This story is sponsored by the Richland Area Chamber and Economic Development.
School may be out for the summer, but the students enrolled in The Career Institute are working hard to enhance their skills in the Summer Youth Employment program in Richland County.
According to the Richland Area Chamber and Economic Development website, “The Career Institute is focused on project-based learning and meaningful workplace experiences.”
This is achieved through the help of the Richland Area Chamber and Economic Development connecting with local businesses for students to partner with and learn different skills that will help them in their future careers. The students are earning wages through a partnership with the Youth and Family Council Summer Youth Employment Program and SPARC Council Ready for Hire Grant.
“It’s an opportunity for them to be immersed and build relationships with companies, and really understand what it is that they are doing,” Director of Workforce Development at the Richland Area Chamber and Economic Development, Clint Knight said.
Currently there are 145 students enrolled in Richland JFS Summer Youth Work program, but three are spending the summer creating marketing material and learning about different businesses around the area.
The students go to Mansfield Senior High School three days a week, four hours a day and are given specific projects to work on, such as creating flyers in Canva. Then, a professional will come in to look at the student’s work and provide feedback to each person, according to Knight.
“I like the environment in general. Just getting experience before actually working in the real world,” a senior at Lexington High School, Addison Delp, said.
The program is designed to be a less-stress environment for students while also creating material with substance, according to Knight.
The summer youth works marketing session is also a modular program, meaning the program can be customized to specific businesses. If a local company would like assistance from students with a certain project, the material taught in the class will be built around it.
“It’s project learning, it’s small classroom and individual attention,” teacher of the marketing program, Anthony Duckworth, said. “If you’re isolated in classrooms, you aren’t getting those outside world connections.”
Currently, the three students are working on creating mock flyers for the Urban farming projects and how the Gro-Op distributes food to the local community.
Earlier this summer, they created material that was used to help market Bellville’s “Light Up the Valley” fireworks event. Through these real world experiences, the students are able to gain exposure and develop relationships for possible career opportunities in the future.
“I think it’s fun,” recent graduate Becca Henderson said. “You get to be creative and learn more stuff [while in the program].”
Henderson has also enjoyed meeting new people and getting to learn with different students from schools in the area.
Not only are the students benefiting from this unique experience, but the community is able watch the next generation learn in a real world setting.
“I think this program allows the businesses that participate to get a better understanding of what the workforce of the future is interested in. How they learn, how they work,” Knight said. “I think those employers should be encouraged by what they see in the program.”
For more information about what programs The Career Institute offers and how to be a part of a unique learning experience, visit the Richland Chamber Area and Economic Development website.
