Photo: Students learning from the Town of Brattleboro Fire Department about possible career pathways
This July, the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC) hosted its annual Youth Career Bootcamp. The bootcamp, held at the Boys and Girls Club of Brattleboro, featured 4 days of job readiness workshops and career exploration.
Student participants learned the importance of social capital and developing an elevator pitch about themselves. They created resumes, practiced job interview skills and learned how to tie a tie. The bootcamp curriculum is based on BDCC’s Pipelines and Pathways Program (P3) curriculum, and designed to reach students who don’t have the opportunity to do a full P3 course during the school year.
The bootcamp also teaches students about high wage, high demand career options in their own backyard, as well as training and education to help them access those opportunities. Students visited the Community College of Vermont, HatchSpace, Brattleboro Food Co-Op, and Vermont Department of Labor’s Career Resource Center. They had a tour of Brattleboro’s Parks and Recreation Department within the GIbson Aiken Center and got to climb in a fire truck, ambulance, and police cruiser, thanks to Brattleboro Fire and Brattleboro Police. Thank you to all of these community partners!
BDCC ended the week with an optional 5th day of one-on-one work to develop a plan for each participant’s next step. 9 students participated in the bootcamp and all 9 completed the program.
Additional thanks go out to Hannaford, Market 32, Brattleboro Food Co-Op, Walgreens, and Staples for their generous donations of supplies. And of course, thank you to the Boys and Girls Club of Brattleboro for providing space, lunch and plenty of play between lessons. As part of the bootcamp this year, all eligible students were enrolled in a year of programming at the Club.
About the Workforce Center of Excellence
The Workforce Center of Excellence (WFCoE) is an employer-driven workforce and career training and education initiative of the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation. The WFCoE leverages BDCC’s relationships with employers and workforce development partners, supporting both sides of the labor exchange to connect people with opportunity, and employers with the talent they need. The WFCoE is funded in part by a Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities (WORC) grant from the Northern Borders Regional Commission and US Department of Labor’s Employment & Training Administration (ETA).
About Pipelines & Pathways
BDCC’s Pipelines and Pathways Program (P3) provides career education within the four southeastern Vermont public high schools and the Windham Regional Career Center. P3 helps students develop their personalized learning plans (PLP) by providing work-based learning experiences that increase their knowledge of career opportunities and achieve their postsecondary goals. Students develop soft skills, financial literacy, knowledge about economic sectors and skills that are in-demand through hands-on informational interviews, work-based learning, and mentorships. Pipelines & Pathways is a BDCC Workforce Center of Excellence program based on SeVEDS strategies to increase the size and quality of the region’s workforce. For more information please visit: https://brattleborodevelopment.com/engaging-with-high-school-students/
