LIMESTONE — The Loring Job Corps Center has joined with the other 125 Job Corps Centers nationwide to celebrate the third annual “National Job Corps Commencement Day” and fall graduation ceremony on Friday, August 23. All are invited to attend this celebration to congratulate the Job Corps students who showed “Job Corps Works!” by completing the program this year.
Slated to attend the ceremony as the keynote speaker is Congressman Michael Michaud, who has been a longtime friend of Job Corps Caucus, supporter of the Maine Job Corps Centers and a frequent visitor to the Loring Job Corps Center.
“I have always been a strong believer in and supporter of Job Corps because their mission and approach is one that works. It provides our young people the tools they need to succeed and helps them get to the next level and launch their careers,” Michaud said. “I have been proud to join previous commencement ceremonies, and I’m honored to once again join Job Corps this year.”
Loring Job Corps Center is one of 125 Job Corps centers located across the country and in all 50 states. A unique national program, Job Corps offers at-risk youth a set of diverse academic opportunities and career pathways tailored to meet the needs of business and industry. Each year, Job Corps gives tens of thousands of youth a second chance to complete their education and advance into careers, higher education or the military.
In January of 2013, the Department of Labor announced a nationwide enrollment freeze, halting student enrollments at every Job Corps center across the nation for the first time in Job Corps’ nearly 50-year history. With the end of the nationwide enrollment freeze in April, the doors of the Loring Job Corps Center are open and ready to accept new students.
Local community members who work with Job Corps volunteers have also joined the celebration to congratulate many of their student volunteers. Job Corps students and staff work with local community-based organizations and nonprofits, logging many hours of volunteer service every year. Local companies and non-profits that experience a positive working relationship with Loring students and staff include the Maine Veterans Home, Caribou Chamber, NMDC, Catholic Charities, Cary Medical Center, TAMC, Aroostook County Action Program(ACAP), Ride Aroostook, Maine Military Authority, MIZPH (Cancer Retreat) and many more organizations to provide needed services to Aroostook County. Over 10,000 hours yearly of Community Service in our community has been accounted for from LJCC students and staff.
“Celebrating Job Corps graduates is always special, but the third annual Commencement Day comes at an especially important time,” said NJCA Chairman Richard Schubert. “The Job Corps community — young people, their families, center staff, operators, community leaders, community partners and supporters — displayed an enormous amount of commitment and resiliency during the nationwide enrollment freeze, which has now been lifted, allowing students to once again be in enrolled in centers across the country.”
Graduation takes place on Friday, Aug. 23 at 1:30 p.m. Local graduates elegible to participate in the ceremony include: Dylan Michaud and Alexa Furlow-Jordan, both of Caribou; Larry Tarbox and Lilly Chance, both of Presque Isle; Aaron Ouellette of Van Buren and Anna Bryant of Limestone.
