Looking for work, preparing a resume, interviewing, and landing a job is a learned skill – everyone starts somewhere. For young adults without confidence or family support, or simply never having had a job before, the challenge is ever greater. This year, our 18th Summer effort, the Northern Virginia Educating Youth Through Employment (EYE) Program reached over 180 young adults and placed them into jobs where they earned some money and gained new confidence in their work attitudes. All of our Northern Virginia EYE Young Adults was provided a LinkedIn Learning License to explore new skills and to continue building their education efforts for the year ahead. Our Northern Virginia Program emphasizes gaining new skills through direct work experience and adding value to an employer’s organization. In my luncheon address to the EYE graduates, I quoted Dr. Martin Luther King by noting “If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven played music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well.” There is so much need for these types of work experience programs for young adults, both in Northern Virginia, all of Virginia and and across the United States. Let’s make this effort a national priority.
🎉 EYE Recognition Ceremony 🎉 The Fairfax County Government Educating Youth through Employment (EYE) Summer Program, sponsored by the Department of Family Services, provides youth ages 16-24 with paid summer work to build workplace skills, explore areas of interest, and prepare for future opportunities. Congratulations on a great summer internship and best of luck in your career endeavors! (With Michael A. Becketts, PhD, MSW, MSHA, MEd, Jennifer Van Buren, MPhil, MSA, CWDP, and David Hunn) More Info ➡ https://lnkd.in/eAnHir2a ✅ Lifelong Education and Learning ✅ Economic Opportunity #fairfaxcounty #internship #interns #careers #employment #futureleaders #Channel16TVhttps
Regional Director at Virginia Department of Social Services
2moI agree!