<p>My oldest was in CityYear, she worked in a public school that was the designated assignment for children who were homeless. She also worked with inner city youth on computer skills that were directly applicable to a job.
I worked with Americorps restoring habitat which improved the banks of the local rivers to prevent erosion and destruction of homes/ loss of life.
Similar work is needed in the Methow valley after this summers wildfires.</p>
<p>So todayâs kids wonât take advantage of their schoolâs career services unless it is both a required course and they get educational credit for it? I think this is rather sad. My DD found her way to career services a lot during her freshman year which I guess is pretty unusual. Unfortunately, their internships and job opportunities were only open to students further along in school, but her interest was enough for her to get a student job at the center â a much more interesting job than food service! She especially wanted to be there to see internship opportunities as they came in and worked there over the summer where she got to know a staffer (administrator?) who will help her find a paid internship next summer, a good thing since she is studying overseas this semester when the internship opportunities are announced.</p>
<p>Since we arenât well-heeled, especially by CC standards, I think DD has a bit more hustle because she HAS to. She is also pretty outgoing and not afraid to talk to <em>adults</em>, meaning folks outside her generation, so she has a lot of mentors from whom she seeks advice. </p>
<p>Many parents here have kids with stellar grades and scores who are admitted into stellar schools. My kid isnât one of them, and getting a Ph.D. is not her path. Sheâs the one with the stellar interviewing skills (who has sat on both sides of the interviewing table) and the stellar networking skills. Itâs not over 'til itâs over, but I figure if she can successfully graduate, sheâll be good to go and find some type of job before too long despite her history and education majors.</p>
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<p>We didnât have this exactly, but at my high school there was one teacher who would help students get their first part time job. He had contacts at lots of local stores. It was very helpful, really nice of him to take the time to do that.</p>
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<p>I didnât realize you were suggesting we funnel 4 million people into Americorps a year. </p>
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<p>So weâre going to train 4 million people a year to build infrastructure? </p>
<p>Weâre not talking about 50 thousand or 100 thousand people. Weâre talking about 4 million people a year turning 18. </p>
<p>At 2 years of national service youâre talking about 5% of the countryâs labor force. And itâs not like much of this labor force can do anything useful without training. </p>
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<p>Some of those countries like Germany have non-military alternatives for young adults who canât or donât desire to perform military service. They end up filling volunteer positions in hospitals, schools, nursing homes, etc. </p>
<p>One size does not fit all for college grads and jobs in their chosen profession. The business school idea does not fit all. Son got a great first job and had a back up possibility, he then was recruited by another, bigger company for his skills. I would say he was prepared for life. He was fortunate to be one of many hires at his first post college job who went through extensive company training and learned about insurance, vacations and pensions et al through them. he never did tell us how he went abut his job search. The kid has always been too independent.</p>
<p>Where does the four million figure come from?</p>
<p>The last US census estimated population between the ages of 15 and 19 at 22M so the 4M would be roughly correct. <a href=âhttp://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=PEP_2013_PEPAGESEX&prodType=tableâ>http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=PEP_2013_PEPAGESEX&prodType=table</a></p>
<p>Did anyone say that Americorps should be expanded to accomodate conscription for every young person from 18-25?
President Obama signed the Serve America Act in 2009, which called for expansion of Americorps up to 250,000 by 2017.
That seems like a worthy goal and it had bi-partisan support.</p>
<p><a href=âLawmakers Love AmeriCorps, but Won't Expand It - The New York Timesâ>Lawmakers Love AmeriCorps, but Won't Expand It - The New York Times;
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<p>Youâre being very unclear in your responses to me if this isnât what you were saying. </p>
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<p>Nothing else in that article mattered after reading 83% of seniors graduated without a job. What that tells me is that if you taught everyone of those kids how to interview and write a resume, the vast majority of them still couldnât get a job. College has become this countryâs largest Ponzi scheme except for the upper echelon of kids. </p>
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