Student Intern
Loring Job Corps was bustling with activity on June 25, as several students participated in the annual Diversity Fair held at the Job Corps community center. The fair focuses on Equal Employment Opportunity rights as well as celebrating people’s differences.
Aroostook Republican photo/Deanna JordanA fellow student looks on as Sandra Sindor, right, and Tory Howard discuss their presentation on Christianity during the Diversity Fair at Loring Job Corps.
The fair is planned out by two committees, the Diversity Committee, and the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Committee. Three staff members worked with the committees, Vera Ford, Darlene Grass and Julie Blackstone, helping to put the whole event together.
Students participating in the event chose topics within the diversity and EEO areas, researching, planning, and working on the presentations for two months prior to the fair. The different tables arranged around the community center ballroom focused on diversity awareness and acceptance topics including religion, marital status, age, sexual orientation, disability and ethnic origins. There were also many presentations focusing on different countries where some of the students are from, including Zimbabwe, Somalia and the Dominican Republic among others.
Blackstone, who led the diversity committee and also teaches at the school, said that the fair is “a good chance for people to speak about their beliefs. It helps students make connections to others who share those same beliefs.”
When speaking about the significance of diversity awareness and acceptance, Blackstone stated, “It’s important to raise awareness about diversity.”
Ford agreed, adding that “we don’t have to agree with everybody, and it’s really a shame that we even have to have EEO laws.”
Other students were able to go into the ballroom during their classes to see what their fellow students had been working on. They also had incentive to really pay attention to the presentations, as they had the opportunity to win door prizes at the end of the day. On entering the ballroom, students were encouraged to pick up a list of questions, the answers to which could all be found on the different tri-fold posters on each of the tables. After getting all the answers, the students could turn in their question lists and have their name entered for the chance to win prizes.
The event was very educational for all who participated in the research and presenting, as well as those who were there to look at the projects. Ford said she learned some things she didn’t even know, going to the disability presentation and eagerly sharing the names of celebrities who she didn’t realize were affected by some disability. Perhaps only their avid fans know that Indiana Jones star, Harrison Ford, Fantastic Four’s Jessica Alba and billionaire Donald Trump all suffer with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or that Ben Stiller has Bipolar Disorder, or that Tom Cruise and Cher are both dyslexic, and yet all have become incredibly successful.
Although the fair hasn’t been open to the public in the past, Blackstone and Ford both hope that it will be in the future, possibly even as soon as next year.
“It’s sad but sometimes we don’t see what’s around us, and many people don’t realize what’s going on in some of these countries,” said Blackstone. “Opening it up to the public would really bring the community together.”
Aroostook Republican photo/Deanna Jordan
Loring Job Corps students, Elaine Perez Pena, right, and Larissa Andrade, display the Dominican Republic table, one of many presentations at the Diversity Fair.
Aroostook R epublican photo/Deanna Jordan
Students and staff of the Loring Job Corps Center pose during their annual Diversity Fair. The students researched topics dealing with diversity and Equal Employment Opportunity rights and created tri-fold posters with the information they found while working on their presentations.
