Success story

My name is Jacqueline Garcia, I am 22 years old, and it was two years ago when I first arrived at Arizona Call-A-Teen.  I was looking for assistance and resources that could help me reach my goals. I was already attending Arizona State University studying Psychology when I came to ACYR and Antonine became my career advisor.   It was not easy being a full time college student with all the expenses that go along with school and not having a job.

It was a great relief when Antonine was able to help me with some of those expenses.  Among the supports available, she provided me bus passes so I could easily ride the city bus from home straight to school every day. From there on things started to run a bit more smoothly but I knew I still needed to find a job to pay for all my other expenses. This was a bit difficult since I had neither work experience nor much time to find a job that would work with my school schedule.  Again, ACYR and Antonine offered me opportunities that could lead to work experience and fit with my schedule.

I l learned that I could get a paid work experience through Arizona Call-A-Teen, and do a short term training program. These were two great opportunities ACYR was offering me and just what I needed to keep moving forward while finishing my bachelor’s degree.

I waited until summer break and started my work experience at a pediatrics clinic. This was an amazing experience and I got a lot more out of it than I was expecting.  In the facility I felt like part of the team of employees and worked well with them. My responsibilities were the same as a front desk person. I would make appointments for patients, answer phone calls, confirm appointments, and verify patients’ health insurance while handling other tasks that needed to be done.

During this time, I also started my short term training program for dental assistant. I attended two evenings each week. Dental assistant school was something I really enjoyed and always looked forward to class and learning. Doing the work experience plus the short term training program was something I invested all my time in throughout the summer. I didn’t have much time for anything else but I knew it was all going to be worth it at the end and would help me succeed and reach my ultimate goals.  I finished my work at the pediatrics clinic and completed dental assisting school.  The only thing I had left to do was a 50 hours externship to get my dental assistant certification. Before my externship was over I was offered a job by the same dentists that taught my dental assistant course and provided my externship. That was the highlight of my summer and I realized all the hard work paid off. Of course none of this could have been done without the resources and help that Antonine and Arizona Call-A-Teen offered me.

Over just one summer I had some work experience, earned a dental assistant certification, and had a job. This all opened many doors and opportunities for my future. I have started working at a dental office while continuing my last semester at ASU before graduating with my bachelor’s degree in psychology this December.

Follow-Up:  Jacqueline Garcia has continued her success; she obtained her bachelor’s degree in Psychology on December 20, 2012. Jacqueline will pursue her education as a dental hygienist and consider pursuing a master’s degree in psychology. 

In honor of Adult Literacy Week 2013, I’d like to share some facts.  Some were surprising to me and made me begin thinking about how we can use our influence with the youth at ACYR to make literacy an integral part of their lives.

If you have any thoughts about this, please share with everyone.  We may come up with some really great ways to incorporate the importance of literacy with the work we do.

FACTS

Children who have not developed some basic literacy skills by the time they enter school are 3 - 4 times more likely to drop out in later years. 

When the State of Arizona projects how many prison beds it will need, it factors in the number of kids who read well in fourth grade. 

60 percent of America's prison inmates are illiterate and 85% of all juvenile offenders have reading problems. 

More facts tomorrow.

On 12/15/12, ACYR’s third group of students graduated from the Field School Program obtaining a certificate in Conservation and Resource Management through the Student Conservation Association. For the past 16 weeks, the eight youth attended six classes at Phoenix College where they earned 16 college credits along with gaining five certifications: Wildland Firefighting, Wilderness First Responder, Leave No Trace, U.S. Forest Service Chainsaw and Off-Road ATV Vehicle Safety Training. The unique structure of this program gives students the opportunity to learn in the classroom and outdoors. They were able to gain experience in natural resources through a variety of field-based projects coordinated by the Bureau of Land Management. While in the field, the students were introduced to invasive plant management, habit restoration, basic field tool use and safety, vegetation, hydro-surveys, trail construction and much more. This program gave them a taste of the wide range of career opportunities available to them. They were introduced to professionals within other government agencies and were assigned field projects. The crew traveled to a variety of places in Arizona, such as, the Saguaro National Park, the Grand Canyon, the Rio Salado, the Agua Fria National Monument and more. The week long camping hitches truly taught the students what it means to work as a team and adapt to new encounters. Not only did the eight youth gain employable and leadership skills, but they also developed a strong friendship and created positive memories that they will be able to share with others down the road.  

Workforce development, education, conservation, jobs...wait – one of these things is not like the others, one of these things doesn't belong.  You guessed it!  ACYR’s tentacles continue to explore new and fresh opportunities for Arizona’s youth and it found something in the conservation field.     

That opportunity, a pilot Conservation and Resource Management Field Certification Program – yeah, say that fast three times.  Well, it was a task for ACYR also.  What institutional knowledge could we enlist to prepare?  Oh yeah, none.  However, ACYR has ample experience and success partnering with organizations and coordinating youth programs. 

The Bureau of Land Management, the Student Conservation Association, and Audubon Arizona are the conservation and resource management experts and Phoenix College rounds out the partnership. 

The pilot program was born out of America’s Great Outdoors (AGO) Initiative which calls for the federal government to work with the American people to develop a 21^st Century conservation and recreation agenda , and specifically intends to connect young people to the outdoors.  In support of the AGO initiative, the Field Certification program intends to expose Arizona’s urban youth to natural resource career pathways through a variety of hands-on certification and environmental education programs on public lands.

Since the program’s inception in November 2011, the Field Certification Program has graduated eight young people and there are eight additional youth planning to complete the third cohort in December.  The successful collaboration between the agencies led to a nomination for the Department of The Interior’s Partners In Conservation Award.  On October 18, 2012 ACYR and its collaborative partners were one of only 17 initiatives nationwide to be recognized for exemplary conservation results through public-private cooperation and community engagement. 

Jessica Proehl and I had the honor of representing ACYR and Phoenix and Maricopa Workforce Connection in acceptance of the award.  Wow, what an experience!  Sitting in the auditorium at the awards ceremony inside the U.S. Department of The Interior was humbling and I felt a part of something bigger.  I am proud to have a small contributing part in reconnecting youth to the outdoors, exposing them to career pathways, and fueling their interest in restoring America’s Great Outdoors.

Thank you ACYR and Phoenix and Maricopa Workforce Connection for taking initial interest in the initiative and making the awards ceremony experience possible.