Opened in 1994 in West Chester Twp., ABC provides families with speech, physical and occupational therapy services there and in locations throughout Greater Cincinnati and Dayton, including Red Bank, Western Hills, Middletown, Centerville and Beavercreek.
Through the internship program, participating Lakota East and Lakota West students will gain at least 60 hours of experience in clinical therapy and small business operations, including patient services, accounting and management. Students also may opt to participate in an additional rotation that focuses on ABC’s marketing and public relations efforts.
“This we think will provide a well-rounded opportunity for our students to see the clinical side, as well as the business and operations side of a small business,” said Lon Stettler, Lakota’s executive director for program development and strategic partnerships.
The district’s school board approved the agreement Jan. 26 during its regularly scheduled meeting.
Lakota high school students already are exploring potential biomedical and engineering careers through the district’s four other business partners: Atrium Medical Center, Kinetic Vision, Procter & Gamble and UC Health West Chester Hospital.
“What we’re trying to do is have a broad range of internship opportunities for our students to find out what they’re passionate about,” Stettler said. “With Atrium and West Chester Hospital, there really is not a pediatric component to that, so this is pediatric, but it’s on the therapy side.”
For its first set of rotations starting Feb. 17, ABC staff will host five Lakota juniors and seniors at its West Chester Twp. location. Rotations are scheduled twice a week for 12 weeks, each lasting two-and-a-half hours. Students are being selected based on their application and an interview with a panel of representatives from both Lakota and ABC staff. Students will receive elective high school credit upon their completion of the program.
Working alongside speech, physical and occupational therapists, students will learn such skills as parent communication, relationship building, interdepartmental communication and the techniques for running a successful pediatric outpatient clinic. They will gain exposure to the technology, equipment and basic processes used by each discipline.
The business operations rotations will help students see the processes used to create a positive patient experience. They will observe the impact of health care regulations on their daily business and see the leadership skills managers exhibit to motivate and empower their staff.
ABC Pediatric Therapy Network employs 86 people, 55 of them at its West Chester Twp. office.
ABC owner and Lakota graduate Diane Crecelius started the business 20 years ago to help children achieve developmental milestones in a child-friendly environment.
She said she decided to partner with the district for a personal reason.
“I went to Ohio State and I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to do when I got there,” she said. “I found out that wasn’t at all what I wanted to do and changed my major and ended up at college for another year. I just want to help kids understand what occupations are out there.”
Sometimes what a students believes an occupation does and what it really does are two different things, Crecelius said. Spending some real time in the real world observing and being involved in that occupation can helps students realize if they love or loathe a particular job.
“Hopefully the staff member will say ‘OK, don’t just observe. Help us with therapy. Play with the kids,’ so that instead of just from the outside looking in, they can maybe get a real idea of what it would be like if they did that job,” Crecelius said.
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