Our newspaper column for the week beginning June 24 shared a story about the development of the Workforce Readiness Initiative pilot program that was implemented in Boerne, Champion and Comfort High Schools this past Spring. It was a partnership between the Chamber, BISD, CISD, with Workforce Solutions and dozens of local businesses. The mission of the program is to teach students the soft skills necessary to get a job and keep it. We repeated the story in our June newsletter.
Thanks to a funding program through Workforce Solutions, the Chamber has enjoyed the services of WRI graduate Kelsey Passafuma, a Boerne High School Junior who has lived in Boerne for all of her 16 years. She answers our phone and greets members, visitors and guests on the days the Chamber doesn’t have a volunteer. Kelsey also works on special projects, such as preparing and assembling mailings, making certain the Chamber’s business card and brochure racks are sufficiently full and preparing materials for events.
This is Kelsey’s first “real job.” She was recommended to participate in the WRI by school counselors. She recognized that while she wanted to work this summer, she didn’t really know how to go about landing a job. She also wasn’t really sure about what she would expect when she reported for a job in an office.
The WRI pilot program taught her how to build a resume when she had very limited work experience. It taught her the importance of initiative and self-confidence when she made phone calls to secure interviews. She learned about acceptable office behavior, appropriate office apparel and the importance of following established procedures.
Kelsey says “I really enjoy being the first person members talk to or the first one they see when they come into the Chamber. I like working on projects and the wide variety of work I’m asked to do. I feel like I’m making good connections for my future.”
She is proud to have been part of the pilot program that “shows businesses really care about the up and coming workforce. If I could talk to kids who will be offered the opportunity to participate in the next WRI program I would tell them to smile a lot, do your homework on the business by checking them out on the internet, learn and follow the office’s rules and have confidence that you’ll do great!”
Kelsey has followed that advice herself and she has done great. In fact, she has been invited by the Chamber’s Government Affairs Council to become a member of the WRI Task Force that is presently reviewing the course and making adjustments based on input from teachers, business leaders and pilot program graduates like Kelsey. She’ll be participating in meetings with Dr. Kelly, serving as a mentor for the next class and helping the Task Force to set policy for future classes.
Kelsey is looking forward to attending a local college in two years, possibly the Fredericksburg campus of A&M where she wants to major in Business Management. She envisions a future helping people and establishing herself as a key employee of a business in Boerne.
She’s already made a significant contribution at her first “real” job. The Chamber gives her and the WRI pilot program an A+!