HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WHLT) – Mentors and families celebrated the graduation of nine students from Forrest General Hospital’s (FGH) SEARCH program on Monday, May 16.
The program was created by the Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services to help students with intellectual needs move into the workforce after graduation. The students worked rotations in Radiology, Food and Nutrition, Patient Transport, Canteen, Gift Shop, I.T., Same Day Surgery and Outpatient Registration. They learned skillsets for each individual department.
The class is made up of students from the Hattiesburg Public, Petal and Lamar County school districts. The students will be working at the following places after graduation:
Hattiesburg High School:
- Dalia King will work at Little Caesar’s in Petal.
- Markell McKines will be working at the Wendy’s on Highway 49 near Walmart.
Lamar County Schools:
- Bennett Clemmons will be working at Edwards Street Mission Store.
- Aundrea Dais will be working at Midtown Corner Market Bakery.
- Tytiana Griffin will be working at Dairy Queen on Highway 49.
- Cody Spillman is waiting on employment.
Petal High School:
- Jimmy Dunkle is waiting on employment.
- Robin DeRossett will be working at the Wendy’s on Highway 49 near Stuckey’s.
- Matthew Myers will attend ARC Rise and Shine.
The program is nine-months long. This is the third class to train. The class of 2023 has already been chosen and will begin their training at the beginning of the school year.
