 Hi. Welcome to CTN member highlights. I'm Leslie McVane and today I have with me three people from LearningWorks. Sonny Waterman who's the director of Youth Building Alternatives at LearningWorks. Hi Sonny. Hi Leslie. Thank you for having us. And Derwin Soto who is a student at YBA and Ariel Bentley who's also a student. Welcome. This is great. So let's first begin with talking a little bit, a little bit about what YBA is, Youth Building Alternatives. YBA is a program for students who are no longer attending high school for various reasons, usually considered dropouts between the ages of 16 and a half and 24. And our program is to train students to be ready for a career and or college or some other training beyond that. So we offer a very comprehensive program where we have education, vocational training, jobs for main graduates training. We do leadership classes. We have community service. We're hoping to have an internship program that these two will participate in to give students as many opportunities as possible to experience various jobs and working conditions and or to go to SMCC or other training. Okay. And it's usually a program for about nine months. And the opportunities are to learn a skill are in the building trades, culinary arts. And then we also have our newest skill-based training is hospitality area where they will be earning an industry-recognized credential either in the area of maintenance, front desk receptionist or banquet server. And what better place to learn it than right here in Portland where there is so much happening in the hospitality area, whether it be the restaurants or the hotels or the cruise ship. Right. And they learn customer service skills which are so good for no matter what area that they would end up working in because they have to work with people. So it's a great skill. Now you both came to learning works in January of this year. So you have a little while longer to go through the summer, I guess. Tell me what has been the most enlightening thing about coming to learning works. Derwin, do you want to start with that, with you? Sure. Coming to learning works, I really got, I really felt like I was part of it when I came in because I saw some people who used to go to my school as well that did not have the opportunity to graduate with their class because unfortunately, just like me, I got kind of to a point where work was just too difficult at Casco Bay. I walked around my school and somebody told me about learning works. And when I went there, I applied everything. Everybody was kind to me, all the staff. And I really felt like it was going to be a great program to attend. And so far, it is. I love it. Every part of it and every activity we do is great. It's like a private school with much more individual attention than you were getting before and people really listen to you. Yes. And how about you, Ariel? Like Derwin said, it was just coming in and everybody was friendly and kind and I just felt like I was a part of something and I didn't feel kind of ostracized by everybody else. I just felt like, I don't know, I felt like I had a lot of friends coming into learning works. And if things were going too fast at learning works, you can say, wait a minute, let's slow down a little bit. Let's talk about where I am in this learning process and they'll help you with that. Yes. When we first go to learning works, they will give us, I forgot what the test is called, but that will determine on where you are and what they're going to teach you. And then, the tape? Yes, call the tape test. And it's very helpful. I've been doing very well on every assignment I'm given. I've been passing and it's just very fun and I'm really focused on all the work I need to do and that's great. That's terrific. And now you were both, part of the program is doing community service. And tell us a little bit, each of you, about what you're doing for community service in the community. All right. I'm going to talk about, let's see, wayside. On wayside, we go there. And that's a soup kitchen for people who might not know about it. Yes. On wayside, we go there once a week and we cook a variety of food. Like last time I went, we made, I forgot what the dish is called, but it was delicious. Was it shepherd's pie? It was kind of, it was similar to lasagna, but it wasn't. Oh, it was chicken parm. Yes, it was that. It had, we put chicken, potato, cheese and some corn. Then we cooked it all nice and it was delicious. And on the side, we made some treats, we made cookies. And some of the students just went all crazy and made these huge cookies. They were like the size of drums. So is that, as well as being community service, is it part of the culinary program at Learning Works? Yes. To go and do this cooking? Yes. Oh, how great. And what about you? What do you want to talk about as far as your community service? I go to one tree every Friday. It's a daycare, just a learning center. And you work with the children? Yeah, I love working with kids. And it may turn into something more permanent for you after you graduate. So what are some of the other things that the students will have to face before leaving Learning Works? You do testing for not only a GED, but also for proficiency in some of the things they're learning in the building or culinary. Correct. They have to have reach certain benchmarks or milestones in all areas in order to complete and graduate the program. We hope for them to all have a high set exam, which they study for and take the each component of the test. They have to have at least one of the vocational skills certifications. So either in construction, culinary arts or hospitality, many of them have all three. We give them training in OSHA 10, so they are safety certified. They have certifications in JMG, where they have completed applications. They have a complete portfolio that they are ready to take with them to apply for jobs. They also have leadership classes that they participate in, so they learn about individual leadership and leadership in the community. They also have to do at least 30 hours of community service. And some of that they pick and choose, but we offer it every week. Like we said, we go to Wayside every week. Ariel does the one at OneTree. Not all students go to OneTree because daycare is not an interest for them. So we try to tailor it to their personal needs. But they do have pieces that they have to complete in every area. Can they come up with their own community service opportunity? If they have that available to them, they can, but typically they use the community service opportunities that we offer. And what do you each hope to take with you when you go out and leave? Do you want to go on to college? Do you have job aspirations? I know that Derwin is working at the Civic Center here. And is that something you want to continue with, or do you have other ideas about what you want to do? Right now I do not have any other ideas on what I want to pursue for jobs. So I am going to stick along with the Civic Center just for a while longer. But in the meantime, once I graduate from learning works, I will just take a little break from school and then think about which college I would like to attend. But I am looking forward to going to SMCC if I do not find anything else. It is a great school. Do you know what you might be interested in doing, or not? Just general college stuff and see? I am very interested in looking at firemen stuff, as well as I have been looking into the military as well, because I have an interest on both of those. They are very nice. And what about you, Ariel? We are going to have to wrap up pretty soon. So what do you look forward to doing after you graduate? I look forward to going to SMCC in the fall, maybe in the winter. I would like to go major in English, and I would like to go for early childcare. That sounds wonderful. I think you are both leaders, and I am sure that is how they feel at learning works. Talking with you has been very nice. Thank you. Thank you all for coming. Thank you, Leslie, for inviting us. And I hope you will come back. Thank you.