Focus on goals key to Job Corps success

56 Job Corps students honored at graduation

By Evan Jensen

The Estacada News, Aug 5, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

Evan Jensen / Estacada News

Fifty-six Timber Lake Job Corps students were honored at a graduation ceremony in July for completing educational requirements and learning a trade. The Timber Lake Job Corps Center is located about 25 east of town along Highway 224. Students can study automotive repair, busines technologies, carpentry, culinary arts, electric work, facilities maintenance, medical records, painting and welding, with the training and boarding costs paid for by the U.S. Department of Labor. This month the U.S. Job Corps program will celebate its 45th anniversary. Timber Lake Job Corps Center is one of 122 centers nationwide.

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Two years ago, Brandon Donald descended into darkness with a never-ending craving for methamphetamine. In place of homework, hanging out with friends, holding a part-time job or planning for college, meth controlled him and was leading him down a destructive road few ever return from. But for Donald, a flicker of hope arrived and changed everything for the teenager, who is now on a career path to become a certified Toyota mechanic.

Donnely was one of 56 students honored at a graduation ceremony at Timber Lake Job Corps on July 23. The U.S. Department of Labor Job Corps program helps young people like Donald, ages 16 through 24, learn vocational and academic skills to land a job. Next month, Job Corps will celebrate its 45th anniversary; Estacada’s Timber Lake Job Corps Center is one of 122 centers nationwide.

“Before I came to Job Corps, I was a meth addict for about six months,” Donald says softly, eating cake with friends in the commissary after graduation. “I was really going downhill before I came here. When my son was born, that was when I decided to get cleaned up and come here. This place has helped me find out who I really am and taught me a lot about respecting myself and others. I’ve learned a lot here, and I’m really going to miss the staff and the friends I’ve made here.”

Donald leaves in a few days for the Clearfield Job Corps Center in Clearfield, Utah, where he will pursue advanced training to become a certified Toyota mechanic. When he completes the program, Job Corps will help him find a job with a dealer. At Estacada’s Timber Lake Job Corps Center, about 25 miles east of town along Highway 224, students can study automotive repair, business technologies, carpentry, culinary arts, electric work, facilities maintenance, medical records, painting and welding. In addition to learning trade skills, students can complete their high school diploma or earn a GED if they come to Job Corps lacking basic education.

For the 56 students honored at the graduation ceremony, the stay at Job Corps has varied from one year to nearly three years, based on the time it’s taken for them to complete their individual programs. As the strains of “Pomp and Circumstance” filled the gymnasium, students and dozens of parents, family and friends celebrated their accomplishment with whistles and cheers.

“I grew up in Los Angeles and never imagined living and working in the middle of the forest in Oregon,” said the graduation master of ceremonies, Warren Cunningham, who is the center’s orientation coordinator. “I came to Job Corps 32 years ago when I started getting into trouble. Now I’ve worked for Job Corps for 29 years, and when I look at all the graduates, it reminds me why we’re all here. I’m very proud of you and what you’ve accomplished. It’s exciting to see young people take the opportunity to come here, work hard and see it effect your lives in a positive manner. I’m very proud of all of you.”

More than two years ago, Robert Nahooikaika dropped out of high school and faced a series of challenges that made it difficult for him to return. When he realized he was making choices that would shape the rest of his life, he knew he wanted more, so he came to Timber Lake Job Corps 23 months ago, and graduated last month earning his diploma and learning the skills to be a painter.

“When I realized I couldn’t complete high school, I knew I had to do something better with my life,’ Nahooikaika said. “That’s when I came to Job Corps. This place has completely changed my life. I’m really going to miss all my friends, and the staff are like my family.”

Nahooikaika has been working closely with job placement advisors at Timber Lake Job Corps to land a painting job, but he hasn’t found one yet. He’ll be leaving for Scio, Ore., in a few days to work at a cannery until he finds an opening, and the center will keep track of him and help him as long as he needs assistance in landing a job in his field.

“Today, this is all about you,” Timber Lake Job Corps Director Gina Luckritz said. “And this graduation ceremony is also for all the future graduates sitting behind you. This is a way younger students can visualize themselves sitting where you are in a cap and gown one day. If I asked any of the graduates to offer some advice to their friends, they would probably say, ‘If I can do it, you can do it.’ Remember what you came here for, stay focused on your goals and finish the program.”

Luckritz was named director at Timber Lake Job Corps earlier this year and brings a wealth of experience to the position. She started working for Job Corps in 1984 and has served as director at three other Job Corps centers in Oregon, Arkansas and Kentucky. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Weber State University in Utah, and a master’s degree from Minot State University in North Dakota.

“Graduation has become a symbol that represents a rite of passage,” Luckritz said. “By completing this program, you’ve started a history of success for yourself and gained access to opportunities such as the military, college and jobs that may not have been there before you came here. It doesn’t matter that much how long it took you to graduate, or what training program you chose, what matters is that you finished the program, and we are all very proud of you.”

In addition to a host of family, friends and guests who attended the Timber Lake Job Corps graduation ceremony, Field Representative John Valley from U.S. Senator Jeff Merkeley’s office attended and spoke briefly to the students and recognized the graduates for their accomplishment.

“Senator Merkely really believes in taking advantage of opportunities,” Valley said. “You’ve taken advantage of the Job Corps program and capitalized on what it has to offer. Whatever career you plan to pursue after this, you’re effecting change for yourself, your children and your grandchildren and providing them with more opportunities to be successful. … Congratulations, and we wish you all the best in the future.”

Nathan Dahlstrom was among the students celebrating the success of finishing a trade program at Timber Lake Job Corps. He arrived two years ago and completed the autobody painting program. In a few days, he’ll join Donald at the Clearfiled Job Corps Center in Utah for advanced training.

“I’ve been here two years and a week,” Dahlstrom said. “I came here because I needed a change. Before Job Corps, I was hanging out with my friends a lot was probably up to no good. I’ve made a lot of friends here, and that’s what I’m going to miss most about this place. But I’ve learned a lot of new skills that will help me get a job, and the place has helped me grow up a lot too.”

Graduation is a long road from some students at Timber Lake Job Corps where students live in on-site dorms and must agree to follow a code of conduct. Adhere to grooming standards and recognize a zero-tolerance policy for drugs, smoking and alcohol. But for the many who manage to stick with the program, volunteer at community events in Estacada, work through their challenges and complete a trade program, the world awaits. Earlier this year former Timber Lake Job Corps student Hans Hathaway stopped by to visit the campus and talk to the students about his Job Corps experience that proved successful. Hathaway was a student in 1993, earned his GED, graduated from the carpentry program, and has spent the last decade serving in the U.S. Army stationed in Germany and other locations.

It’s the kind of success the instructors and staff hope for with every student who walks through the door and begins the transformation that’s required at a closed campus 24 miles from civilization. For those who make it to graduation, it’s a new beginning.

“I’m going to advanced electrical training in San Jose,” Stefan McKannon said. “I’ve been here two years, and I’m one of the older students who came here after high school. I realized early on that I was able to help a lot of students with different things because of that. I came here because I knew it was a good program. I’ve learned a lot and grown in so many different ways. I’m going to miss this place and all the friends I made while I was here.”

Graduates

Esayas H.Afeworki

Mitchell L. Allen

Thomas E. Anderson Jr.

Katrina R. Antsen

Rubon Bokmej

Matthew J. Bush

Casey A. Carnay

Codey Carrick

Jonathan D. Collins

Samantha R. Cox

Nathan E. Dahlstrom