 |
| Rita Gregory (left), who coordinates SCC’s Job and Career Preparation program, looks over a class schedule with part-time instructor Carole Langford (seated) and Susan Waldorf, a case manager for the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) through the NCWorks Career Center. |
To count all the goals, roles and community partners of Southwestern Community College’s Job and Career Preparation (JCP) program, you might need a calculator.
Starting with adult high school equivalency classes, the JCP program helps students navigate everything from resume preparation to finding the right wardrobe for a job interview – and all the key steps in between such as figuring out which career path to pursue and getting started in the right college program.
To coordinator Rita Gregory, though, everything her team strives to do can be summarized in one word.
“Hope,” Gregory said. “There’s a long definition of the job, but it all comes down to giving people hope.”
One Macon County man who can testify the JCP program does just that is Troy Burt, who came to SCC after being laid off from his job in the metal roofing industry in 2012.
He’d always wanted to go into the field of law enforcement, but the idea of first completing his high school equivalency in his early 40s was intimidating … until he walked into his first class at SCC.
“As soon as I started taking the classes, the teachers there were like: ‘Oh, we have confidence in you; we know you’ll get this,’” Burt recalled. “I’m not sure I had the confidence in myself, but they did.
“The teachers were great,” he added. “I had this one math teacher who taught me more in an hour than I’d ever learned in school.”
Within two weeks, he had his high school equivalency. And within six months, he’d completed his law enforcement training and landed his first job in the field.
He’s currently the school resource officer for Union Academy and South Macon Elementary, and he’s just one of the hundreds of students SCC’s Job and Career Placement program helps every year through its employability labs in Jackson, Macon and Swain Counties.
 |
| Troy Burt, former student in SCC's Job and Career Preparation program. |
“A lot of people don’t think they can do it,” Gregory said. “The most rewarding part of this job is when students go through our program then get two years of college and wind up in a job they’re happy with.”
Carol Langford, a part-time instructor for SCC, added: “I’m amazed to see how many of our graduates are out thriving in the community. That’s the goal when they come in here; we want to help them become successful citizens.”
As part of the Educational Opportunities department at SCC, the JCP program also offers interviewing practice, Career Readiness Certificates, job search assistance, basic computer training for the workplace and career assessment.
Only after completing all necessary aspects of job preparation is a student granted access to SCC’s Career Closet, where he or she can select an outfit for upcoming interviews.
Some of the barriers that most commonly prevent students from completing their educational goals are financial issues and childcare.
An important part of Gregory’s job is finding external agencies that can provide the kind of assistance students most desperately need. Among the many community partners who assist Gregory and the JCP program is Susan Waldorf, a case manager for the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) through the NCWorks Career Center.
“When students get financial aid through our program, we support them all the way through,” Waldorf said. “The most rewarding part is when they come back after completing the program, and they tell me they’ve graduated, that they’re a role model for their kids.”
Besides helping those who’ve been laid off, single mothers and people who just want a fresh start at life, the JCP program also offers a second chance for men who’ve fallen behind on child support payments.
Thanks to SCC’s cooperative effort with the Jackson County Department of Social Services, judges in certain child support default cases the opportunity to go through the JCP program instead of sending them to jail.
“That can be the perfect opportunity for men to make a significant life change for the better,” Gregory said. “In the end, that’s what we want for everyone we help: a chance at a better life.”
For more information about SCC’s Job and Career Preparation program, contact Gregory at 828.306.7020 or ritag@southwesterncc.edu.
