Young Adults With Hardships Get Jobs Through WORKplus 
Last month, graduation ceremonies were held in the Hubbard Auditorium in Owego for eleven students who  completed the first WORKplus training program held in Tioga County. The program  trains 18- to 21-year-olds in the skills needed to get and keep a job. It targets people who don't have the opportunity to learn those skills otherwise.  

 "I have a great job now, and I don't think I would have got it without WORKplus," Cody Blake said during the WORKplus graduation ceremonies. 

 Graduate Nancy Santos said, "I never would have applied for the job I got without the skills, courage and support I got from WORKplus." 

 Santos and Blake, with encouragement from WORKplus lead educator and job placement specialist Vicki Giarratano, were among 60 people who applied for three positions as customer service agents with Mesaba Airlines, a Northwest Airlines affiliate that will be providing service out of the Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport starting May 2. 

 They landed two of those positions and had just returned from six days of training in Toledo and Detroit to attend the WORKplus graduation, and they had to jet off for more training the following weekend before starting the job in May. 
 Jennifer Wheatley, the regional assistant manager for Mesaba Airlines who hired Santos and Blake said, "Nancy and Cody were interviewed because they conducted themselves well while under observation during the group initiation session and they both did well on the personnel test." 

 Wheatley went on to say that they got the jobs because, "Cody was one of our best interviews, and Nancy described the WORKplus program so well we felt that anyone who wanted to change their life that much deserved a chance." 

 Of course, getting a good job is an accomplishment for any young person, but it was especially sweet for Santos and Blake. Santos is a 20-year-old single mother of two who was living on welfare previously, and Blake is an 18-year-old who is serving six years on probation after spending eight months in jail and was unemployed. 

 All 11 graduates have similar stories to tell, though. What brought them together was a strong desire to change their lives, and each of them now has a job or is starting one soon. 

 And that's what the WORKplus program is all about. 

 Students learn how to prepare resumes and cover letters and how to fill out applications and interview for jobs. They learn decision-making and problem-solving techniques and how to work as a team and deal with supervisors. 
They also get computer training and attend the Serve-Safe food safety course and the National Retail Customer Service course. 

 Students spend four hours a day, four days a week for eight weeks in the program, and they are paid minimum wage by Cornell Cooperative Extension while attending. After graduating, students are monitored for up to a year and helped with transportation, child care and clothing expenses when it's needed. 

 WORKplus is funded by Broome Tioga Works and the Broome Tioga Workforce Development Board, and is administered through Cornell Cooperative Extension of Broome and Tioga County. 

 The next training session begins in September. Call 772-8955 for more information. Some eligibility requirements do apply.