Newsletter: August 27, 2009
Job Corps Gives Extreme Makeover
Thirty-four carpentry and electrical students from the Woodland Job Corps Center volunteered their time and skills to support the ABC hit show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" as it built a new home for one deserving family in Hyattsville, Md. Tomorrow, Secretary Solis pays a visit to The Fishing School in NE DC, where "EM:HE" is rebuilding a local youth center. She will focus on construction safety.
The students assisted contracted carpenters and electricians by utilizing the skills learned from their respective Job Corps programs, such as cutting wood, framing, and installing electricity. Homeowners Nikema and Tamara Tripp, who unselfishly mentored and provided safe activities to area youth, along with their small children, were the recipients of the rebuild, which will be revealed to the family on Sunday.
"I am so proud to see our students putting their career technical training to use in this way. Their service is a testament to Job Corps' 45-year history of giving back to the community," said Secretary Solis. "These Woodland students join the more than 30,000 Job Corps staff and students who have participated in community service projects over the last year."
Each episode of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" features a race against time to complete a project that would ordinarily take at least four months, involving a team of designers, contractors and several hundred workers who have just seven days to totally rebuild an entire property: every single room of the house, plus the exterior and landscaping.
The U.S. Department of Labor manages Jobs Corps, the federal government's oldest residential education and training program for individuals ages 16 to 24. Aug. 20, 2009, marked the 45th anniversary of the national program, which began in 1964 as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's "Great Society." Job Corps offers instruction in more than 75 disciplines at 123 centers across America.
Solis Rocks Labor Day
