 "JOBS" is the acronym for Joint Opportunities for Building Skills
and is one of three programs the task force is kicking off this
year, designed to give "at-risk" students support and motivation for
staying in school.
During the meeting Kristi Lessen, executive director of the
Healthy Communities Partnership, gave a PowerPoint discussion with
input from Heidi Browne, who co-chairs the Education Task Force.
The concept of the JOBS program is that students who are willing
to work on a volunteer basis with local employers will gain
knowledge of the importance of their education, will discover
whether or not a particular job holds an interest for them, and what
skills they must develop to continue in that line of work after high
school.
The role of the employer will be to provide a specific set of
skills through on-the-job training and to provide personal
one-on-one mentoring that would reach beyond the workplace.
Lessen said the task force wants the employers to be willing to
take an interest in the student employee for more than just the job
they perform. The employer needs to provide someone in their
organization who will become an at-work parent -- someone who will
take an interest in the young person's schoolwork, grades, personal
life and more.
Browne and Lessen also spoke about the use of the term "at risk,"
saying that labeling a student as being at risk does not mean they
are troubled or in trouble, as is often assumed.
Being at risk can come from a variety of conditions, such as
living in a household with only one parent or in a household where
parents have to hold multiple jobs to provide for the family, thus
reducing the time they are able to spend with their children.
Many times this factor plays into other things, such as truancy,
and can lead to a young person giving up on school and dropping out.
In the JOBS program the role of the "at-work parent" would
provide the personal adult contact that these young people are
sometimes missing out on at home.
The role of the employer would be to train the student, set
performance goals for them to meet and offer a quarterly evaluation
on the student's job skill development.
The task force has developed an evaluation form that grades a
student with scores ranging from 1 to 5 in approximately a dozen
areas of interest related to the job.
Lessen said that on the first evaluation there might be
performance areas where the student scores very low, and those would
be the areas that he or she would need to work to improve. The hope
is that as the year progresses, each evaluation gets better and
students will be able to see their own progress and take some pride
in it.
The program is set up to run during the school year, and students
who participate will have to continue in their regular course
studies in school. The student and employer will have to work
together to create a schedule that does not interfere with classroom
time.
The program is kicking off at Lincoln Community High School, with
guidance counselors Erin Varner and Jill Jackson being the ones
responsible for pairing students with employers.
Varner said that student profile forms are being distributed now.
She estimated that about 30 students have taken the forms, and she
already has at least four who have completed that step and are ready
to move on to the next.
Employers who are interested in taking a student will also fill
out a profile sheet. Varner and Jackson will then match a student to
the employer, based on the needs of both parties.
Lessen said the next step would be to conduct interviews between
employers and students. The employers should look at this as being
like any other interviews for a prospective employee, and this will
give the students some experience in the interview process and help
prepare them for future opportunities.
She also asked that the employers be tolerant of some possible
shortfalls of the student. Students may not understand proper
conduct for an interview, and they may not understand the importance
of appearance during an interview. These are areas where, afterward,
when the student is on the job, the employer or parent figure or
both may be able to offer guidance for the future.
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At the end of the interview, Lessen said that if employers do not
feel like a student is right for their business, they should speak
up, because if they take a student they aren't comfortable with, it
could lead to a bad experience all the way around.
At the same time, employers need to understand that these are
kids age 16 to 17, and they aren't going to know everything that an
experienced worker might know.
On that note Andi Hake, director of the Lincoln/Logan County
Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Education Task Force, spoke
about an experience the chamber had with a young woman they brought
in through WorkNet.
She said that Browne took the role of "mom" and Hake was the
employer "boss." Hake said that at first she was convinced it was
not going to work out well. The young woman was very inexperienced,
had no computer skills, no history with Internet or e-mail, and was
terrified to answer a phone.
With Browne being the friend offering support and personal
interest and Hake being the boss offering training and setting
expectations, the young woman began developing the skills the
chamber needed, and by the end of the term she was an excellent
employee.
When the floor was open for discussion, Nina Huddlestun,
administrative assistant and director of support services at the
Logan County Department of Public Health, suggested that the
Education Task Force might present a version of a jobs fair, where
employers would speak to students about who they are and what they
do. She noted that in some cases kids may not know they would be
interested in working for a particular business because they don't
know what that business does.
David Schonauer of Illinois American Water also raised a good
point when he said that in his company at least, there are jobs
students may be interested in that they cannot be given due to
liability issues.
He said he supports the program, thinks it is a great idea, but
for some employers like himself, he may be very limited to offering
perhaps only an hour or two at a time in an office environment.
Lessen said there was still a possibility for a match there, and
Browne expanded on that by saying there may be cases where students
are not available on a daily basis.
The bottom-line goal is for students to graduate from high
school. There may be cases where students have slacked off in their
early high school career, and by the time they reach junior and
senior levels they are playing a catch-up game carrying a full load
of classes.
In those cases the student may not be available for a daily work
schedule, but even an hour or two a couple of times a month would
still benefit them.
Browne also told the prospective employers in the room that if
they take on a student and it isn't working out, they should let
Varner or Jackson know. Students can be removed from a job and
placed elsewhere as needed.
At the Wednesday meeting 13 people were present representing 10
prospective employers. Varner, Browne and Lessen all encouraged them
to fill out the employer profiles and send them to Varner at LCHS,
saying that doing so put them under no obligation to go further into
the program.
The group will continue to seek out prospective employers, and
anyone who would like to discuss this or learn more about the
program can contact Heidi Browne at the chamber by calling
217-735-2385 or call LCHS at 217-732-4131, with ext. 239 for
guidance counselor Erin Varner or ext. 248 for counselor Jill
Jackson.
[By NILA SMITH]
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