Graduation and summer job season is here. The Alliance has packed June full of events for foster youth to beef up their job skills and experience.
Graduations
The month kicked off with several graduations, including 24 students from the First Star UCLA Bruin Guardian Scholars Academy. For the past two years, our team has tracked their students’ academic progress, ensuring that they remain on track for graduation with the right supports to thrive. Ninety-two percent of the students are going on to higher education. First Star’s intensive support and guidance coupled with our education advocacy is a winning collaboration!
We hosted a ‘Summer Job Bootcamp’ series to focus youth on (1) exploring careers, (2) how to get a job and succeed in the workplace and (3) summer job placement.
Job Shadowing
It commenced on June 8 with job shadowing where young people like Shari Walker (pictured above) explored careers with the guidance of professionals. Shari shadowed NPR report Karen Grigsby Bates and said,
“I know now that radio’s what I really want to do. I had an idea before, but after today, I know for sure!”
Other youth shadowed supporters at SpaceX, DreamWorks, Sony Music, Congressmember Karen Bass’ office and more.
Survival Saturday
To get youth prepared for a job and looking professional, we hosted “Land that Job”—a Survival Saturday life skills event on June 13. It was a full day of career prep with resume building, mock interviews and a clothing boutique courtesy of Foster Care Counts. Youth were able to sign up for temporary jobs offered through L.A.’s Summer Jobs program. Many young people said they left feeling more confident in their ability to secure employment!
One youth said, “I really appreciate this opportunity you gave me. I just wanted to thank you once again.”
