Ceramics

In the ceramics shop more traditional clay techniques are used. First, the clay is rolled out on a machine, guided by a worker. Then several people use cookie cutter patterns to cut out the desired shapes. Next, the pieces are trimmed and fired in the kiln room. Some items, like the baskets, are woven and twisted by hand, and then fired. The kiln is carefully loaded and managed by the professional staff, but after the firing, the pieces are unloaded by the workers and brought back out to other workers to be glazed.

All the painting of the ceramics is done by hand, by talented Brookwood workers. The designs vary with the seasons, and the demands of the marketplace. They range from spring flowers to holiday greenery, and red and blue Texas star shapes.

Silk-Screening

The silk screening process begins with citizens' original designs for various occasions, including birthdays, holidays and special events. There may be a custom design for a local football team, or a special picture for mothers’ day; or there may be beautiful flowers decorating generic note cards. The screens are cut; one for each color needed, and then the inking process begins.

Theremay be three or four screens going at once in the workshop. One worker at a time controls each screen, as she inserts a card, inks the silk, and then removes the card to a waiting helper. The handling of the materials must be precise to avoid mistakes. The cards are then placed on a drying rack, awaiting the next color application. When the cards are completed, a team of workers is responsible for counting and packaging. The cards are placed in vinyl wrappers, individually or in counted sets. During the busy Christmas season, they may produce as many as 75,000 cards.

Horticulture Center

The main goal of the Horticulture Center, similar to the other work centers, is to teach, motivate and provide a positive, adaptable work environment so individuals can work successfully and through that, build their self-esteem. About sixty-five residents work in this program at a time; less in the hot summer. Most spend half a day in horticulture and the other half day in a different work setting. A staff of six teachers and eight production professionals run the horticulture program, where there are about 1000 square feet of enclosed and climate controlled space. The horticulture department has four main functions: propagation, planting, moving and stocking. There is the plant shop where workers plant cuttings that have been propagated at Brookwood as well as those that arrive by Fed-X. The imported seedlings can be planted into prepared pots more efficiently than if all plants were begun as seeds. The propagation crew members take cuttings from larger plants and plant them in trays with many small cells. After two to six weeks, those seedlings are then planted in larger pots. Workers fill the pots with soil, tag them, and water them. When the plants are large enough and are ready to go out to a greenhouse, they are fertilized and sprayed for pests and weeds. Another crew is responsible for dumping tired or diseased plants, bleaching out the pots and refilling them with fresh soil. The moving crew moves the plants from the horticulture center to any of the thirty-seven greenhouses. They space the plants apart a designated distance, so they have room to grow, and place a watering tube in each, to facilitate the watering of hundreds of plants at a time. The moving crew then loads onto trucks, plants from the greenhouses that are ready to be distributed to Brookwood's Garden Center or to their outlying stores for sale to the public.

The greenhouses are overseen by professional growers, who are paid employees responsible for the plants' pesticides, watering, fertilizing and general welfare, in several greenhouses. The growers write production notes listing tasks that guide the teachers and their work crews through each week, and keep plant production moving smoothly and efficiently.

The busiest times for the horticulture center are spring and fall- flat planting seasons. Hundreds of Fed-X plants arrive and need to be quickly transplanted to pre-filled flats of eighteen 4" pots. The flats are filled using an automated flat filler, and then stacked in wait for Fed-X delivery. After they are filled and loaded onto trailers, the flats are taken to the greenhouses. The workers receive paychecks every two weeks for their work efforts, and seem to be pleased and feel rewarded by their pay.

The Horticulture Center is managed by Jim Ging, an assistant director of Brookwood. He has had both formal training and more than twenty- five years’ experience in this business. He’s been at Brookwood for ten years and has been responsible for the tremendous growth in productivity in the horticulture program. He quotes the Director when he says, "We walk with one foot firmly planted in our human services mission and the other planted in operating good profits for business". He describes their philosophy as "social entrepreneurism," While the teaching staff focuses on the well-being of the residents, the production staff has a primary focus on production and profit. They maintain a constant dialog as they go through each day to maintain a balance between these two missions.

He sees the importance of making this work experience "legitimate" and "meaningful" for all involved, by producing high quality products in a comfortable and motivating atmosphere. He also feels a responsibility to provide a legacy of financial dependability for residents and their families. He sees future growth in outlets beyond those owned by Brookwood.

Nancy, a production worker who began as a teacher at Brookwood ten years ago, has seen the horticulture program grow from just two teachers, to the current six. She feels that people like to do what makes them feel useful, and speaks about the "mission" that keeps her, and others, so involved. She is responsible for seven greenhouses that contain all the bedding plants and the starter plants.

BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTIONS

When a resident begins to show signs of agitation, or threatens those around him, behavioral strategies are put into place by teachers, and the behavior specialist is called to the scene, He uses techniques espoused by Dr. Richard Spocks in the book Successful Behavioral Change. These involve using a calm voice in the face of agitation, removing other people from any incipient danger, allowing the resident to safely let off steam, and to find out what is bothering the individual. When the resident is listening, the behavior interventionist, with calm voice and a sense of humor, tries to find out the cause of the problem. Using words, he tries to get the resident to tell what happened, try to define why it happened, and then become part of planning the consequences of those actions. For the resident with limited verbal ability, He will offer a few options, and let the resident choose what will happen next. task.

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