|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Greetings!
|
Price Hill Construction Camp got off to a bang this summer (along with the whine of drilling and the buzz of welding) as 18 middle-school children from the West Side gathered at Resurrection School in Price Hill.
Their goal: To build a very fancy garden shed, and in the process, reinforce their math and reading skills as they followed blueprints and learned to cut to measure. They learned the importance of work readiness skills such as starting each day on time and following instructions. And, during the three weeks that Construction Camp was held -- June 4-22 -- the kids were introduced to construction as a possible career.
 | | Liz Sweet works on the garden shed. |
Now in its second year, Construction Camp is supported by the Spirit of Construction Foundation and the SC Ministry Foundation, and is organized and led by SWORWIB Construction Advocate Anne Mitchell. Volunteers from Associated Builders and Contractors come to the site every day to instruct the children.
Liz Sweet, 12, who is entering the 7th grade at St. Lawrence Elementary School, described her first week at Price Hill Construction Camp: "Monday we made the floors of the shed, Tuesday we made the indoor walls; Wednesday we did the outdoor walls; today we are welding and building the outdoor walls a little bit more."
What was it like learning to weld? "It was pretty awesome!" For more on Construction Club, click here.
To see Soapbox Media's coverage, click here. To see Fox 19 coverage, click here.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
JCG, LITERACY CENTER WEST MERGE WITH OTHER NON-PROFITS
| |
Two of the SWORWIB's longtime youth providers, Jobs for Cincinnati Graduates (JCG) and Literacy Center West, have merged with other organizations to leverage their individual strengths and provide more effective services to young people.
Effective July 1, Literacy Center West will become part of Santa Maria Community Services, a venerable community services nonprofit located for 115 years in Price Hill. Literacy Center West, also in Price Hill, offers GED preparation and work readiness skills to its young people in The Next Level program, which is funded through the Workforce Investment Act. Santa Maria offers multiple services, including help with affordable housing and health and wellness services. "We expect this will be a great fit," said H.A. Musser, President and CEO of Santa Maria, in a press release. "Literacy Center West's programs will complement those offered by Santa Maria, with almost no duplication." As a result of the merger, Musser will no longer be a board member of the SWORWIB, but will continue to serve on SWORWIB committees. Chellie McLellan will continue as Director of LCW, a program within Santa Maria.
Jobs for Cincinnati Graduates is merging with the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative (CYC) effective July 1. JCG, based on Jobs for America's Graduates program, provides work readiness and career preparation services to juniors and seniors in several Cincinnati and Hamilton County schools, funded through the Workforce Investment Act. CYC offers mentoring and college access services to students primarily in Cincinnati Public Schools. The new organization will serve more than 3,500 young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Jane Keller, current President and CEO of CYC, will continue in those roles with the merged organization. Barbara Seibel Boudi, President and CEO of JCG, is retiring and will become a consultant to the combined group.
|
|
YOUTH SPOTLIGHT: WIA YOUTH ACHIEVE HONORS, RECOGNITION
|
 | | Literacy Center West's The Next Level graduates at ceremony June 7. |
As the academic year came to a close, our Youth Providers celebrated the accomplishments of their young people. Some highlights:
Literacy Center West: The week of June 4, 34 youth in The Next Level program (funded through the Workforce Investment Act) received their GED certificate. Those honored included Mattie Jefferson, The Next Level Female Student of the Year, and D'Andre Denmark, The Next Level Male Student of the Year.
Easter Seals Work Resource Center: Shareese Elliott and Rickey Sims were named valedictorians of P.A.C.E. High School.
Connect2Success: On May 22, eight students from Connect2Success participated in the CPS Adult Basic and Literacy Education GED graduation ceremony at Queen City Vocational Center; four of them are now enrolled in college. With the assistance of Connect2Success education and life coach partners, a total of 42 C2S students earned their GED or diploma in performance year 2011-2012, reports Program Manager Brady Davis.
Jobs for Cincinnati Graduates: At the 2011-12 Jobs for Ohio Graduates statewide competition, several WIA youth took awards. Whitney Hollingsworth, Western Hills Engineering, won first place in public speaking; Ejasia Jackson, Taft, third place in Students for Service; Mitchell Becker, Western Hills, third place in Cover Design. JCG had 73 graduates from area high schools this spring.
|
| EMPLOYER SPOTLIGHT: DUKE ENERGY PARTNERS WITH SUPERJOBS | |
 | | David Truesdale, a senior electrician at Duke, demonstrates the safety gear he must wear. |
Lawrence Brightwell and his co-workers at Duke Energy knew there had to be a better way.
A better way to recruit a more diverse workforce as Duke and other energy companies and contractors see the beginning of a wave of baby boomer retirements.
"We want our workforce to mirror the communities that we serve, which is a very diverse population," says Brightwell, Supervisor of Construction Maintenance at Queensgate who has worked at Duke for 25 years. So the group brainstormed with Denise Becker, Business Services Consultant at the SuperJobs Center, to devise a new method to recruit job candidates with the qualities Duke is looking for.
The result: Informational sessions were held in May at SuperJobs to recruit potential job candidates for an in-depth boot camp held in June. At SuperJobs, Duke supervisors described the jobs and career pathways at the utility company, and some of the basic qualifications that they look for. They held one-on-one interviewing sessions with applicants to find out more about them.
From there, applicants were referred to classes in resume writing and interviewing set up especially for them at SuperJobs. "We're trying to make you marketable even if you don't end up working for Duke," says Brightwell.
To find out more about the boot camps and this partnership, click here.
|
|
EMPLOYERS FIRST WORKS WITH BOUTIQUE HOTEL AS IT PREPARES TO HIRE
| |
Employers First Regional Workforce Network is partnering with the 21c Museum Hotel to fill various hospitality positions over the coming months. The 21c Museum Hotel, which is located across from the Aronoff Center at the site of the old Metropole Hotel in downtown Cincinnati, will consist of 160 rooms, a contemporary art museum, a restaurant and public meeting spaces. The hotel is expected to hire from 160-200 people.
21c Museum Hotel opened an office in downtown Cincinnati in early May, and Employers First Regional Coordinator Andrew Lotter wasted no time in connecting the management with the closest one-stop centers in the region -- the SuperJobs Center and the Northern Kentucky One Stop office in Covington. Although hiring for front-line workers isn't expected for a few months, bringing all key players together made sense to do, sooner rather than later.
"As someone very familiar with the 21c Museum Hotel in Louisville, we are very excited to partner with them to fill positions here in Cincinnati over the next few months," says Lotter. The 21c Museum Hotel is expected to open in the late fall of 2012.
|
|
MARSHALL TAKES CLOSER LOOK AT ILLINOIS MODEL FOR MANUFACTURING
|
President Marshall discussed the success of the SWORWIB's partnership with the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council and the Communications Workers of America at the June MSSC Leadership Council meeting in Chicago on June 7-8. While there, she also toured the Bison Gear and Engineering Corp. plant and learned more about Illinois' manufacturing partnerships that promote career pathways and outreach to young people. According to Marshall, Illinois' manufacturing industry is very well organized to recruit and train future generations of skilled workers with extensive employer involvement -- including Pepperidge Farm, Caterpillar, Bison Gear and Harley Davidson.
But more importantly, like states that border Ohio, notes Marshall, Illinois now requires high schoolers to take the Work Keys assessments that lead to the National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC). Students can graduate ready for both higher education and work, and Illinois can promote the state's workforce as "work ready certified by the NCRC." Marshall advocates that Ohio adopt this practice for its high school graduates.
|
|
SHORT TAKES
|
NATIONAL RECOGNITION: Partners for a Competitive Workforce (PCW) was one of two workforce collaboratives recognized by the National Fund for Workforce Solutions at its second annual meeting in Cincinnati June 19-20. PCW, which includes the SWORWIB, and the Job Opportunity Investment Network in Philadelphia were awarded the Chairman's Award for Exemplary Workforce Funding Collaboratives. In a subsequent breakout session, Sherry Kelley Marshall, Pete Strange of Messerand Ross Meyer of PCW discussed the origin and development of workforce collaboratives in Greater Cincinnati.
 | |
Staff members from Hamilton County Job and Family Services and SWORWIB youth vendors after their meeting on foster care.
|
LOOKING AHEAD: Beginning July 1, four non-profit agencies and one college will provide services funded through the Workforce Investment Act to more than 350 young people from Cincinnati and Hamilton County each year over the next two years. Our providers include Cincinnati State, Easter Seals Work Resource Center, Jobs for Cincinnati Graduates, Lighthouse Youth Services and Literacy Center West. Details can be found here. From 40 to 60 youth in foster care services will be part of this cohort, and will be woven into Connecting The Dots -- a pilot project Hamilton County and Area 13 are engaging in to leverage services to foster care youth. A workshop on mentoring foster care youth was held in Dayton June 7; it was attended by staff from Hamilton County Job and Family Services and youth managers from our five providers.
SWORWIB DONATES FURNITURE: The basement of the SuperJobs Center is well on its way to its reopening Aug. 1 as the new home of PTEC -- Pathway to Employment Center -- a collaborative of Cincinnati State, Great Oaks and the SWORWIB where students will be tested in Work Keys leading to a National Career Readiness Certificate, and be assessed by the Health Careers Collaborative for healthcare education and career development. In the meantime, the SWORWIB donated desks, cabinets, book shelves and other basement office furniture to ReSource (Neighborhood Resource Bank), which then brought the furniture to non-profit agencies that could use those items. The SWORWIB also donated items to St. Vincent de Paul and Easter Seals Work Resource Center for its Building Value store.
EASTER SEALS YOUTH TO WORK AT CHOIR GAMES: Easter Seals Work Resource Center, which applied for and received summer youth activities funding through Temporary Aid to Needy Families, is working with the World Choir Games on work assignments for 20 of its youth.
IN THE NEWS: The story of successful job seeker Rolando Olds is posted on Cincinnati State Workforce Center's Facebook page.
Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber notes that the SWORWIB is hailed by the GAO for its pioneering work on the Health Careers Collaborative
Jobs for Cincinnati Graduates and CYC merge.
Moira Weir, Director of Hamilton County Job and Family Services, notes the change in management at the SuperJobs Center. "I expect our success to continue at the SuperJobs Center, which already does fine work," she says in her newsletter. "We want this transition to be seamless. Those who use the center will continue to receive the exceptional service they are accustomed to."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
