[Next Steps graduates (L-R): Kelly Higgins, Fosiya Diriye, Kayla Hodgkin, Jamie Franks, Dorothy Roy, Deborah Dirsek, Frank Witherell, Mark Mason, Michelle Hodgdon, Tina Hutchinson, Anneliese Heinig, Susan Bubier (absent when photo was taken: Jennifer Miner and Shelly Holland]
A graduation ceremony was held last Wednesday, for group of 14 candidates who completed The Essentials of Customer Service Training, offered at Central Maine Community College. This training, a Next Steps Training model, consisted of 90 hours of workplace-specific training, including 27 hours in the Microsoft Office Suite®. This type of hard skills training followed on the heels of the 60 hour WorkReady™ for 11 of the graduates.
In addition to classroom training, graduates had the opportunity to participate in workplace tours of Sisters of Charity Health System, Citistreet, and TD Banknorth. Additionally, L.L. Bean and Affiliated Computer Services made classroom presentations about opportunities for employment, as well as a sense of what it would be like to work for these companies.
Recruitment for the program, as well as assessment, and career exploration was led by Coastal Enterprises, Inc (CEI) in collaboration with the following partners: Lewiston Adult Education, the Department of Health and Human Services/ASPIRE and the Division of Support Enforcement and Recovery, the Maine Department of Labor/Lewiston CareerCenter, and the Central/Western Maine Workforce Investment Board. Course curriculum was developed with consultation from faculty and adjunct faculty from Central Maine Community College, and coordinated by the college’s Department of Corporate and Community Services.
Funding for the program was made possible from a grant originating with the Job Opportunities for Low-Income (JOLI) Program for Oxford and Androscoggin Counties and administered by CEI.
