Albuquerque Job Corps Center Students, Staff, Supporters Celebrate 10th Annual National Job Corps Commencement Day
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Trish Jones Mondero
DATE: DATE (602) 622-7941 or
jones-mondero.trish@odlemanagement.com
Albuquerque Job Corps Center joined 123 Job Corps centers across the country to celebrate the 10th Annual “National Job Corps Commencement Day” ceremony August 19th, 2021 to congratulate the Job Corps students who showed Job Corps Works! by completing the program this year.
Recent Job Corps graduates employed in New Mexico, employer partners, local policymakers, community leaders, family members and many others recognized these students’ achievements and the investment they made in their futures and community.
“Congratulations to the graduates! We celebrate you today but know that we’re proud of all the work that let to today. Continue to set goals and work hard to accomplish them. You can do it!” said New Mexico State Representative Georgene Louis, the keynote speaker at Albuquerque Job Corps Center’s ceremony.
Albuquerque Job Corps Center is one of 123 Job Corps centers located across the country. A unique national program, Job Corps offers underserved youth a set of diverse academic opportunities and career pathways tailored to meet the needs of business and industry. Each year, Job Corps gives tens of thousands of youth a second chance to complete their education and advance into careers, higher education or the military.
Job Corps has served more than 3 million out-of-work young adults and underserved youth nationally. Many are high-school dropouts or public-assistance recipients, and Job Corps helps them become active contributors to their communities.
“If you hear a voice within you say ‘You cannot make it’ then do everything humanly possible to make it and that voice will be silenced.”, said Samuel Kolapo, the center’s director.
Local business leaders attended the ceremony at Albuquerque Job Corps Center to support a program that benefits the local economy. The average Job Corps center supports 228 local jobs, and every dollar invested in Job Corps returns almost $2 to the local economy. Nationally, the 123 Job Corps centers support about 30,000 jobs, the vast majority of which are with private businesses.
Local community members who have worked with Job Corps volunteers also joined the celebration to congratulate many of their student volunteers. Job Corps students and staff work with local community-based organizations and nonprofits, logging many hours of volunteer service every year. For example, Albuquerque Job Corps Center students work with the Road Runner Food Bank, Watermelon Ranch and Joy Junction to provide needed services to New Mexico.
“The 10th Annual National Job Corps Commencement Day is an extremely special day for our program,” said National Job Corps Association President and CEO, Byron Garrett. “The Job Corps community – our students, their families, center staff, operators, community leaders, employer partners and supporters – worked hard to transform futures that will lead to a lifetime of preparation and success. The devotion of our community is why Job Corps has such strong bipartisan support in Congress and why it continues to be the most successful job training program for America’s underserved youth.”
Stacy Green, National Job Corps Association, sgreen@njcaweb.org
About Job Corps
Job Corps, which is funded by the Department of Labor, is the nation’s largest job training and education program for low-income young adults ages 16–24. It is a mostly residential program, located in both urban and rural areas, with dormitories and a campus environment like small colleges.
About Odle Management Group, LLC
Founded in 2004, ODLE Management Group, LLC (Odle) is an experienced workforce development provider which manages the daily operations of Job Corps campuses to include outreach, admissions, and placement services. Current locations include in Louisiana (New Orleans), Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh), Florida (Pinellas County), Virginia (Old Dominion in Monroe), Texas (El Paso) and Oklahoma (Tulsa), New Mexico (Albuquerque). As of March 2020, Odle became a subsidiary of Eckerd Connects, a national non-profit operating in 21 states, providing Job Corps, workforce development, child welfare, juvenile justice, and community-based prevention services.