Members of the Student Government Association of the Muhlenberg Career Development Center joined SGA officers from nine other Job Corps Centers for the Job Corps Philadelphia Region SGA Leadership Conference April 12-15 at Camp Horizons near Harrisonburg, Va.

The MCDC team included Jonathan Martin, president; Roger Moore, vice president; Joshua Blackmon, secretary; Jennifer Deleon, treasurer; Hank Hussey, committee chair; Annysam Roman, public relations; and Corie McKinney, sergeant at arms. SGA advisors Brandon Wood, career transition readiness specialist and Jacqualine Pelphrey, academic instructor accompanied the MCDC team.  

The theme of the conference was “Good and Safe Jobs for Everyone.” The conference focused on team-building, leadership training, communication skills and job placement for Job Corps students.

During the week, students worked on critical thinking and team building skills through a series of low challenge initiatives that required students to work together as a team, communicate effectively with each other, devise plans to successfully tackle challenges, and execute those plans.

Students also stepped out of their comfort zones when they experienced the high challenge courses, a series of high ropes initiatives that included a zip line and giant swing. Students approached these new challenges with the “Challenge by Choice” philosophy in which students determined what they wanted to accomplish, and other students supported their decision through encouragement and team camaraderie.

The week culminated with each team creating an action plan to be presented to their centers. The plans mirrored the conference’s job-oriented theme. MCDC’s action plan focused on helping students effectively use resources, technology and networking to find and contact potential employers. Specifically, the plan called for hosting a job research workshop that will include sessions on resume and cover letter writing, using websites to search for jobs and potential employers, and mock job interviews. 

The SGA Leadership Conference at Camp Horizons, which runs for three weeks each spring and fall, has been offering leadership training to SGA officers at Job Corps centers since 1996.