Life & Workforce Readiness Takes Off!

Summer is always a blast at the Boys & Girls Club as we aim to provide new experiences for youth in our community. This summer was extra special because it was the first summer with our Life & Workforce Readiness program up and running!

The cool thing about this program is that every grade level had the opportunity to participate. Elementary Club members worked with Miss Samantha, Director of Life & Workforce Readiness, on a weekly basis to learn what a career is and how they can set goals for themselves (as well as how to achieve those goals!). From learning soft skills such as communication, problem solving, teamwork and leadership, to making vision boards as a visualization tool by creating a poster with pictures and words that inspire and motivate us, Miss Samantha had a great time learning about all the different dreams and goals our youth have! Although there are still several years until they are ready to enter the workforce, it is important to start instilling the skill development to practice the essential skills they need for their future. Allowing them to expand their minds and teach them that with hard work and dedication, they can accomplish any dream they set for themselves.

The Life & Workforce Readiness program has also been focusing on giving our youth new experiences and opportunities. Teen members worked with Miss Samantha all summer to learn just that with lessons on getting to know themselves, their passions, what their interests are, what they value, and how that ties into their future, plus real hands-on experiences in businesses within our very own community. Our Boys & Girls Club was even invited to join the Teen Center in Portage County for their Business Shark Camp, where members worked with teen Club members from all over Wisconsin to create their own prototype and present a business plan. This was such a cool experience because it allowed our members to step out of their comfort zone, work with new people and expand their ideas!

A main goal within the Life & Workforce Readiness program is focusing on teaching our youth to appreciate the workforce and all the hard work that goes into different careers in our community and beyond. Our “Fondy Futures” subprogram was created with that exact mindset. This summer, Teen Center Club members had an absolute blast touring businesses in our community and the surrounding area to experience firsthand what a “day in the life” would look like in that career. So many amazing businesses connected with the Club to give our youth incredible experiences. Over 50 teens in our summer program participated in tours or presentations at the following businesses: Integrity Saw & Tool, SSM Health, BCI Burke, C.D. Smith Construction, Marian University, Wisconsin Lighting Lab (WiLL), FDL Police Department, FDL Fire Rescue, Grande Cheese and Produce with a Purpose Market Place!

Our summer started off with a BANG at Integrity Saw & Tool, where our teen Club members had the opportunity to use a blow torch to assist an IST team member with welding saw blades, all the while learning about how this awesome business produces parts for companies all over the United States! BCI Burke introduced Club members to four playground designers who worked with them to “create their own park” – C.D. Smith provided a virtual reality tour of their construction sites – Marian University sparked a light within our youth to attend college – WiLL showed us how a small light can create spectacular visuals – both the Fond du Lac Police Department and Fond du Lac Fire Rescue went above and beyond to give our youth a chance to see firsthand how important they are to our community – Grande Cheese “hired” a group of our lucky teens as cheese taste-testers for the day in order to demonstrate how a data analyst spends their day at work – and our FINAL stop on our “Fondy Futures” tours was Produce with a Purpose Market Place in Kaukauna where some of our teens worked as a team to bag and label vegetables for the market place with the goal being to learn to appreciate all the hard work the farmers put into providing a range of healthy foods! 

Providing Club members with such a diverse range of careers this summer was not only extremely fun, but allowed our teens to gain tremendous knowledge that there are so many different career paths that go into making a single business thrive and succeed. At least two or more Club members always left a tour stating, “I want to work here when I grow up!” or “I learned so much today, I’m going to look more into it!” That was exactly the goal this program was aiming for as a result of these experiences. 

From our 2nd graders sharing their dreams of being an archaeologist and how that connects to their passions, to teen Club members listening to each other’s heartbeats with SSM health, our Life & Workforce Readiness programming was a huge success this summer!