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SUCCESS SKILLS
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Brae Hudson, left, and Chmicka Kennedy, juniors at Choffi n Career and Technical Center in Youngstown, participate in Junior Achievement of Mahoning Valley’s Success Skills program Wednesday at the school.
By Denise Dick
Youngstown
Choffin Career and Technical Center juniors Brae Hudson and Chmicka Kennedy exchanged clues in a sort of workplace password game.
It was a teamwork and communication exercise Wednesday as part of Junior Achievement of Mahoning Valley’s Success Skills program. The program was sponsored by the Better Business Bureau.
Each student was given a card listing 12 professions and game clues to help their teammate guess the job correctly.
“Where do you go to get an X-ray?” Brae, 16, asked.
“A hospital,” Chmicka, 16, answered.
The volley of clues and answers continued until Chmicka guessed emergency-room doctor, the correct response.
The girls got nine out of 12 correct in the four minutes allotted to them.
Their graphics class was being instructed by Derrick McDowell, a JA volunteer who owns his own company, Wardrobe Brand Clothing, and also works at AT&T.
McDowell, of Cornersburg, said he tries to get students to think about their future. It’s something he wishes someone would have done for him when he was younger.
His company, www.wardrobeclothing.com, consists of casual menswear, and he runs it out of his home.
Nicole Widomski, program manager for JA, said the Success Skills program uses volunteers from the community to teach skills required to enter the work force. Those include r sum writing, interviewing skills, the importance of body language, team work and working with others.
Wednesday’s program targeted juniors at Choffin.
Renee English, a Choffin spokeswoman, said that though teachers at the school instruct in job-readiness, students pay particular attention when hearing from volunteers such as those with JA.
Widomski said volunteers follow JA’s Success Skills curriculum but “incorporate their real-world experience with the lessons.”