Local teens gathered at the Cloquet Forestry Center recently for the orientation to the Northeast Minnesota Office of Job Training Summer Youth Work Experience program. The program is designed to assist youth ages 14-21 who want to be employed during the summer and learn important job skills in the workforce.
As career counselors Clare Cassandro and Stacy Kenyon welcomed participants into the conference room for the orientation for the summer program, there were some very eager faces. The youth were all very different but with similar goals: obtaining a job and job skills.
Safety is something that is considered the highest of priorities. A safety IQ quiz was passed out to test the youths' knowledge about specific safety laws and restrictions. Cassandro said a teen in the United States is injured on the job every seven minutes.
The 23 teen participants also had an opportunity to meet Ron Severs, one of the tree researchers at the Cloquet Forestry Center. He talked about the forestry center and the importance of tree research to the economy.
The young people then climbed onto a big wagon attached to a truck that brought them through the forest. As Severs took the youth into the woods where the trees were being monitored and grown, he explained that some of the trees had a disease to which researchers were attempting to build resistance through other more healthy trees. Severs also explained Continuous Forest Inventory (CFI). This involves stakes in the ground to help keep track of the different kinds of trees that are being researched.
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After their nature experience the youths were introduced to yet another guest speaker, Rick Breuer, CEO of Cloquet Memorial Hospital, who discussed job requirements, how to impress an employer in an interview and how he started his career. Breuer stressed the importance of working hard, being as well rounded as possible, and finding something you are passionate about and spending time to explore it in depth.
Anyone interested in more information about the youth program, or any other program offered by the Northeast Minnesota Office of Job Training, is encouraged to call 1-800-325-5332, or visit www.jobtrainingmn.org . Local Cloquet career counselors can be reached at 218-878-4414.
