On September 25, 2013, San Diego Interim Mayor and City Counsel President Todd Gloria helped celebrate the San Diego Job Corps’ celebration of its opening on September 18, 1979.  Mr. Gloria was the guest speaker at the San Diego Center’s Community Relations Council (CRC) luncheon meeting, attended by more than 50 community partners and Job Corps staff members.

The CRC event celebrated the creation of the National Job Corps program through the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964.  The legislation was part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration’s War on Poverty and opened “to everyone…the opportunity for education and training, the opportunity to work, and the opportunity to live in decency and dignity.”

The first Job Corps center opened in 1965, and nearly 3 million young people have successfully completed the program at Job Corps centers located throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico.  More than 80% of Job Corps graduates secure employment, continue on to higher education, or enter the military.

The San Diego Job Corps Center offers academic education and training in 17 different career technical areas for its 525 students.  During the past year, the Department of Labor, which administers the Job Corps program, ranked the San Diego Center 6th best of the 125 centers in the nation for student outcomes and performance.

The mayor and CRC guests also celebrated the re-opening of the School of Hospitality Building.  Students from the Homeland Security, Hotel and Lodging, and Culinary Arts training programs, whose classrooms are in the building, welcomed the guests and prepared and served lunch.  Center staff furnished an update on changes in the Job Corps program and plans for the future.