WORK GROUPS AT JOHN'S CRAZY SOCKS

WORK EXPERIENCE GROUPS AT JOHN'S CRAZY SOCKS

We are excited to welcome work groups in our new Farmingdale facility!

John’s Crazy Socks Work Experience Program

Every day, we demonstrate what’s possible when a person is given a chance. John may have Down syndrome, but that has not stopped him from starting his own business and working hard in that business. Sharing what’s possible is part of our mission to spread happiness.

As part of our mission, we have created the Work Experience Program here at John’s Crazy Socks. This initiative allows schools and social service agencies to bring groups of students into our office to gain work experience. The program gives people with intellectual disabilities experience working in a business setting and performing job tasks.

John participated in a similar work experience program while in school and he benefitted greatly from the experience. We hope that participants will learn how to comport themselves in the work place and develop both general and specific work skills. We want the Work Experience Program to inspire, educate and instill confidence.

What Happens During the Work Experience Program

On your first visit, you will meet with John and Mark to learn about John’s Crazy Socks, how we got started and how the business operates. John will give you a tour of our office and warehouse. We will then set you up to perform some of the jobs in our business, including:

• Assembling materials for our packages
• Putting stickers on socks
• Putting labels on socks
• Putting header cards on socks
• Assembling gift boxes
• Counting socks for inventory
• Picking socks to fill orders

Each week, you will return to perform work tasks. The tasks will vary from week to week.

When Do the Work Experience Groups Operate?

To enable more groups to join us at our office/warehouse in Farmingdale, New York, we have created three terms across the year to accommodate Work Experience Groups:

• Session I: January 15 through March 15
• Session II: April 15 through June 15
• Session III: September 15 through December 15

The three terms will enable us to maximize the number of groups that can participate in this program. Most likely, no one group will be able to participate in all three terms.

Within each session, there are six time slots per week:

• Tuesday: morning and afternoon
• Wednesday: morning and afternoon
• Thursday: morning and afternoon

The morning sessions will start no earlier than 10:30 a.m. Otherwise, we can be flexible on the starting times of each session, though we cannot have overlapping sessions.

Requirements to Participate in the Work Experience Program

Our experience has taught us how to operate this program so that it provides the maximum benefit for the participants. Therefore, we have established the following requirements:

1. No more than six students and three staff in any one group.
2. Your group must include staff who can provide adequate support and direction.
3. All participants (students, staff, teachers, etc.) must sign our Media Release Form in advance. We often film or take photographs of our Work Experience Groups and share on our social media. There can be no exceptions to this requirement. (You can find the Media Release Form here.)
4. The same students should participate each week so that we can build on their learning experience.

We have had a broad range of high schools and social service agencies participate in this program and all have found it helpful. We hope you will consider joining us as we would love to have you.

If you would like to be added to our list of work groups or if you have questions, please send an email to tours@johnscrazysocks.com.