Ponca City Resident Receives Commendation from Governor

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Ponca City resident William Sills received a commendation from Gov. Brad Henry and Lt. Gov. Jari Askins on October 6 during the Governor’s Disability Employment Awards at the Governor’s Mansion in Oklahoma City. October is national Disability Employment Awareness Month.

William Sills has worked at his local Pizza Hut for the past year and a half as the “dough master." His job is to take different kinds of pizza dough out of the freezer and place them in covered pans in the refrigerator to thaw for use the next day. Sills has become so good at his job that when new employees start to work, he is assigned to train them. All the supervisors who work with him say his performance is excellent, he is always on time and dependable. Sills’ co-workers have become his friends and love to joke around with him. He his considered a valuable member of the team.  When he is not working at Pizza Hut, Sills enjoys mowing his lawn and the lawns of his neighbors. He never charges for his work but his neighbors usually tip him in appreciation of his kindness.

“It is employees and businesses like these that have put Oklahoma ahead of every state in the nation at employing people with disabilities,” said Director Howard Hendrick of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.

“For the past three years, Oklahoma has led the nation in assisting people with developmental disabilities to find competitive jobs and become working taxpayers," Hendrick said. “Today, 60 percent of individuals with developmental disabilities served by the OKDHS Developmental Disabilities Services Division participate in supported employment services.”

The Governor’s Disability Employment Awards are co sponsored by Gov. Brad Henry and Lt. Gov. Jari Askins, along with OKDHS/DDSD, the Department of Rehabilitation Services, and the Oklahoma Association of Persons in Supported Employment.

###

Editors Note: To see Oklahoma’s ranking as compared to other states in regard to the numbers of persons with developmental disabilities in competitive jobs (supported employment) go to, www.statedata.info (Link opens in a new window). This web site is a project of the Institute for Community Inclusion at UMass Boston, supported in part by the Administration on Developmental Disabilities, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under cooperative agreement with additional support from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research of the U.S. Department of Education.