VIA Workforce Training
VIA Workforce Training trains and prepares workforce‑oriented 11th and 12th grade students in the soft skills needed for employment through proven character and values development techniques, community mentorship, and job placement opportunities.
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Co-developed by Values-in-Action Foundation and Auburn Career Center, VIA Training is based upon the methodology Values-in-Action had previously utilized in the Cleveland Metropolitan Schools which raised graduation rates from 47% to 84% among the some of the most at-risk students.
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VIA Workforce Training Features:
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Time flexible facilitated curriculum
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1-on-1 employer mentoring
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2 field trips to employer work sites
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Experienced passionate facilitators
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Guaranteed job placement for each qualified VIA Training program graduate
VIA Workforce Training Soft Skills Taught:
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Responsibility
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Ethics
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Integrity & Kindness
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Self-Awareness & Resiliency
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Career Exploration
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Relationship & Collaboration Management
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Goals of VIA Workforce Training:
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Develop ethical and passionate teens with workforce readiness soft-skills and attributes of character that are hard indicators of future success.
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Decrease the glorified perception that negative influences have on participants, such as drug and alcohol use, attraction to teen parenthood, unhealthy relationships, and gang involvement.
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Provide underserved students access to job placement services, career exploration tools, and career assessment tools focusing their ambitions and keeping them on track toward achieving their vocational goals.
VIA Student Quotes
“I've learned a lot about myself thanks to this program.”
– Michael, Bedford HS
“Before the program it was a bit confusing for me to get myself set up for job interviews or communication at the workplace, but now after the program I’m more confident in what I want to look for in a job [and] what my expectations are supposed to be when trying to get hired.”
– Raychelle Malone, Brush HS
“Being more professional and working on my soft skills in the workplace.”
– Daylynn Huckabee, Bedford HS (on personal progress mad with VIA)
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For more information please contact:
Abby Bell
VIA Workforce Training Director
VIA Program Facilitators:
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Sandra Averyheart - Meet Sandy
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Erika Hester - Meet Erika​
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Patricia "Darby" Marbury - Meet Darby