As COVID-19 has changed business as usual, operations at Palmer Scholars is no different.
Our Palmer Pathways program has had to be especially responsive to best serve our Pathways Scholars.
“We’re moving to JITT (just-in-time-training),” Director of Postsecondary Pathways Christina Rupp said. “The needs of our Scholar community are urgent to find new employment since many have lost their jobs.” Palmer Pathways Scholars are disconnected young adults between 16 and 24 years old. Unlike our Legacy Scholars, many have young children to care for and were working full-time to support their families.
While our training sessions for our Pathways Scholars were originally set to cover five learning cores over the course of 3 months, COVID-19 and the Governor’s shelter in place order has changed the ways Pathways Scholars will receive instruction. Now, Christina and the Pathways team have flexed to make learning as accessible as possible, loaning laptops to Scholars and hosting classes on Zoom. Training classes still feature experts in the field including Your Money Matters Mentoring’s Clinton Taylor.
The Pathways team is currently coordinating online certifications for CPR/First Aid, OSHA 10, and Flagging so those who lost their jobs due to the pandemic will have an immediate avenue to gainful employment. “We need to make sure resumes are up to date, Scholars have what they need to include in an application, get their elevator pitch down, practice interviewing on the phone or via webcam, apply online, think about benefits and pay, etc.” Christina said. “It’s a quick refocus from starting off talking about transferrable skills.”
Though the Pathways Program is starting much differently than anyone had expected, the Pathways team and Palmer Scholars as a whole is invested in ensuring our Scholars don’t miss out on any learning opportunities.
This post was sponsored by McGranahan Architects.
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