featured in DEl-Jen e-news, reprinted here

2012 NJCA Policy ForumThe 2012 National Job Corps Association (NJCA) Policy Forum, is the Association’s largest conference of the year for Center Directors, Business & Community Liaisons (BCL’s), agency and organizational representatives to learn about critical fiscal, policy, and program challenges facing Job Corps stakeholders.This year’s event, held February 6-8 in Washington, D.C., was kicked off by former Secretary of Labor, Bob Reich. White House Senior Policy Advisor, Portia Wu shared President Obama’s support for the Job Corps Program, encouraging Center Directors to invite the President to visit their Centers. She also arranged for the Oratory Competition finalists to visit the White House.The three finalists of the National Job Corps’ Oratory Competition got to deliver their speeches to distinguished judges and Job Corps leaders from across the country. Thanks to the generosity of Fluor Corporation, none of the students walked away empty-handed, surprising each of the finalists with scholarships to help them continue their education and further their careers.Gold Star AwardsOne of the most highly anticipated events of the forum is the Gold Star Award presentation and luncheon that honors those responsible for successfully completing the 12 quarterly Outreach activities in categories that include: media, community, policymaker, and programmatic. After completing each activity, reports must be filed, describing the details and outcomes of each activity.This year, three DEL-JEN Centers took home the gold! For Albuquerque and Kittrell JCCs, this was their fourth consecutive Gold award. For Gainesville, their first.Albuquerque’s Stacey Cooley (Center Director) and Emily Salazar(BCL); Kittrell’s Ty Graham (Center Director) and Joan Robinson (BCL);and Gainesville’s Sam Kolapo (Center Director) and Barbara Walker(BCL) accepted their awards along with 46 (out of the total 125 Centersnationwide) other recipients of the award.MeetingsAfter long days of attending sessions and workshops, our devotedattendees went on to meet with their respective state representatives.Stacey & Emily met with N. MexicoState Representatives Martin Heinrichand Ben Ray Lujan as well as staffersfrom Senators Udall and Bingaman, andRepresentative Pearce. They shared information on Center pilot programs targeted at military veterans and encouraged Congress- man Pearce to join the Friends of Job Corps Caucus.Ty, Joan & Eunice Johnson(DEL-JEN Director of Job CorpsOperations) met with Congress-men G.K. Butterfield and BradMiller (both members of the Job Corps Congressional Caucus), and theAssistant for Congresswoman Ellmers. They shared successstories and gave updates on new things happening at KJCC.NJCA also hosted a reception for Centers and their state rep-resentatives. Displays illustrated the trades Job Corps trainsstudents in, as well as the business and employer partnerswho provide internships and jobs for graduates.Congratulations to our Center staff for your hard work, high standards, and devotion to serving the youth of America and the Department of Labor’s Job Corps Program.