Centers, Company Receive Awards, Recognitions
Spring ushered in accolades for
several centers company-wide, as well as for MINACT:
-
Finch-Henry Job Corps Center,
received the Atlanta region Earth Day Every Day Demand-Side Management
Competition Award and $4,000 to continue and expand green projects.
-
Quentin N. Burdick Job Corps
Center, presented seven (7) 2009 Program Year awards by the National Job
Corps Association (NJCA) at its Policy Forum held March 22-24, 2010 in
Washington, D.C.
*Excellent Literacy
Program
*Excellent GED/HSD
Training Program
*Excellent MINACT Center
*Outstanding Fiscal
Management
*Outstanding Numeracy
Program
*Outstanding Career
Transition Services Program
*2009 12-Star Award
-
Shreveport Job Corps Center,
recipient of the Dallas Region Job Corps Center Recognition Award and $5,000
for projects designed to conserve energy and reduce waste. Also received
the National Job Corps Association 2009 12-Star Award.
MINACT,
Inc., Above and Beyond Award, Most Improved Operator Participation in the NJCA
Star Program.
Centers Rally to
Help Haiti Earthquake Victims
Having bake sales, sponsoring
dances and volunteering at community organizations are some of the ways students
and staff at MINACT-operated Job Corps centers are working to support relief
efforts in Haiti. January 12th, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti
killing thousands of people and leaving massive destruction in its wake. To
encourage ch
aritable
giving, the corporate office is matching all monies raised by company operated
Job Corps centers. So far, Quentin N. Burdick, Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks, Excelsior
Springs, Finch-Henry, Gerald R. Ford, Gulfport, St. Louis and the Shreveport Job
Corps Centers with corporate matching funds have donated nearly $18,000 to Haiti
relief efforts with more than $14,000 being donated to the American Red Cross.
In addition, the St. Louis Job Corps Center collected bottled water and donated
half of the more than $4,000 it raised to the Salvation Army.
Other MINACT-operated Job Corps
centers donated items and volunteered at local agencies to provide much needed
support for Haiti. Students in the Library Club at Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks
collected new and gently worn clothing, baby items, medical supplies, and
personal care toiletries for the Haiti Medical Mission of Memphis. Hubert H.
Humphrey students donated $1,000 to the organization Feed My Starving Children,
in Minnesota. Humphrey students are also volunteering at Feed My Starving
Children where nutritious meals are packaged for distribution to malnourished
children in Haiti and worldwide.
The monies donated to charitable
organizations will continue to rise as students and staff continues to eagerly
donate their money and their time to help Haiti rebound from this terrible
tragedy.
NCCER Core and Green Certification Makes Dollars and Cents
The
National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) core
certification in construction-related career fields can give students a leg-up
when it comes to applying for jobs. More and more contractors are looking for
employees who have a working knowledge of core and green construction concepts
and can translate them into energy efficient practices.
That is why Career Technical
Training instructors from
MINACT-operated Job Corps centers spent a week at the company’s headquarters in
Jackson, Mississippi, attending National Center for Construction Education and
Research certified training sessions. The instructors received core curriculum
training that includes recycling, using energy efficient products and ways to
preserve natural resources. Upon completion of the training and passing the
module test, the instructors become NCCER Certified.
The certified craft instructors
receive a certificate and a card that identifies them as NCCER certified
instructors. Once students complete the core curriculum, they too receive a
certificate and identification card. The names of those who have completed the
core curriculum along with their certification are entered into NCCER’s updated
national database registry.
“Groundhog Job Shadow Day: When the World of Work Comes to
Life”
Puxatawney Phil saw his shadow
February 2, 2010 on Groundhog Day and returned to his warm, cozy, safe
environment for six more weeks of winter. However, there was no hibernating
for Job Corps center students who used the opportunity for a Groundhog Job
Shadow Day. They left the comfort of their centers to shadow professionals in a
range of fields, from carpentry and culinary arts to politics and surgery
centers.
Quentin
N. Burdick Job Corps Center students shadowed employees at 83 work sites
including welding companies and restaurants for a total of 374 hours! Carpentry
students at Excelsior Springs Job Corps Center went to the Carpenters’ District
Council Joint Apprenticeship & Training Center to learn about carpentry and
cement masonry from the pros. Finch-Henry Job Corps Center students worked in a
high school guidance counseling office and a state employment security office
while Gerald R. Ford Job Corps Center Culinary Arts students shadowed at the
Amway Hotel Corporation.
Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks Job Corps
Center students shadowed the mayor’s staff and worked at an accounting and
computer company. Hubert H. Humphrey Job Corp Center students spent the day at
Minnesota Congresswoman
Betty McCollum’s district office, and the City of St. Paul’s finance and street
design departments. St. Louis Job Corps Center students spent the day with
their mentors on the job and the center’s Home Building Institute students
learned about building maintenance at a real estate management firm.
Students say, they learn a lot
from the experiences and obtain a better understanding of what is expected of
them both academically and in their career training when they embark upon
pursuing their employment goals.
A Burdick First!
Senators Make Offices a Work-Based Learning Site
North Dakota Senators Kent Conrad
and Byron Dorgan have opened their state offices to a Quentin N. Burdick Job
Corps Center Work-Based Learning II student; a first for the center! Office
Assistant student Veronica Atencio is learning how the offices of the elected
officials operate. Her duties include, monitoring media coverage and reporting
the results to the senators’ Washington, D.C. offices, answering phones,
recording constituent opinions on legislation, researching constituent requests,
using the office database and attending public meetings.
Atencio is excited about using the
skills she is learning on center as she works at Senators’ offices through May.
We have seen firsthand the many benefits Job Corps brings to young people and
the community”, said Gail Bergstad, State Representative for the senators.
Congressional Staffer Visits Finch-Henry
Ella
Jean Whalen, a Field Representative in Congressman Travis Childers’ Hernando,
Mississippi office, visited with senior staff at the Finch-Henry Job Corps
Center. As a returning guest to the center, Ms. Whalen complimented the staff
for its diligence in working to maintain the center’s high standards of
performance and impeccable appearance.
Rep. Childers’ staffer reiterated
the congressman’s willingness to assist the center in any way, and Whalen
accepted a plaque of appreciation on Childers’ behalf.
New Greenhouse Makes the Future Green and Clear
A greenhouse that will serve as a
work-based learning site, made of 100% recyclable materials, is under
construction at the St. Louis Job Corps center. The joint project between
Lincoln University and the center will raise fish and grow plants hydroponically,
which means in water—without soil! Culinary Arts students will learn to clean
and fillet fish, obtain certification for produce
safe handling and transporting of vegetables to
sell at the Farmers’ Market.
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