On the first day of the Project SEARCH High School Transition Program in 2015, Jamaal White raised his hand and told Program Director Tameka Harry, “I guarantee that I will be the first person to get hired because I am focused and ready to work hard.” After interning at the University of Maryland, Baltimore in the Environmental Services (EVS) Department, his announcement came true a few months into the program when his internship supervisor offered him a job.
Denise J. Meyers, associate director of EVS, said, “Jamaal is a hard worker who is always eager to learn. Jamaal displays a helpful, cooperative, and positive attitude towards superiors and co-workers. It has been wonderful to see him grow in his job here at UMB. Jamaal continuously leads by example and is a pleasure to be around.”
Recently, around the time of his five-year anniversary, Jamaal was promoted to EVS Custodial Lead—a position he was confident accepting because he had already worked in several of the buildings. The Project SEARCH team is proud of Jamaal for achieving the goal he set for himself and for surpassing it. Jamaal said that he had “faith in everything he put his mind to and that he never gave up.”
