During his remarks at the 2025 Project SEARCH graduation, Rob Montagnese, President and CEO of Licking Memorial Health Systems (LMHS), shared the accomplishments of each students.

“They each made their mark (at LMHS,)” he said.

Family, friends and teachers gathered at The Reese Center on May 21 to honor the five graduates:

• Zachary Zwiebel from Granville High School
• Breanna White from Licking Valley High School
• John O’Neill from Newark High School
• Xavier Wells from Newark High School
• Bashu Dev Adhikari from Watkins Memorial High School

In its ninth year in Licking County, Project SEARCH gives young adults with disabilities the opportunity to spend an entire school year at LMHS, gaining the training and soft skills they need to transition from school to adult life.

At the graduation ceremony, Montagnese shared some exciting statistics about the program with the audience.

Over the last nine years, 90 percent of the students who participated in Project SEARCH graduated from the program. About 86 percent of those graduates were employed in the Licking County community. Montagnese estimated that about 35 percent of those students — over 20 interns — found jobs at LMHS.

Project SEARCH is a partnership between the hospital, the Licking County Board of Developmental Disabilities, Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities, the Licking Regional Educational Service Center and Greenleaf Job Training Services, Inc.

Throughout the school year, selected students complete three internships in different departments of the hospital, including Environmental, Culinary, Acute Rehab, Labor and Delivery and many others.

Before receiving their high school diplomas and Project SEARCH certificates, each intern was recognized for their different internship experiences.

Bashu was recognized for his leadership skills and John and Zachary were praised for their positive attitudes and friendly smiles.

Two of the interns were trailblazers in new departments — Xavier was the first intern to spend time working in pre-admission testing and Breanna was the first intern to be able to clean patients’ rooms, where she had an extremely positive impact and brightened their days.

Both John and Xavier were also recognized as having perfect attendance.

All five interns shared they are interested in exploring options and finding jobs in Licking County.

Next school year,  which will mark the program’s 10th year in Licking County, 10 interns, representing six local schools, are already signed up.