Students take a tour of the solar system using Sphero robots.
Courtesy | MOESC
SPARC Council’s Ready for Hire program is preparing teens for success by teaching them a broad spectrum of skills through fun programming. The Morrow County after-school program is held at the Tomorrow Center in Cardington on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3-7 p.m. and is open to all Morrow County students in ninth grade through 12th grade.
This year, students will learn how to create effective resumes and practice their interviewing skills through mock interviews. They will also learn important soft skills like dressing appropriately for work, communicating with supervisors and coworkers, and handling criticism. Life skills such as sewing, tying ties, doing laundry, and cooking will also be covered.
There will also be an emphasis on financial literacy where students will learn how to balance a checkbook, create a budget, save money, and understand credit. In addition, students will learn how to use cutting-edge technology such as Oculus headsets, 3D printers, and Sphero robots. Students will even have the opportunity to earn a credential after attending the drone class scheduled for April.
Josh Hunter, lead teacher for the Ready for Hire program at the Tomorrow Center, said, “It has been great to have the Ready for Hire program come to our school. In the six weeks we’ve been running the program, I’ve watched students in our program who lost crucial social-emotional learning time during remote learning genuinely grow in their confidence, interpersonal skills, and ability to collaborate and be assertive. Students in 3D modeling and 3D printing have started to explore new passions to the extent that some of them are far outpacing my lesson plans and are teaching themselves advanced techniques. Perhaps most importantly, the Ready for Hire program has helped all of our students in the program see that their futures are worthy of investment and attention.”
Registration is open for the Ready for Hire program. Interested students should ask their school counselors for an application.
In June 2022, the Ohio Department of Education selected and awarded $89 million in Summer Learning and Afterschool Opportunities Grants to 161 community-based partners out of more than 700 applications from across the state. Locally, two grants were awarded to SPARC Council — one to create summer programming in summer 2022, 2023, and 2024, and one to create after-school programming, with fiscal oversight from the Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center.
Submitted by the Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center.
