Karrie Barnes, Case Manager and Lead Teacher for Focus on the Future (FOF), visited the Lewisville Noon Rotary last week to give club members a brief overview of how Lewisville ISD helps special needs students successfully transition out of high-school with opportunities for continuing education and skills training.

 

FOF currently serves about 40 students across several initiatives, including employment opportunities at Starfish Cafe coffee shop inside Central Elementary, and making products for Starfish Creations. The student-made merchandise includes T-shirts, journals, coasters, goodie baskets, bath bombs, engraved cutting boards, and other gift items, and money from sales goes back into the program. Students involved with Starfish Creations also have the opportunity to learn basic job skills, such as preparing supplies, managing inventory, and shopping for materials to use in making products.

 

FOF also oversees Project Search, a transition program for students ages 18-22 with cognitive disabilities to teach marketable skills that can help them obtain employment. Project Search partners include the City of Lewisville, which has internship opportunities for FOF students at the Thrive Center, City Hall, MCL Medical Center, and with city landscape crews, among other professional paths. Focus on the Future also offers a Vocational Adjustment Training (VAT) program in conjunction with the Texas Workforce Commission, which teaches students soft skills, like understanding the taxes on their paycheck and basic budgeting. 

Click here to learn more about student participation criteria and the FOF referral process, or fill out a short online form here to request more information about specific Focus on the Future initiatives.

 

Please continue to lift up the family of RL Crawford in prayer, including his wife Brenda and sons Trey and Guy. RL was a lifetime resident of Lewisville and a Rotarian since 1973. He passed away on January 17, 2022 and is very much missed by many in the Lewisville Noon Rotary club and the local community.

If you want credit for a make-up, contact LNR Membership chair Terry Russell to let him know when and where you attended another Rotary club meeting, or the date and service activity that you participated in to count as a make up. You have two weeks before and two weeks after a missed meeting to make up for your absence. Make-ups are a great way to meet Rotarians from other clubs and become more engaged with the outreach activities we do in the local community!