Jack Kruger

We are excited to welcome Jack to the Get That Good Life! conference. Jack will be presenting about employment and will share his employment journey.

About Jack

Portrait of Jack Kruger

Jack Kruger is a CrossFit member, bike rider, movie enthusiast, employee, Learner driver, friend, and happens to have Down syndrome.
 
Jack attended local schools along with his sisters, and as a result, he is well known in his community. He finished school in 2020 at Daramalan College in Canberra.
 
Jack started his working life at the age of 14 and held several jobs while still at school. Since leaving school, Jack has been crafting a meaningful week of work, study, sport and leisure time. He is currently working as an After-School Care Educator and as a Government House Household officer.

Jack’s Presentation

Getting a Good Start in a Good Job

An Example of Open Employment Using Some Customised Employment Principles

Presented by Jack Kruger, Jan Kruger, Julia Shumaker, and Milton Tyree

Much has been learned through the years about open employment. There is much evidence that shows what works and what doesn’t work. When the well-established guiding principles of customised employment are applied, desirable results are likely to follow.

In this presentation, we will look at how a local family applied these principles in the workplace.

Jack Kruger, a recent school-leaver, will provide an overview of his work roles over the years. He’ll explain how these have led to him securing employment at Government House in Canberra.

Then Jan Kruger, Jack’s mum, and Julia Shumaker, Jack’s job mentor, will describe the process of developing Jack’s Government House job. They will explain

  • how they worked with the employer to define Jack’s responsibilities
  • the nature of Jack’s relationships with his co-workers, including their instructional roles
  • adjustments that the employer made to help Jack learn and master his role, and
  • lessons learned along the way.

Finally, Milton Tyree will connect Jack’s story with the customised employment principles that he described in his pre-conference webinar. There will be time for comments and questions.

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