Newsroom
Summer Work Employment Program (SWEP) provides jobs for hundreds of youths
Many young people, out of school for the summer, are searching for work experience that will help them will qualify them for good paying jobs in the future. The Riverside County Office of Education has recently received a $1.1 million grant from the Economic Development Agency (EDA) to provide work-readiness training and summer employment for 400 Riverside County residents between the ages of 16 and 24 in the communities of Banning, Beaumont, Blythe, Coachella, Corona, Norco, Moreno Valley, Perris, Murrieta, and Riverside. All participants must meet EDA’s eligibility requirements including demonstrating financial need.
The Summer Work Employment Program (SWEP) will begin on June 26th, 2009 and continue through August 7th, 2009. During this time, students attend 4-8 workshop days in the work-ready certification process and 22-26 internship days at monitored work sites. (Individuals with previous Career Technical Education (CTE) training in work-readiness will be able to begin their internships sooner.) The work-ready certification process addresses key skills, attitudes, and values necessary for success in the workplace; e.g., decision making, problem solving, resume writing, interview skills, etc. The work site internships include both instruction and monitoring by site supervisors and teachers. At the culmination of SWEP, students will have produced a job search portfolio to be used in helping them gain permanent, long-term employment. The workshops are taught by state credentialed CTE teachers, and work sites are provided by approved business partners who have entered into affiliation agreements with the Riverside County Office of Education.
Everyone benefits from this program:
Interns benefit from the opportunity to earn an income while gaining meaningful employment experience, the monetary stipend they earn for attending the work-readiness workshops, the 5-10 elective educational credits based on their district’s policies, and they earn competency certificate. Business partners benefit by having direct input into the training of the county workforce and by the actual work provided by interns. And the community benefits from the federal funds that the grant directs into the community, by developing a better prepared local workforce, by the affiliations made between business and education, and by the hope this opportunity brings to the 400 participants and their families.
The Riverside County Office of Education is pleased to serve Riverside County through SWEP and hopes to create further partnerships and opportunities that will prepare student for a successful future.
For information contact:
Rick Peoples,
Public Information Officer
Telephone: (951) 826-6642
Fax: (951) 826-6199
rpeoples@rcoe.us
|
