|
Industry Careers Reward Job Corps Students at IBS
 Some of the outstanding achievements of the Home Builders Institute's brightest Job Corps students were recognized during last month’s International Builders’ Show in Orlando, Fla.
On Jan. 11, NAHB Student Chapters sponsored its first annual National Job Corps Jeopardy! Championships. Held at the Job Corps Skills and Employment Booth, the fast-paced competition consisted of semi-final and championship rounds in which students were tested on their academic, trade and employment skills.
Demonstrating an impressive understanding of tools, safety, trade math and personal career development, Medissa Lopez, a plumbing student at the Fred G. Acosta Job Corps Cente in Tucson, Ariz., emerged as the Job Corps Jeopardy! Champion and received a $100 gift card from Lowe’s Home Improvement.
HBI’s ongoing partnership with Lowe’s through the HBI/Lowe’s Building Careers Scholarship program has assisted more than 60 Job Corps graduates in making the transition to jobs in the construction industry. The company also donated the materials for the construction of HBI’s booth, where eight Job Corps students were on hand throughout the show to demonstrate their skills.
NAHB President’s Award Winner
2005 NAHB President Dave Wilson presented Kareem Dorsett with the second annual NAHB President’s Award on Jan. 12 during the NAHB Board of Directors meeting.
 The award is reserved for the HBI Job Corps graduate who most ably displays the ability to overcome adversity and achieve success in the building industry. Dorsett, 25, an electrical apprentice with Alligood Electric Company in Orange Park, Fla., graduated from HBI’s electrical program at the Jacksonville Job Corps Center in 2001 and completed his work-based learning at the company.
A model student, Dorsett was hired as an electrical helper immediately after graduation in January 2002 and enrolled in the Northeast Florida Builders Association's four-year registered electrical apprenticeship program. He will graduate in May and plans to eventually become a master electrician.
Wilson cited Dorsett’s achievements as an example for today’s Job Corps students. “Our hope is that they too will follow in Kareem’s footsteps,” he said, “and that they too will have the strength of character and perseverance that helped earn him this award.”
Courage Sustains Shirley Wiseman Lach Award Winner
Kisna Tatum, 25, was presented with the 2006 Shirley Wiseman Lach Award for Exceptional Promise and a $1,000 cash prize from 2-10 Home Buyers Warranty.
 Tatum moved to Florida from the Virgin Islands two years ago in search of career opportunity, enrolling in HBI’s Facilities Maintenance class at the Homestead Job Corps Center and focusing on plumbing.
When she broke her leg skating, some suggested she return home, but Tatum would not abandon her goals and was back in class the following week on crutches and ready to get to work. She graduated in 2004 and her employer, Seaway Plumbing in Key Largo, is in the process of enrolling her in an apprenticeship program. Last year, she was reunited with her daughter, Elina.
Former NAHB President and HBI Trustee Shirley Wiseman Lach presented the award to Tatum on Jan. 12. “Kisna’s story is one of courage and determination,” Wiseman Lach said. “She had the courage to leave her home and family behind and the determination to do what she set out to do for herself and her young daughter. Job Corps gave her the skills with which to do it. That is all the proof we need that Job Corps works!”
The Shirley Wiseman Lach Award for Exceptional Promise is presented every year to a graduate from an HBI Job Corps program who has overcome great challenges and demonstrated remarkable promise in her career in the housing industry.
Home Builders Institute (HBI), the workforce development arm of NAHB, is the largest vocational trainer in Job Corps. Job Corps is the nation’s largest federally funded residential job training and education program for at-risk youth ages16-24.
For more information on HBI and its Job Corps programs, e-mail Maria McIntyre at HBI, or call her at 800-795-7955 x8912.
|
