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Solid Foundations: An Alternative Youth Education Program
Written by Ashley Cousens, Solid Foundations Program Coordinator
December 2009 Issue
What do a poor work history, low academic achievement, and a lack of current occupational skills have in common? They are traits that can be improved through hard work and a commitment to succeed. The fact that many youth in our four-county region possess these traits was a strong influence in the North Country Workforce Partnership’s decision to fund a new training program called Solid Foundations. The goal is to provide young people with the occupational and soft skills necessary to obtain and keep a job, with an emphasis on training in the building and construction trades. Solid Foundations provides not only occupational skills training but also helps participants to manage the barriers that have prevented them from succeeding in the workplace.
Solid Foundations offers basic occupational skills training in carpentry, electrical, and plumbing to young men and women ages 18-24. Building trades professionals provide students with occupational skills training and introduce students to additional trades such as welding and home performance/weatherization. Solid Foundations utilizes an alternative approach to education known as work-based learning. Work-based learning enables students to make real and immediate connections between the math, reading, and science skills they learn in the classroom and the application of these skills on basic construction projects and jobs. Because students are expected to use their academic skills almost immediately in practical applications, they achieved marked improvements in academic scores as well as increased understanding and performance of job duties.
Since it is a paid training program, participants are held to high expectations of workplace behavior and work ethics. Through the National Work Readiness Credential program, offered by CV-TEC, students learn the importance of attendance, promptness, accountability, flexibility, time and anger management, conflict resolution, problem solving and other important soft skills necessary for achieving high quality job performance. Students are rewarded for their hard work and determination throughout the Solid Foundations program and by the end of the 16-week course earn their own tool belts with an array of basic construction tools to take with them upon graduating from the program. The Development Corporation (TDC) has graciously donated these graduation tool belts for the entire 11 member graduating class of the Fall session and will donate 11 more tool belts to successful graduates of the Spring session.
The Solid Foundations program offers youth a chance to get "reconnected" with their communities and get started on a pathway in careers that offer sustainable wages and benefits. Traditional education caters to a select few learning styles, which many Solid Foundations participants have been either unwilling or unable to complete traditional school in the past because of their need for a different approach to learning. Solid Foundations is proud to provide a hands-on, integrated learning approach that incorporates academic and soft skills training and stresses the importance of lifelong learning. After participating in Solid Foundations, youth have a greater understanding about workplace requirements and the skills necessary to maintain employment.
For more information about the Solid Foundations program and/or how to get involved, please contact Ashley Cousens, Program Coordinator, at 518-907-4296 or Ashley@ncworkforce.com. 
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