The Community Relations Council is a group of organizations, community leaders, and businesses that work together toward a common goal. For Springdale, that goal was the discussion of how we train soft skills, how success is measured, and sharing best practices.

Business & Community Liaison Anna Snyder introduced the topic by pointing out the many resources available about soft skills. “The thing is, you can find lists of ‘Top 50 Soft Skills’ or ‘Most Important Soft Skills.’ What I wanted to do is find out what skills other organizations see as most important or the ones that are most often lacking.”

Career Development Center manager Danny Stoddard started the conversation, sharing how students are first introduced to soft skills via the Career Success Standards (CSS) and how the CSS model is reinforced throughout their training. “Each of the Career Success Standards touches on a soft skill students will need in work force; timeliness, decision-making, communication. Each one is important in a student’s success.”

Attendees included representatives from Portland Youth Builders, Dress for Success Oregon, BoyStrength, and Impact NW. Transition specialists from surrounding school districts also attended and were able to talk about how they address teaching soft skills.

Monae Elliott from BoyStrength, a program designed to encourage communication and mentorship between young men, was looking forward to what would be shared at the meeting. “BoyStrength is trying to teach young men about soft skills, especially communication, so I wanted to hear from other groups about how they know their training is working.”

The CRC meets twice a year and gives Springdale an opportunity to meet with other training and education providers, as well as brining what we’re doing to the public. We look forward to continuing the conversation with our partners.