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Jobs for Life aims to teach crucial life skills
5/12/2008 12:22 AM

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By ROB NOVIT
Senior writer
In May 2007, Erica Doyle completed Christ Central's Jobs for Life, learning new skills related to the world of work. To her surprise, she received a scholarship to help with expenses to complete a massage therapy program at Aiken Technical College.
Doyle had something else to celebrate Friday night: Her son, Maverick Ashley, also graduated from a special Jobs for Life class directed at teenagers.
"This means a lot," said Doyle. "He was very excited about the program and was willing to join the classes. He's getting an early start to get a career."
Jobs for Life is a national, faith-based program with the goal of assisting unemployed or underemployed adults with the basic tools to obtain and keep a job -- the processes of filling out a resume and interviewing for a position.
Christ Central Mission Church was a logical fit for the volunteer-run program. Director Judy Floyd found the right person to coordinate Jobs for Life in retired developer Don Boyer, who has long been active with a variety of ministries. In five previous classes, more than 30 adults completed the two-month, 16-session program.
Christ Central works with low-income families where their children may be at risk of dropping out of school in the future, said Floyd. She and Boyer, along with instructors Jennifer Ramseur and Jim Childress, agreed to devote a new Jobs for Life session to teenagers and young adults ages 15-21.
"I loved this class," said Ramseur. "I saw the students change right in front of my eyes. They were distrustful of us at first. After the fifth class, one girl told me she thought the program would be a waste of time, but that it wasn't. That was the only payment I needed."
Brazil Carter, a South Aiken High School freshman, readily admitted she was skeptical about Jobs for Life at first.
"But they taught us how to write checks and balance money," she said. "We learned to express ourselves to others and speak in front of important people. I feel more comfortable speaking in class now."
First Christian Church has hosted the adult classes. New Covenant Presbyterian Church opened its doors for the teen Jobs for Life sessions.
Boyer is encouraged by the teen-based effort and by the young people themselves. He was surprised and delighted to find that most of them came in with an interest in going to college.
"Even with that, they need to know how to get a job, how to interview," Boyer said. "They were much quicker to learn those skills. It's easier to teach a youth than it is to change an adult."
The other graduates of the program included Shaquria Griffin, Alajuwan Peterson, Malcolm Toney, Jamarian Bell, Jesse Jackson, Jericho Jackson and A.J. Googe Jr.
Two additional graduates are from Nurture Home, a residential facility for teenage mothers and their babies that is operated by Mental Health Association in Aiken County. To protect their privacy, they are being identified by their first names, Allyssa and Ashley.
Allyssa dropped out of school after the eighth-grade, but passed the GED recently with just six months of preparation. The mother of a young child, she's planning to attend college to study computer technology.
Jobs for Life helped her as well. Alyssa wants to gain independence to be on her own without continued reliance on the social services system. When she received her certificate for completing Jobs for Life Friday, Allyssa tearfully thanked the teachers and the other teenagers for their support.
"I didn't believe in myself before," she said.
Boyer said Orangeburg teacher Hayward Jean made a big impression on the students when he attended one session. The former Greendale Elementary School teacher in New Ellenton did so again as the guest speaker.
"The greatest threat to your future success is your 'now' success," Jean said. "The old you will have to die... But you did sometime people thought you couldn't do. We can't get too excited about this. We've got your back, but there are no excuses now."
Jesse Jackson said he appreciated what Jean had done with his life.
"He's living for the Lord in the right way," Jackson said.
Elaine Jackson, Jesse and Jericho's mother, said the training will give her sons the incentive to seek out jobs.
"This gave them a sense of how the real world is out there," she said. "They understand the dialect and the communication skills."
The class for teenagers has been so successful, said Floyd, that the national Jobs for Life office in Raleigh, N.C. is interested in providing such classes at other Jobs for Life locations throughout the country. A group of Christ Central staff and volunteers will visit the national headquarters to assist in writing a curriculum.
"You have been a model class," Floyd told the students Friday. "You will be the inspiration for other young people who follow."
Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.

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