Campus Corps Leader Lends a Hand with Tribal Workforce Development Program

Michael Yegerlehner, Campus Corps leader at Stone Child College, has had the opportunity to be involved in an exciting program taking place on the Rocky Boy Reservation this summer: the Tribal Summer Workforce Development Program. The job preparation program, which was offered to any interested parties living on the Reservation, gives each of its members a job assignment whom they report to for work 4 days a week. On Fridays they attend instructional classes aimed to provide them with the skills and knowledge necessary to make them successful employees upon transitioning out of the program and into the workforce come fall. The classes cover a variety of topics including resume building, interviewing techniques, professionalism, etc.

   

In his role as Campus Corps leader, Michael was offered the opportunity to instruct a few of these courses and agreed to take on this challenge. So far he has presented on "positivity in the workplace" and shared that his experience was a good one. He was pleased to report that his class was full of "people who were very engaged and active" during his presentation of the material.  Upcoming topics that he has been asked to share his expertise on include sustainable agriculture and a seminar on civic engagement. 

Rocky Boy's Summer Tribal Workforce Development program has been a success from the get-go, with numbers for enrollment far exceeding what they had anticipated (over 375 participants!) This initiative certainly illustrates the positive momentum of progress currently present on the reservation and serves as a sign of hope that their struggle with high unemployment rates will soon be a thing of the past. Michael shares that it is something that he is "very happy to be a part of".