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Workforce Preparation at Adventure Central

Adventure Central in Dayton provides urban youth meaningful employment and volunteer experiences. It does so within the context of a planned and structured workforce preparation program designed to help youth develop marketable skills (e.g., technical, interpersonal, time management and critical thinking). Goals for Adventure Central Workforce Prep are to:

• Provide a continuum of opportunities, from program participation to jobs as paid staff members, to help youth learn and develop life skills that are important in career development and the workplace.
• Increase participants' awareness of skills and competencies needed to succeed in the world of work and explore career opportunities in science and environmental education.
• Prepare youth for the world of work by providing hands-on work experiences.
• Increase the number of minority youth choosing careers in the sciences.

A multi-tiered approach is used offering youth a variety of experiences to meet their individual skills and interests while also accomplishing organizational goals. The program includes two major components: Participation in a broad youth development program with a specific emphasis on life skills, job skills, goal setting and career exploration; and hands-on work experience for teens.

During the past year, over 100 youth in grades K-12 completed activities using Junior Achievement curricula where they learned and practiced workforce skills. A comprehensive workforce preparation program was developed for teens to include an application and interview skills session, success in the workplace training, week-long orientation focusing on youth/adult partnerships and training for the tracks of youth education, nutrition education and horticulture/butterfly house.

Teens reported increased skills that were also observed by supervisors and documented through performance appraisals. A team of four teens and two staff taught a session at the Children, Youth and Families At Risk (CYFAR) conference on the workforce preparation program at Adventure Central.

When asked about what the gained from being in JET, teens said:

• "The two things that I gained being in JET is having confidence about doing new things and gained control of my attitude toward others."
• "I learned how to take constructive criticism."
• "I learned not to be so soft-spoken and I learned how to use my time more wisely."

For information on starting a such a program in your community, contact:

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Created: 2008-04-14, Updated: 2008-04-14