On February 20th, Whitney M. Young Jr. Job Corps students, Kenad Johnson and Jared Long, accompanied by Business and Community Liaison Kelly Stratton, met with State Senator Paul Hornback at his office in Frankfort, KY.

During the meeting with Senator Hornback, the students introduced themselves, told the senator about their background, their training programs at Whitney M. Young Jr. Job Corps and their future career goals.  Both students are enrolled in the welding career technical training program at Whitney M. Young Jr. Job Corps.  Long is the former president of the center’s Student Government Association, and Johnson currently serves as SGA secretary.

Stratton also spoke about the benefits the Whitney M. Young Jr. Job Corps Center brings to the students it trains, to the Shelby County community and to area businesses.

Enrollment at Whitney M. Young Jr. Job Corps continues to grow, with the majority of students coming from the Louisville area and/or Kentucky.  The center works with area businesses to provide 19 different work-based learning sites where students can get on-the-job experience through internships.

Whitney M. Young Jr. Job Corps Currently employs 130 people and last year spent more than $2 million for goods and services provided by 262 vendors, the majority of which are local businesses and contractors.  Additionally, the center met its small business goals to work with area small businesses for each quarter of 2019.

Whitney M. Young Jr. Job Corps partners with Jefferson Community and Technical College to offer students the opportunity to continue their education and earn an associate degree or other certifications at no coast to themselves.

After his meeting with the Whitney M. Young Jr. Job Corps students, Senator Hornback invited them to be his special guests in the Senate Chambers and introduced them to the full Senate.

“Seeing Senator Paul Hornback and being able to be involved in the Senator Chambers was a great experience,” Johnson said.  “I will treasure those memories forever.  I wouldn’t have gotten to experience anything like this if it wasn’t for Job Corps.  Thank you for empowering me to be a better me!”

After completing her training at Whitney M. Young Jr. Job Corps, Johnson, who is from Louisville, hopes to enroll in the advanced training Solar Paneling program at Albuquerque Job Corps in New Mexico.

Long said this experience now has him considering getting involved in politics in the future.  After completion of his training at Whitney M. Young Jr. Job Corps, Long, who is from Berea, KY, is considering returning home to work at the family welding repair business.