A partnership between Central Minnesota Jobs and Training Services (CMJTS), DREAM Technical Academy/Technical Academies of Minnesota, Willmar Public Schools, New London Spicer High School, Duininck Concrete, Jennie-O, Bethesda, and MNYou Youth Garden has received a $10,000 LYFT Pathways Innovation award that will provide career pathway services to secondary school students in Kandiyohi and Renville counties.

Career Navigators are available to prepare students for local success by helping them identify satisfying, high-opportunity careers (those careers supported by the labor market with potential for family-sustaining wages) in their communities.

A specialized career navigator will assist school-identified students with vocational exploration and will advise them on the steps required to enter careers of interest. They will also help the students build workplace skills and coordinate work-based learning opportunities (paid opportunities for co-enrolled youth in CMJTS eligibility-based programs) such as internships, job shadowing, informational interviews, work experiences, etc. to give them first-hand knowledge of local jobs, employers, and industries.

All services will be tailored toward the individual needs and interests of the participating students. Services will be provided both in-person and virtual dependent on individual need.

Accommodations for students with disabilities, English language learners, etc., will be made as appropriate. When students identify barriers to personal success (e.g., transportation barriers, medical/mental health barriers, etc.) the career navigator will help them connect with community resources. If they meet eligibility criteria, this may include referring them for additional employment and training services outside of the school day, leveraging the resources of other CMJTS facilitated, youth-centered employment and training programs. CMJTS believes that, by helping students identify opportunities for local success and giving them the tools fundamental to achievement, these aspiring workers will have the opportunity to achieve career satisfaction and will become active contributors to their communities.

The CMJTS Career Navigation Program prepares young people for satisfying, high-opportunity careers in their home areas. These youth will spend less time and money on college programs they ‘thought’ they were interested in. Employers will make connections with aspiring workers and will develop relationships with them as they graduate and continue along career pathways. Ultimately, our communities and economies will be strengthened through the retention and training of local talent, whose presence will bolster the local workforce and help businesses meet their workforce needs. They will become community and economic contributors and, eventually, community and economic leaders.

For more information contact Diana Ristamaki at Central Minnesota Jobs and Training Services.