GODFREY, Ill. — An Illinois job training program is providing young people with an alternative path to a high school diploma and a viable future.
YouthBuild at Lewis and Clark College in Godfrey prepares students for careers in construction, transportation logistics, computers or health care. The Americorps component of this federal program provides students with soft skills and income while helping them get into a position to qualify for a mortgage in the future.
Lewis and Clark College Associate Dean of Adult Education Dr. Valorie Harris said, “Sometimes we rehab a home, and sometimes we build from the ground up.”
Harris said the YouthBuild program at Lewis and Clark is working on their fifth home, right now. The full-time, non-traditional program provides education, vocational training and leadership development on a work site, in the classroom and in the workshop.
The program provides students not only an Illinois high school diploma but a start on what to do with it toward a career. Harris calls it a comprehensive youth development effort. The program is 30 hours a week. Students spend five days a week in the program from 8:30 a..m. to 3:30 p.m.
It sounds like school because it is.
“Youthbuild was modeled on construction,” Harris said, “and most of our students start in construction. It’s almost like a basic skill, for everybody. Some students want to go to work in construction. It’s youth development. Some students are 16 years old when they start with us; they don’t know what they want to do, yet. But construction is a really great place to start for everyone.”
YouthBuild is designed for young people 16 to 24 years of age.
This initiative funds 16 apprenticeship intermediary programs in Illinois. Links to programs in Region 9, which serves Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Madison, Monroe, Randolph, St. Clair and Washington counties, can be found below.
- East St. Louis Community College Center - https://stlcc.edu/workforce/apprenticeships
- Lewis & Clark Community College - https://www.lc.edu/academic-programs/high-school-diploma/highway-construction.html
- Southwestern Illinois College - https://www.swic.edu/community/career-services/services/constructiontradesprogram
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