On behalf of VARC and the teaching staff at our Sauk Division, we are happy to announce that our most recent Ready Set Work! class has graduated! Congratulations to Dacora, Isaac, Tylor, and Dakotah for all their studious participation and hard work throughout this season's classes.
Ready Set Work! is part of VARC's Transition Services, a program that aims to prepare students for the workforce by identifying goals, developing necessary skills, and connecting them with local businesses. Our instructors help each client identify the jobs that each student envisions for themself, explore the tasking and specialized skillsets required of those positions, and teach them application and interviewing skills to make them a competitive candidate for hiring managers within their community.
"It was amazing to watch their confidence grow." – Tanya Noth, Client Services Supervisor, VARC
Throughout the 2023-2024 school year, students discussed what universal qualities make a valuable employee (such as timeliness, communication, teamwork, critical thinking, and reliability) and talked about how to embody those traits in the workplace. They explored applications, resumés, and cover letters and practiced self-promotion by writing out their strengths. They even learned how to write their names in cursive for signatures, which provides an overall professional look to their applications. Teachers showed them how to locate job opportunities on the internet and in the newspaper, as well as the steps one takes to complete and submit them to employers.
VARC's Ready Set Work! instructors transported students outside of the classroom and went on many field trips, broadening their understanding of the kinds of job sites and volunteering opportunities available to them around the community. They loved visiting new locations, stepping outside of their comfort zones, and trying different tasks. Particularly favorite places they visited were the Reedsburg Boys and Girls Club, St. Vincent's, Quillin's, Reedsburg Car Care, and the Holiday Inn Express.
The students went through monumental levels of growth throughout the year. "At the beginning of the class, students didn't know how to fill out a job application, communicate effectively, how to prepare for an interview, or the cultural expectations that go with the hiring process," says Tanya Noth, Client Services Supervisor at VARC's Sauk Division. "By the end of the year our students could fill out job applications with minor assistance and return them to actual job sites we toured earlier. It was amazing to watch their confidence grow."
We look forward to hearing how our young job seekers are doing after graduation and are confident in their abilities to secure independence in a role they enjoy.
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