Dora Lendos-24 years old is from Elkridge MD. She arrived at the Charleston Job Corps Center (CJCC) on August 10, 2015 with a need for academic and career technical training. She enrolled in the career technical trade of Office Administration and completed the Penn Foster, High School online program. Lendos continued to pursue her training at CJCC by taking a second trade in Facilities Maintenance receiving an additional certification to increase her employability.

Students at CJCC receive training in employability skills and career success standards to increase their marketability in the workforce. All students have the opportunity to participate in community service and the Work Based Learning (WBL) program. Lendos performed her WBL assignment at the Alzheimer’s Association, WV Chapter. Her duties included answering telephones, filing, data entry, preparing outgoing mail and attending workshops on the disease. Dora welcomes the opportunity to give back to the community. Her service included working a food pantry with the Alzheimer’s Association and joining fellow Facilities Maintenance students to aid victims in the WV Floods, June 2016. The trade cleaned out mud and debris of an affected restaurant in the Clendenin area.

All students are encouraged to pursue center leadership and Dora met the challenge. She served as dorm leader for the female Truth Dorm. Dora said “I came here with nothing and I’m literally leaving here with everything I worked for.” Her work ethic, perseverance and ambition has been recognized by her classmates and instructor Christopher Woody. She received “Student of the Month” for June 2016.

Lendos has been accepted to the Transportation Communications Union (TCU), the centers advanced training program at the Potomac Job Corps Center, Washington DC. She will further her training in the airline industry and railroad services. Her future plans include becoming a ticket agent with a major airline. Dora says, “I would like to thank all of the Job Corps staff for helping me. I am leaving with so much, and it wouldn’t have been possible without this center.” Her words of wisdom to current and future Job Corps students, “No matter where you come from or how bright or dark your past has been, if you work hard anything is possible.”