Viewpoint: Job Corps helps valley youth land jobs

According to a Pew Research Center survey, 53 percent of Americans ages 18 to 24 either live at home with their parents or moved in temporarily, due to financial hardship.

Six-months ago, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 51 percent of Americans between the ages of 16 and 24 were unemployed.

Today, amidst economic uncertainties, rising prices and record unemployment, it’s easy to see how young people might throw their hands hopelessly in the air, signaling their surrender, in their personal war, against their own unemployment.

That’s why it is amazing that we have a taxpayer-funded investment here in the Bitterroot Valley, which enables this same demographic to effectively self-insulate against our long, seemingly endless, economic winter.

About 10 miles south of Darby, on the picturesque West Fork of the Bitterroot River, something remarkable is happening for young men and women who want to take control of their economic futures. For those who complete a program of educational study and career technical training at Trapper Creek Job Corps (TCJC), employment is almost a sure thing. In fact, 85 percent of TCJC graduates attend college, attend advanced technical training, enlist in the military, or to go to their new job.

If you’re young and unemployed or the parent of someone young and unemployed and you haven’t taken a fresh look at Trapper Creek Job Corps lately, what you are about to hear may surprise you.

In the last 6-months, 98 percent of TCJC graduates found and kept a job; jobs in welding, cement masonry, culinary arts, carpentry, electrical, painting, facilities maintenance, office administration with special training for medical offices, urban forestry, firefighting or natural resources.

Today among other Job Corps centers, Trapper Creek is ranked second in the nation in job placements and fourth in the nation in graduates Average rate of pay at $11.05 per hour.

Today’s TCJC students are brighter than ever, regularly scoring over 70 on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test, effectively crushing the national average score of 50. Additionally, TCJC boasts a 4-week college preparation course to prepare our students for the ACT, SAT, FAFSA and college application process.

“We think Job Corps is a wonderful program, we just wish more people would take advantage of it”, said Kent Niles of Darby. Kent and his wife Rebecca know what they are talking about now that four of their eight, formerly home-schooled children have attended and graduated from TCJC.

The community impact of Trapper Creek Job Corps and its 224 students can be witnessed up and down the Bitterroot Valley, logging thousands of volunteer hours for a variety of projects and organizations. In fact, it has been calculated that every dollar invested in Job Corps returns almost $2 to the local economy.

Through a well-designed and tightly managed student internship program called Work-Based Learning, local businesses link arms with teachable students to provide real-world, hands-on experience and an opportunity for students to try out their newly acquired skills.

Local business owner Beth Barteaux, who owns and operates The Loft in Hamilton, has hosted eight student interns over the last couple of years, “Job Corps Work-Based Learning Program has been a ‘win-win’ opportunity for The Loft, the students, and the community. I have found the students to be eager to learn and they take their role in my business very seriously. They bring creative ideas to the table and often have suggestions that I am able to utilize to better my business. On a personal note, I truly enjoy the interaction with these bright young people. To see them move on in accomplishing their educational and personal goals and the pride they take in those accomplishments is very rewarding; my thanks to Job Corps for providing this opportunity for the students, for me and for my business.”

Today’s Trapper Creek is more committed than ever to offering all of its students a safe and secure, drug, alcohol, and violence free environment to complete their education and technical training. Their commitment is demonstrated by a no-nonsense, zero tolerance policy for violence, alcohol, and drugs; any student who breaks this policy is dismissed immediately from Trapper Creek… period.

Simply put, Trapper Creek Job Corps is a place where young lives are changed and life trajectories are recalibrated. It’s a place where young men and women who have the desire and the aptitude, can choose their own path, fueled by their hopes, their dreams and a limitless imagination.

To learn more about enrollment or how your business can sponsor a student intern contact Curtis Brickley at brickley.curtis@jobcorps.org or call 821-3286.

Curtis Brickley

Business Community Liason, Trapper Creek JC