Program helps disabled teens find jobs

Students with disabilities from Jackson Central-Merry High School will be able to find a place to work this summer thanks to the local youth services division of the Workforce Investment Act.

Now in its second year, the program put 22 students to work last summer, and this year's goal is to double the effort, said Harvey Buchanan, disability program navigator with the Tennessee Career Center Jackson.

"We have the support and approval of Superintendent Nancy Zambito and JCM principal Virginia Stackens-Crump," Buchanan said. "We hope to branch out to other students with disabilities at other schools as well."

On Thursday, JCM students received a tour of the center to introduce them to the services it offers and to explain the expectations of participants in the summer program.

"Before they can participate, the students must register and get certified for the summer youth program," Buchanan said.

During the certification period, students must participate in a weeklong session of work skills training. The students also will learn job search techniques, the job application process and resume writing.

The West Tennessee Workforce Investment Board - Area 11, which covers several counties in the area, supports at-risk youth in obtaining and keeping a job before high school graduation.

"This program is all about the kids and getting them placed (with a job) this summer," Buchanan said. "The students have to want to work. Laziness or tardiness won't be accepted."

Buchanan encouraged the students to discuss participating in the program with their parents.

"They are going to be the ones driving you back and forth to work," Buchanan said.

WIA youth director Lisa Carter said students would work in the business, private, public and nonprofit sectors.

"It's free labor for the business," Carter said. "They are the host site and help with training. We provide the students with job coaches, someone to supervise them."

Carter said her department works with school counselors to determine students' skills and what work sites would best fit the students.

Beginning June 1, students will spend eight weeks working 32 hours a week and earning $7.25 an hour.

"The program will help students gain some skills, boost their self-esteem, and sometimes these positions lead to future employment," Carter said. "These summer jobs can also give students a better perspective on what career they may want to do next."

With concerns over the country's economic future, it's even more important that young people know the career fields they want to pursue, said Mark Chandler, manager of the local Career Center.

"Every sector of the economy has been hit by job layoffs," Chandler said. "We're providing teens with labor, market information, skills and abilities in order to get the jobs."

Chandler said students and adults looking for work should make job-searching their job.

"Young people need to get out and network with family, friends and people at church to let them know they are looking for a job," he said.

Forty people work in the Tennessee Career Center Jackson, which is funded through the U.S. Department of Labor. The center offers career counseling, a computer lab and job search workshops available free to the community.