2010 Event Schedule

September 12
Discovery Garden 10th Anniversary
2 – 4 p.m. at Discovery Garden
Rain or Shine
November 13
Tailgate Party & Silent Auction
Penn State v. Ohio State

Skills Honored with Waste Watcher Award from the Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania

PROP Waste Watchers Award Mark Mehall presents Mike Rice, Skills President/CEO, and Skills workers with the PROP Waste Watchers Award.
Pictured L to R: Mark Mehall, Mike Rice, Randy, Kim, Annette Gunyuzlu, Amy, Karen Weyant, and Hiedi.

On August 23rd, Skills of Central PA, Inc. (Skills) received The Waste Watchers Award from Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania (PROP). Mark Mehall, executive director of PROP, presented the Skills recycling facility in Port Royal with the award.

Skills began its computer recycling program in 2005 and obtained its DEP permit in 2008.

While many organizations offer drop-off locations for computer recycling, few have DEP permits to process them. Skills processes all donated electronics at its vocational training center in Juniata County.

PROP Waste Watchers Award Behind-the-scenes of Skills computer recycling program: Karen Weyant, Nancy Parsons, Denise Hahn, Sam Swietzer, and Deb Palm.

Virtually all components of the computers and electronic materials Skills collects are dismantled and recycled. The component parts are then shipped to responsible recyclers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey where they are either refurbished and reused or broken down for scrap metal and plastics.

“Skills is very excited to be recognized with this award,” said David M. (Mike) Rice, Ph.D., president and CEO, Skills. “We want everyone to know that Skills computer recycling program not only keeps computers out of landfills, it provides individuals with developmental disabilities with an opportunity to learn valuable employment and pre-employment skills — while earning a paycheck.”

This was no small feat. “Located in rural Juniata County, opportunities to find sustainable paying assembly work for the individuals we serve was proving to be a challenge,” recalls Annette Gunyuzlu. “Then in 2004, I came across a short EPA fact sheet that predicted 130 million computers would become obsolete and begin to flood landfills across the U.S. by 2005. By changing the focus to disassembly, we crunched the numbers and realized that even the tiniest percentage of this predicted market could keep the shop filled with obsolete material for a good while. It’s a win for the individuals we serve, our community and the environment.”

Visit Skills Computer Recycling Service pages for more information about this program including donation drop-off locations and times.

Skills 50th Anniversary Celebration
Changing Times... Changing Lives... 50 Years of Growth!

employment goals Liz Koch presents the Centre County Employment Award to Sam Jack for reaching his employment goals.

Skills of Central PA, Inc. celebrated 50 years of creating opportunities, providing choice and support, and promoting recovery with a lovely evening at the Penn Stater.

With over 200 in attendance, Carolyn Donaldson from WTAJ-TV hosted an evening with entertainment by Tommy Wareham, great food, desserts from The Penn State Bakery, and lovely centerpieces made by Skills ATSs which were given out as door prizes.

independence acheivement Steve Martynuska presents the Independence Award to Darlene Eckley for achieving her independent living goals.

Special Acheivement Awards were presented to:

  • Sam Jack for reaching his employment goals
  • Darlene Eckley for achieving her goals in independent living
  • Bonnie Brown for working at Hoss’s for nearly 22 years
  • Bertha Kephart for sharing her life with Jenny Corrado for over 20 years
employment goals Becky Aungst presents the Blair County Employment Award to Bonnie Brown for working at Hoss’s for nearly 22 years.

An award was also presented to Supelco as a long-term business partner. Supelco has been providing contract work for the individuals working at WOSKOB for approximately 30 years.

Representative Scott Conklin presented Skills with a proclamation.

Gene Bianco, Executive Director for Pennsylvania Rehabilitation Facilities, gave a well-rehearsed speech regarding just how much services for people with disabilities have changed over the last 50 years.

lifelong relationships Becky Aungst presents the Lifesharing Award to Bertha Kephart for sharing her life with Jenny Corrado for over 20 years.

Thank you to everyone who helped with the planning and preparations for this event. Special thanks to:

  • Steve Zook
  • Robin Weirich
  • Diane Strickland
  • Annette Gunyuzlu
  • Lisa Eberhart
  • Steve Martynuska
  • Jeanne DeHaas
  • Victoria Colyer
  • Pennie Spalding
  • Shirley Sipling
  • Joe Weilacher
  • Joe Portugal
  • Vicky Barone
  • Mike Rice
  • and all of the AT staff and individuals who made the centerpieces!

 

The Willowbank Café:
A Fantastic Idea in Action

Skills now provides healthy lunches to County Employees Skills Willowbank Café provides healthy lunches for Centre County employees.

With the support of the Centre County Commissioners and the wellness committee for Centre County Employees, Skills opened a café in the Willowbank Building in Bellefonte.

The Willowbank Café offers healthy menu selections including salads, soups, fruit cups and yogurt.

With the opening of the Café, Skills was able to hire two members from Opportunity Centre Clubhouse as permanent team members. A third position, through Skills Transitional Employment Placement (TEP) program, gives individuals the opportunity to try types of work and receive training in a safe, nonthreatening environment before seeking competitive employment.

This endeavor would not have been possible without equipment donated by Sheetz, Inc. and the help of U.S. Foods.

Sheetz donated industrial freezers, refrigerators, a three-compartment sink, soup warmers, and cabinets with a countertop.

U.S. Foods provided free training for staff on portioning, food preparation, and food presentation. Willowbank Café staff also learned about sanitation, hand washing, and customer service.

Thank you to everyone who helped Skills with this new venture!

The Journey to Become a Person Centered Organization

There is something to be said about putting yourself into someone else’s shoes.
PCO supports individuals being the authors of their own lives. Skills PCO philosophy enabled Jerry Valimont to move into the country home he desired.

Over the last few decades our society began changing its thinking about people with disabilities and the way services are delivered to them. Our society started a transformation from a system dictating lives to one of individuals choosing their own lives.

In 1998, Skills adopted the Person Centered Thinking developed by experts Michael Smull, Bill Allen, and Mary Lou Bourne. Over this past year, all Skills staff in Blair County as well as all executive staff came together for training on becoming a Person Centered Organization (PCO). Skills staff members attended monthly meetings and underwent training to be coaches. Coaches help teams for individuals find out what each individual really likes and wants in their life then help guide teams to make decisions based on the individual’s choices.

Skills goal is to become a PCO, initially in Blair County, and to improve the lives of the people we serve whether in residential or day programs. Skills mission has always been to enhance the lives of the people we serve and give them every opportunity we can. Now Skills is taking it one step further — having the people we serve be the authors of their own lives. This is not an easy step to take; state regulations, doctors, hospitals and other agencies need to be on board with this philosophy.

To accomplish this goal, Skills included training opportunities for county support coordinators and state representatives from the Office of Developmental Programs. Skills is offering this training to other counties. In November 2009, Skills held a two-day training in State College (Centre County) for Skills employees and county support coordinators about this philosophy. The journey to becoming a person centered organization is underway, thanks to Blair County, and spreading throughout the agency. Skills goal is eventually to become a PCO throughout all of our 17 counties.

Environmentally Friendly Place Mats

individual with papercutter Improvements to the place mat cutter by Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) triples productivity.

Skills of Central PA, Inc. has been making place mats out of recycled, biodegradable paper for over 10 years. The Deli, a restaurant in downtown State College, has been a loyal supporter of this project by purchasing Skills recycled place mats. Hotel State College also uses Skills recycled place mats in Bill Pickles Tap Room Restaurant & Bar. This project is both good for our environment and supports individuals with disabilities by providing valuable work.

individual with papercutter Jay Shawley cuts place mats from recycled paper at Skills.

Individuals who attend WOSKOB Vocational Training Services in Centre County earn a paycheck to make the place mats. Until now, client-workers had been using a home-made cutting contraption that could only cut two place mats at a time.

Thanks to Penn State University Students and the Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS), Skills now has a newly refurbished place mat cutter that can produce six place mats at a time — tripling production with one cut! Tim Wheeler, research assistant for the Department of Electrical Engineering, is the program coordinator. Matt Cornwell, Penn State mechanical engineering student in the EPICS program, designed and built the new place mat cutter for Skills.

The EPICS program at Penn State gives engineering students the opportunity to use their developing skills for the community. Students put what they have learned into play to help agencies like Skills solve everyday problems, which in our case helped Skills increase production to better serve our customers.

Interested in purchasing Skills recycled place mats for your restaurant or business? If so, please call Gina Montgomery at 814-329-4026 for details.