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Workshop for students with disabilities helps build skills

Jon Jaehnig/For the Gazette Keweenaw Business and Professional Women member Kerry Sleeman (center) helps students navigate a month of adult life in “The Reality Store,” one of the courses at this year’s Soft Skills Workshop on Thursday.

HOUGHTON — The 16th annual Interview Workshop took place in Michigan Technological University’s Memorial Union Building on Thursday. The event, sponsored by The Copper Country Intermediate School District, Michigan Works, MTU Career Services, and Michigan Rehabilitation Services, gave 67 registrants with disabilities the opportunity to learn “soft skills” that they can use to find a job, as well as introducing them to resources that they can use to transition from student to adult life.

“This event is such a well-oiled machine, that we basically just say ‘yeah, we’re happy to have you,'” said Beth Williams, MTU Director of Career Services. “It’s a great way to get high school students on a college campus and give them that exposure to higher education.”

The event is held annually during MTU’s spring break so that demand for the MUB is minimal. MTU lets the event organizers use the space for free and volunteers host the events so the only expense involved is food.

“Students get the chance to have a formal lunch and etiquette lesson,” said Steve Pelli, a Rehabilitation Counselor with the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. “It’s similar to if they were to go on a business lunch or a lunch interview. Some of the students have never had a formal coursed meal with cloth napkins and two forks.”

Before and after lunch, students also had the opportunity to attend a soft skills workshop. There, they learned about skills like composing professional emails, work with teammates, and how to dress, talk, and behave during job interviews. Students also had the opportunity to do mock job interviews with real area employers and organizations.

“The mock interviews give our students the experience and the confidence that they need when they go looking for jobs,” said Chad Rowley, who brought fourteen students from the Marquette area. “I’ve had a student that came and the workshop gave them the experience to actually get a job as a paraprofessional in an area school.”

For some students, the campus experience and mock interviews are more than just practice.

“Last year, I know a student was offered a formal interview and we have had students offered jobs from being here,” said Emilie Lancour, a Transition Coordinator at the CCISD. Further, a number of the students also end up attending MTU after graduating from high school.

One highlight of the event was the Reality Store. The program created by the Business and Professional Women, a national organization with a Keweenaw chapter, uses real-life wage estimates and price guides to help students navigate a simulated month. The event was a favorite among attendees.

“I like the reality store, because it shows us what you need in life, like your cars and your housing,” said student Josie Jeffrey, who was attending the event for the second year in a row and wants to be a nurse. “Last year I had a different job that I wanted. Since then I’ve realized what I want to do.”

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