Fifth Third Bank's Project SEARCH Celebrates Graduates, Looks Ahead to Incoming Class

Although many graduations didn’t occur in person this year, Fifth Third Bank’s class of 2020 Project SEARCH interns wore their caps and gowns to virtual graduation ceremonies to celebrate their achievements.

Project SEARCH was started in 1996 at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and is a collaborative effort of the hospital, companies such as Fifth Third, multiple high schools, community partners and state vocational rehabilitation agencies. It is a one-year transition program for high school students with disabilities and provides marketable and skill-building opportunities that are geared to helping participants secure competitive employment. The program was implemented at Fifth Third in 2005 and operates at two Bank locations, one in Cincinnati and one in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Due to the pandemic, the 24 Project SEARCH interns who graduated experienced virtual learning opportunities for the majority of 2020 rather than in-person interactions at one of the Bank’s locations. Mitch Morgan, vice president, diversity and inclusion, and manager for Project SEARCH, explained that in spite of the different learning model, students were able to gain valuable experiences that will help them as they seek job placement. 

“The students learned how to adjust, even in the midst of a changing working environment and we’re very proud of them,” he said. “We used online platforms to keep our lines of communication open and we continually reassured the interns that we were there to support them, even though we weren’t onsite together.”

When the program starts in the Fall of 2020, there will be 23 Project SEARCH interns between the two Fifth Third sites and the program will primarily be virtual. In the last 15 years, the program at Fifth Third has provided interactive learning opportunities to 352 students. Of those, 33 are now Bank employees. And to date, there are more than 620 Project SEARCH sites worldwide. To learn more about Project SEARCH, visit https://www.projectsearch.us/.