Mastering Soft Skills for Workplace Success

Skills

to Pay the Bills

Mastering Soft Skills for Workplace Success

Mastering Soft Skills for Workplace Success

About the Cover Artist

Brandon Pursley is a senior at Madison County (FL) High School, a member of the Madison County High

School/High Tech program and one of over 100 young people who participated in the ODEP Soft Skills

Pilot project (the preliminary ¡°testing¡± environment for the creation of this publication). During a Soft

Skills Pilot site visit, the writers of this curriculum had the great fortune to meet Brandon and talk with

him about his dreams for the future. Brandon mentioned he was an artist, specializing in portraits, and

showed our team some of his artwork. When Brandon was asked if he would have any interest in

designing a cover design for these materials, he jumped at the chance.

Brandon has a true passion for art, and wishes to build and enhance his talent by attending art school

upon graduation. Although he hasn¡¯t had any formal training other than his art classes in high school,

he is well known by his peers and throughout the community as a very talented artist. He devotes all of

his spare time drawing portraits of friends, relatives, children, and other subjects. Each portrait¡¯s eyes

have a way of speaking to you, revealing the person¡¯s personality while captivating the full attention of

the viewer.

Because of his dedication to art Brandon is always in the process of beginning a new portrait or just

completing one.

It was our team¡¯s great fortune to meet Brandon during the Soft Skills pilot project.

In Their Own Words

Skills to Pay the Bills: Mastering Soft Skills for Workplace Success is a true collaboration between

government and the youth it serves. In fact, the original manuscript is much different, in both form and

content, than it appears today. More than 100 young people provided honest (and sometimes brutal) feedback

to the design and content of this publication.

Page 139 recounts a number of comments offered during the piloting of these materials.

3

Skills to Pay the Bills

Acknowledgements

The Department of Labor¡¯s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) would like to thank all of the

individuals, organizations, and agencies who contributed to the creation of this project. Without your

commitment, this soft skills curriculum would not have been possible.

To Day Al-Mohamed, Rhonda Basha, Rachel Dorman, Nehemiah Green, Michael Huberman, Laura Ibanez,

Jennifer Kemp, Kristen Schiavone, Maria Town, and Taryn Williams, thank you for your long hours and

dedication to this project - from the initial concept all the way to the final design and dissemination.

To Lucy Baney, Lee Bruno, Dr. Christine Casey, Christina Morfeld, and Leslie Walker-Hirsch for recognizing

the potential impact of this project and taking the first steps towards turning an idea into something

tangible.

Thank you to Katherine DiGiovanni, Lisa Stern, and Carolyn Veneri for your creativity and passion. You

designed and built a tool that will help young people find good jobs and careers (and have some fun

along the way).

Thank you to Patricia Bravo, Scott Emerick, Sylvia Thomas, Sangeeta Tyagi, and Monica Zeno-Martin of

YouthBuild USA for allowing YBUSA programs the opportunity to preview and offer feedback to these

materials.

Special thanks is warranted for the generous assistance of the seven youth programs and youth program

facilitators who took a chance and pilot-tested these materials with their youth participants. Without

your spirit and willingness to take on the hard work of helping to test out this curriculum, it would not

reflect the breadth and depth it does today. Thank you to:

?

FSW, Inc. WorkSkills, Bridgeport, CT: Pam McRae, Program Coordinator; Rita Renzoni, Instructor

?

High School/High Tech (HS/HT), FL: Sally Ash, Assistant Director of the Able Trust's FL HS/HT &

DMD. Madison County (FL) HS/HT: Mary Coody, Program Director, with Mike Radel, Assistant Program

Director, and Jean James, Program Assistant. The Alachua County HS/HT Program of North Central

Florida CIL: Amy Tharpe, Program Director, with Stephanie Weeks and Mellissa Merrill, HS/HT

Project Coordinators

?

KentuckianaWorks Youth Center, Louisville, KY: Lorena Lasky, Project Director; Dallas Thornton,

Career Planner; Virginia Dever, Career Planner; Fanta Hamlin, Career Planner; Emilia Manuola, Lead

Instructor

?

Massachusetts Migrant Education Program (MMEP), Wilmington and Boston, MA: Emily Hoffman,

Regional Director; Mellisa Brandt, Instructor; Karen Hart, Instructor; Jeuris Taveras, Community

Liaison

?

Project SEARCH, Washington, DC: Lisa Haynes, Instructor, U.S. Department of Health and Human

Services; John Eldridge, Job Coach; Dierdre Williams, Program Manager; Carolyn Price, Job Coach;

Linda Mahler, Instructor, U.S. Department of Education

4

Mastering Soft Skills for Workplace Success

?

Ready to Achieve Mentoring Program (RAMP), Denver, CO: Jamie Youngblood, Program

Coordinator; Erin Ellis, Mentor

?

WorkSource/YouthSource, Renton, WA: Jennifer Hill, Youth Program Manager; Kiana Davis,

Instructor; Victoria West, Instructor

Finally, and most importantly, ODEP is especially grateful to the dedicated group of more than 100

young adults who were willing to share their valuable insights for this curriculum. You are ALL

outstanding and we wish you the best in your future career.

The following list of young adults (and/or their guardians) consented to have their names displayed in

this publication:

Jessica Alexis

Asia Luevano

Sonya Wallace

Keisha Billington

Alaycia McIntyre

Ebony Wilson

Andrea Bright

Jessica McNeil

Brittany Stevenson

Andrea Casillas

Chavario McQuay

Breana Sweatt

Rayalshia Daniels

Margarita Menchaca

Ivan Bennett

Shionte Davis

LaShondra Neely

Curtis Mabry

Qarquasia Davis

Cassandra Newstead

Kayla Still

Whitney Davis

Jontae Owens

Kwamaine House

Lillie Echols

Giselle Padilla

Alexandria Weidmeyer

Wendy Galvis

Brandon Pursley

Patricia Pierce

Juan Gonzalez

Shontaye Robinson

Chelsy Wickerson

J¡¯Laan Hendricks

Sarah Rudolph

Troy Booker

Patrick Henyard

RaeMisha Sierra

Tyrone Hunter

Kyendra Jackson

Sierra Sonza

Michael Francis

Jamari Jones

Allie Spicknall

Brittany Prue

Miosotis Juarbe

Bertha Tolosa

Justine Thomas

Aaron Law

Jasmine Turner

Rachael Washington

Other Contributors include:

Maureen Andrew, Chris Arnette, John Benson, Kevin Bradley, Susan Brennan, Bridget Brown, Larry

Buynak, Dale G. Caldwell, Julie Chamberlain, Rebecca Cokley, Barbara Conner, Marc Fagan, Lori

Golden, Gary Goosman, Col. Robert Gordon, Allison Herman Paul, Jennifer Hill, Mitch Holmes, Lois

Kenneally, Grady Kickul, Zakiya Mabery, Jessie MacKinnon, Jessica Mattis, Marci McGinnis, Joanna

Mikulski, Kim E. Moss, Dennis Nathanson, Harry Orlick, Peggy Post, Anneka Rogers, Deborah Russell,

Dawn Stanyon, Matthew P. Stevens, Diane Thames, Betsy Valnes, and John Whitcomb.

5

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download