When Jackson R. was a toddler, his mother, Karen, could never have imagined he would one day be an honor roll student and member of the golf team at Hilliard High School.
At that time, she simply wanted to know why her young son could not talk.
“At two and a half, Jackson was not speaking,” explained Karen. “At first we just assumed it was because he’s the baby of the family, but we didn’t realize he had speech challenges because his muscles in his cheeks weren’t working properly.”
Jackson’s parents took him to speech therapy twice a week to address that issue, but as he grew, he continued to experience a wide range of medical problems. Eventually, doctors decided to run genetic testing and discovered Jackson’s DNA had a deletion in his second chromosome.
“All the puzzle pieces suddenly fit together—the speech, his not growing as tall as everybody else, not being able to move his hands well,” said Karen. “There were only seven kids in the United States that had that deletion at the time. His doctors told us we would just have to learn as we went.”
Jackson also regularly experienced bullying in school because of his height. It was not until he joined Nassau County’s Florida High School High Tech program that Jackson realized he was not alone; in fact, he had a community of fellow students with disabilities.
“I’m really glad I got to join the program,” said Jackson. “I wanted to be around more people with disabilities like me.”
High School High Tech, administered by The Able Trust, provides students with disabilities opportunities to explore career training and postsecondary education options. One of the program’s goals is to improve the odds of students achieving long-term career success, thereby helping to close the nearly 35-percentage point gap in employment between Floridians with disabilities and the general population.
Nassau County High School High Tech program lead Chris Von Doersten has noticed a major change in Jackson since he first participated in a career camp on Florida State College at Jacksonville’s (FSC-J) Yulee campus about two years ago.
“I’ve seen him mature and his confidence increase,” said Von Doersten. “I think that confidence he gained in High School High Tech boosted him to explore and try a new career track.”
I just thought Jackson would graduate and get a simple job, but High School High Tech has really helped him look at other options for the future. The growth has been tremendous—from where he came from to where he is now is just miraculous.
Thanks to High School High Tech, Jackson went from having no plans for postsecondary education to dual-enrolling in Career and Technical Education coursework in heating, ventilation and air conditioning at FSC-J. He plans to continue studying HVAC and pursuing his industry certification at the college after graduating from Hilliard High.
But Jackson’s newfound confidence and drive have given him more than a new focus for his future. He is also making friends and gaining job experience through his love of golf, both as a member of his high school team and an employee of The Golf Club at North Hampton in Fernandina Beach.
“High School High Tech helped a lot with job interviews,” Jackson said. “It helped me get a job I really wanted at a place I love.”
In addition to his day-to-day work at North Hampton, Jackson has been on duty for major events such as the Toys for Tots Golf Tournament, which welcomed about 120 players to the club in October. He has proven himself to be highly responsible in his position at the golf course.
At the same time, Jackson has built strong self-advocacy skills. On one occasion when he was on a shift by himself after his fellow employee failed to come in to work, Jackson called his boss and spoke up for himself to ask for help.
“Jackson would have never done that before his time in High School High Tech—he would have just stuck it out quietly and done the best he could have done,” said Karen. “I was really proud when he came home and told me ‘Mom, I spoke up!’”
For Von Doersten, this example is just one of many that clearly shows Jackson’s growth through High School High Tech.
“I’ve been happy to see Jackson be able to manage his time and take on all these responsibilities,” said Von Doersten. “He’s really become a very mature young man.”
Karen agreed, crediting the High School High Tech program with aiding Jackson in overcoming his fear of communicating with others and deciding to pursue a rewarding career after high school.
“I just thought Jackson would graduate and get a simple job, but High School High Tech has really helped him look at other options for the future,” she said. “The growth has been tremendous—from where he came from to where he is now is just miraculous.”
The Able Trust’s High School High Tech program serves students with disabilities from Miami to Pensacola and all across Florida. Learn more at www.abletrust.org/high-school-high-tech.
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