After working at Xerox as an engineer for 24 years, Thad Kciuk wasn't ready to retire when he found out he was going to be laid off. “They closed my division and offered me an early retirement,” says Kciuk. “But I wasn't ready to retire financially.”

The first thing he did was go to an employment agency recommended by Xerox. While there, he heard about RochesterWorks! He decided to go to RochesterWorks! for more help, and found “that they were very helpful and dedicated to finding people jobs.” Initially, Kciuk looked for engineering positions, and even considered doing CAD design. “But I found those jobs didn't really appeal to me,”he explains. “What did appeal to me was being a teacher.”

When he wasn't looking for jobs, Kciuk had started tutoring kids from his daughter's calculus class and found that he enjoyed it immensely. Since he already had a Master's degree and the technical requirements necessary for a teaching degree, all he needed to pursue his new career was to complete a few educational courses and student teaching.

Kciuk started the teaching program at Roberts Wesleyan College in 2002. One of the requirements was doing student teaching, but its cost was prohibitive. Through RochesterWorks!, Kciuk learned about a Dislocated Worker fund that was available through the Department of Labor. Because he had been laid off as a result of a division closing, Kciuk qualified to receive $5,000 to cover the cost of his student teaching.

After completing his student teaching at Jefferson High School, Kciuk received his teaching certification in January 2003. In September of that year, he accepted a job at Jefferson High School as a computer technology teacher. When there was an opening within the year for a full-time math teacher at the same school, Kciuk applied for it and finally landed his dream job.