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Helena’s Youthbuild career training program recruiting for next session
Allejandra Parra, a 17-year-old student, just finished the Career Training Institute’s Youthbuild program in May.
“It was the best program ever,” Parra said. “It’s the teachers and the case managers – they’re super cool. And I reconnected with friends from middle school, and it gave us the construction experience most individuals don’t have in their high school years.”
Her favorite memory of her seven-month stint with Youthbuild was participating in Habitat for Humanity’s “Blitz Build,” where students helped to build four houses in 10 days.
But it wasn’t long ago, according to Parra, that she was struggling with online school during COVID-19. Now, she’s working at the snack bar in a Helena bowling alley and gearing up to finish her general education requirements for college. She’s not sure whether she wants to do those at Helena College or at Great Falls College, but she knows she wants to become a radiologist.
For students like Parra, the Youthbuild program is a game-changer, said Lisa Newman, the program director.
Started in 1983, Youthbuild is an alternate schooling option for students aged 16-24. Newman said Helena’s Youthbuild program is the only one of its kind in Montana, funded by a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Labor since 2011.
“We have to compete nationwide,” Newman said. “And there are very few rural programs, so we’re very fortunate to have it.”
And right now, Helena’s Youthbuild is recruiting for its next session, which starts on Aug. 17. It hosts up to 24 students, like Parra, for seven months at a time.
According to Newman, Youthbuild offers an experiential learning opportunity to students, who spend half their days learning about construction and half their days in the classroom. It partners with Habitat for Humanity to give students real-world construction experience.
The goal is for students to leave Youthbuild with their high school equivalency, along with skills to practice in real-world careers.
“It isn’t the end of the road,” Newman said. “It’s just one thing on their career paths.”
The recruitment process consists of three meetings and going through “mental toughness,” which Newman said is a try-out session to see if Youthbuild is a good fit. After “mental toughness,” students take reading and math assessments and go through another interview before acceptance into the program.
Once they’re in the program, students choose one of five pathways to focus on: retail, automotive, hospitality, health care or construction. In addition to classes and construction work, they also shadow people working in their future field, have chances to complete apprenticeship programs and complete service projects.
Students receive a weekly stipend of $100, funded by the grant. That stipend is based on attendance, participation and leadership. Students can earn bonuses for perfect attendance and excellent leadership too.
And Newman said there are new opportunities upcoming. Starting in the next session, some contractors are partnering with CTI to offer 40 hours’ worth of paid labor and experience to construction-focused students who finish the Youthbuild program. She added Youthbuild is always looking for new employers willing to join with them in each of the five fields.
And Newman said the support doesn’t end when students finish their seven-month program.
“We continue to be available to help them for 12 months after that,” Newman said. “So right now, we have several students from the last session who are still in the process of taking their high school equivalency test, but we’re here to help with job search.”
She added they also have services for students who come back for help with resumes or college applications.
For Parra, this continued support has been something special.
“Having the program here check on you and everybody here check on you – it felt really nice,” Parra said, adding that she’s come back to visit and talk with teachers a few times after finishing up in May. “And it’s really refreshing to have someone check on you that is not in your family and is an older person.”
Application information for the next Youthbuild session can be found on its website: https://ctihelena.org/.