on students in grades 10, 11, and 12 who have mild to moderate disabilities as defined by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

The Reymann Foundation is providing funding to the program which will operate throughout the 2023-2024 academic year.

The focus of the program centers around the goal of providing high school students who have disabilities valuable real world experience by exposing them to an urban higher education setting. The initiative, which is based solely on data and outcome, is entirely located on the University of Akron campus, and will work to immerse students participating in the program in authentic educational services and employment experiences which will enhance their preparedness to be competitive in the workforce after graduation. The program also offers experiential educational opportunities for undergraduate education majors such as allowing them to take part in hands-on experiences that will allow participants to positively impact the lives of people with developmental disabilities and provide exposure to transitional services which will allow more preparation for real world experiences. Part of this will be advocating increased readiness and impactful practices to improve preparedness for the classroom for both university and high school students. This is expected to improve measurable outcomes like higher scores on the OAE and edTPA evaluations.

As part of this spirit of collaboration, over a dozen students at the University of Akron who are pursuing a major in special education will take part in this initiative, spending as many as six hours every week interacting with the high school participants. The high school students will be provided with one on one mentoring such as employment training and life skills. Students will take part in a path of job exploration which will contain visiting different sites around campus such as the School of Education, Student Union, College of Business, School of Music, and the Athletic Department. From there, students will take part in classroom sessions using technology such as laptops and VR headsets to explore a tailored and digital curriculum. From these sessions, the high school students will develop social aptitude, independence, and essential employment skills.

Even as there have been calls for change around the country, many people with intellectual disabilities still do not have jobs or are segregated in vocation workshops, with many not participating in postsecondary education after graduating from high school. As such, these people are much less likely than their neurotypical peers to be able to attain competitive employment, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics study from 2020. The Urban Youth Transition Center is a response to the University of Akron hearing these calls for reform, attempting to provide a more beneficial transition between high school and postsecondary education or employment for these people. The University hopes that involving students with disabilities in postsecondary education programs will increase the likelihood of their finding competitive integrated employment. 

In an article posted on the University of Akron’s website, Steve Reymann, who serves as the vice chairman of the Reymann Foundation, was quoted about their participation in this program, saying, “The Charles and Salome Reymann Foundation was established in honor of my grandparents, and is dedicated to improving the lives of individuals with developmental disabilities in Northeast Ohio. We are dedicated to creating a meaningful impact on the community through this project."

Director of the LeBron James Family Foundation School of Education in the Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences, Lisa Lenhart, weighed in as well on the program, saying, "This project is a wonderful partnership. The Reymann Foundation's vision is fulfilled, while both college and high school students gain invaluable opportunities. Led by Dr. Al Daviso, professor of education, this program offers a remarkable opportunity for the University of Akron's intervention specialist majors to directly engage with individuals with intellectual disabilities,” Lenhart expounded. “This interaction, set within a distinctive classroom environment, not only fosters academic growth but also nurtures compassion and understanding."

Through this program, the University of Akron is solidifying its commitment to helping individuals become capable and empowered, who are able not only to improve their own lives, but make impactful contributions to society. The program also carries out a shared vision by being in line with the mission of the Reymann Foundation to improve the lives of people with developmental disabilities.

Through this program, the partnership surpasses normal boundaries, helping a new generation of students achieve better futures.

More information about the Charles and Salome Reymann Foundation can be found at the organization's website.

More information about the University of Akron can be found at the school’s website.