Teen Job Training
Browne, J. Zamgba. "Teens get on-the-jobs training." New York Amsterdam News 95.30 (2004): 9. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 31 Jan. 2011.
Service learning is there to help and better the community. The SL I had chosen was called Centennial Job Corp. They help people that are from 16 to 26 get job training for a high paid job. It made me question if there were any other programs that did the same thing. I found this article called “Teens get on-the-jobs training” by Browne, J. Zamgba. The article explains about a store called B2GEAR. Its a clothing and retail store that is funded by the state of New York. It is looked after and managed by Yu-Lan Williams, he says "The opportunity to work and share with them in their ideas is quite unique and pleasing." The teens that work there learn valuable things for example they get a glimpse into the buisness world, and the wonderful world of customer service. They are responsible for sales, marketing and merchandising, meaning they had to pick what would sell, advertise it,and final sell it to the customer.
I was glad that I picked this article because it showed me that Job Corp, was not the only place trying to help teens in this bad economy. I think that this article is a great way to get people interested in getting involved and that was the authors purpose. On that aspect I think the article achieved. This program as well Job Corps helps people to look forward towards the future and find some meaning in it. Finally I leave my remaining questions, such as are there more organizations like these two? What help are these teens getting after they get through these programs?
Job Corps to Good to be True?
"A Leg Up From the Job Corps." Wilson Quarterly 33.2 (2009): 75. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 7 Feb. 2011.
In "A Leg Up From the Job Corps." by Wilson Quaterly he say that even though Job Corps has been given a lot of grief over the years it has been proven effective. The participates are for people “16 to 24 that have very low incomes, and who live in an "environment characterized by a disruptive home life, high crime rates, or limited job opportunities,"(Wilson). The participants in the corp also have a lower percentage to go to jail then other job training schools. People, who have participated have whether or not they finished a fourth year, got better jobs, benefits, and income.
I think this paper told only about the good thing that happened to Job Corps. I didn’t hear about why other schools failed as to where Job Corps succeeds. I have been to the Centennial Job Corps, and learned more things by being there than reading this article. The participants learn things that most people would think as of simple. For example the multiplication tables, spelling and social skills (things that will prepare them for interviews). I was shocked when I was told that all I need to know was simple math lower than algebra. The article didn’t tell me things like that, just that they were helping people. I am still glad that I chose this service learning because I like to interact with people and help them.
I still am curious as to what happens if the programs fails? Then what?It tells you the pros about the people that did get jobs. But what about the other percentage that did go there and didn’t get good jobs? Do they still get help from Job Corps? Or is there job finished and they are done with them?
Job Corps and What it Does
Ramon Rodriquez, et al. "JOB CORPS: A Training Program Pipeline to the Corrections Profession." Corrections Today 67.7 (2005): 84-86. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 14 Feb. 2011.
In this article by Ramon Rodriquez, called "JOB CORPS: A Training Program Pipeline to the Corrections Profession." he explains more in detail what Job Corps is and its qualifications. He starts off by telling the reader the qualifications in order to get in to it. Rodriquez says that in order to be qualified the participant must be between 16 to 24, a legal citizen, free of any sort of probation or parole, have no serious medical issues, and willing to live in a drug-free, violently- free environment. They also have to consent to having a background check and sign a agreement saying that they will not do drugs while on living there. The author states that the eight months living there and getting there education is well worth it as he states a statistic “Nearly nine in 10 (86 percent) students who train at a Job Corps center for two months or more obtain jobs, enter the military or enroll in higher education, the National Job Corps Center reports.” He next tells about a security program that is in associated with Job Corps and is in certain centers nationwide. Its called TDCJ its so to train some people into state correctional officer, since they have been in high demand. Rodriquez says”The training program fulfills all of the TDCJ standards, including physical ability, firearms and chemical agent training.” After telling about the program he goes on to tell about what happens after the participants graduate. They are helped in getting jobs, in the fields that they were trained for or a better job than what they have now.
I really liked this article it not only answered some of my questions but also helped me understand what the organization is trying to do. The author did a good job in going into depth about the requirements and what they are doing in the centers.
I still have to wonder how many of theses centers are there? Are there plans for more? Are the centers always full or are there times when they aren’t? How many people get turned down for Job Corps.?
Reflection
‘.... urgh another essay, really why do they torture me so?’I thought as I looked at the assignment I had to write about. I really didn’t like essays, I always thought of them as my kryptonite. But in the world of college they are necessary,and required to do. That was until a little after half way through the semester in my english 101 class. I have never been the best at writing and elaborating things in my writing. I often times write to little and get more to the point of things. But little by little I think my writing has improved.
Like all people when I read something I form a opinion of what I think is right and wrong. Things like do I agree or disagree? Why is that? What is my emotional response? I think that is an important feature to include when you are writing a reflection of what you just read. Your opinion can sometimes change some else, or start a debate trying to connivence each other of the others point of view. I think that is my favorite part of evaluating someone else work because I get to see another person’s side and decide if I agree with it or not. When I say decide and convince I don’t mean that I will yell and force the other person to say “ Yes, you are completely right and I was wrong.” its more of I respect their opinion and I want to show them both sides to the argument. Its like having two friends fight and you hear only one side of the argument. Of course you are going to agree with the person telling you the story since you only have the facts that prove them right. But if you hear both sides you can make a informed decision with all the facts and then decide.
As for problems writing well, I like to get to the point and leave it as it is. I don’t like to dance around the point as to getting right to it. I have been told by many of my friends that I can be kinda of blunt. So, go figure that my writing transfers that trait, but these last two semesters I have made an effort to try and explain my reasoning better and prolonging my essays. Another problem that I have that is connected to the first one is that I run out of things to write about and start to go off on a tangent. I think that it is connected becasue as I have said before that I can be blunt in explaining things. For example in a reading response I did last semester on “ The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” by William Kamkwamba, I said “ He started to think more logically and tried to find more of a real reason for the problem instead of just blaming magic like most people in his village did.” Now that I look back at it I think I should have explained more of why he started to think more logically and why he stopped blaming magic like he was taught to since he was young. I should have given a example of what the village people believed to as to what he believed in.
The final problem that I have had in my writing is my structure. I have always thought that the standard 5 paragraph style works for every situation but I found out last semester that it doesn’t work for every situation. For example in my interview paper I used a story style for the paper. I think that was the funniest paper that I have written ever. I hope that I get a chance to use this style again this semester. But there are more than those two styles to use in writing but I still don’t know a whole lot about them. So one of my goals this semester is to learn more styles and how to use them properly.
These are all the problems that I know that I have but I am sure that through the semester I will find more. I hope that I will be able to find and fix these problems by end of the semester. But if that is not possible I would at least like to know what I have to look out for when I write a paper and how to fix it. I hope that I can also help others in this class with their writing. Even though I can’t write a good essay effortlessly I can read other and tell them what I think. I am able to find other people’s mistakes but just not my own.
As for the things that I have learned this semester, I have learned more about utilizing my sources. I always thought that using sources was just using them for quotes and nothing else. But this semester I learned that I can use their ideas (and citing them ) to help or oppose the purpose of my paper. That you also use two authors to point and counterpoint each other. For example if you want to talk about pets, you can find one author to be for having pets and use that to prove your point that pets have a positive influence on their owners. And then has another author to counter your point to also give some of the opposite opinion a chance to get there point through too. I also learned about the complications of not plagiarizing people. I never know that plagiarizing something would be so hard to avoid. But with what I have learned this semester I am sure that I can avoid them and do well with my sources.
My goal this semester as I have said is to be able to use the correct styles for essays, cite sources properly, and to be able to explain things so that they show both sides and aren’t so blunt. I know that I will improve this semester and that they will be important for the future. So I hope that the class will strive for greatness and we will all improve together.
