Saturday, July 5, 2003 | 2:50 a.m.
WEEKEND EDITION: July 5, 2003
Since the opening 2 1/2 years ago of Desert Rose Adult High School, Principal Sandra Ransel has agonized over how she could provide more vocational programs with her limited resources. A month ago she got the call she had been waiting for.
It was from ACS Youth Services, a company based in Texas that designs programs to help youths that are at risk of dropping out of school and those who have left the education system with no prospects for entering the workforce.
"It was just what I needed. This program fits our niche," Ransel said.
The company's Power program, financed by federal grants, gives students the skills they need to enter the workforce now, officials say. For nine weeks the students receive job training, learn money management, build resumes and learn a thing or two about business fashion.
They are paid minimum wage and are given debit cards through a partnership with Bank of America. Each day students must come to school in business attire, must arrive on time and are docked pay each time they show a lack of responsibility.
Through the school year, they meet with teacher-mentors, who help them stay on track and define their goals. The following summer, they are placed in jobs where they put those skills to work.
Terri Leisten, the creator of the curriculum, said the students it targets are unlike any others. She has seen teens use the money to help pay for power bills or new clothes for the school year, she said.
The students also get work experience through ACS and its business connections. During the work experience phase of the program, students are placed in internship settings to earn money and get a taste of the "real world."
Last week teachers handpicked by their principals or administration received training to become mentors for teens in the program. The program begins in the summer and is guaranteed to run for a year, though ACS officials hope it goes longer. It will begin at Desert Rose, Desert Pines and Pahrump high schools Monday.
The program will also be available at Rancho, Valley and Western high schools starting at the beginning of the school year.
The program is intended for youths ages 14 to 21. Two teachers will mentor at Desert Rose, one in Pahrump and one at Desert Pines.
At least 100 students will participate in the program this summer . Thirty-five students have been recruited at Desert Rose. The program is free and is open to low-income students who meet the requirements of the Workforce Investment Act.
As more funding becomes available, more teachers will added to the mentoring program at the rest of the at-risk schools in the valley. The program will run three days a week, 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. In the initial nine weeks students receive 75 hours of training, which includes field trips, community service and workshops.
The programs are made possible with funding from the U.S Department of Labor through the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. The federal funds are funneled to local communities through local work force investment boards. In the spring the Southern Nevada Workforce Investment Board contracted with ACS to start the programs in schools where the needs are great.
During the sessions students receive job training in business professionalism. From the firm handshake to the importance of eye contact to managing money with debit cards, the students are immersed into a new world designed to help them get onto a career path they may have thought impossible.
Jennifer Wells and Theresa Ginsberg, both 17, participated in the ACS program in Longwood, Fla. The high school graduates said without the training they were unsure what their futures would bring.
"The program has made a big impact on my life. I didn't know what I wanted to do. I do now," said Wells, who started the program at the beginning of her senior year last summer.
Wells said she will be attending Seminole Community College in Sanford, Fla., in the fall and will major in business after working at ACS with Ginsberg.
"It made me look at work differently. I never had a job," said Ginsberg, who has been in the program for three years. Ginsberg is interested in a law career after working at a law firm set up through her mentor.
"ACS understands the concepts of mentoring. The personal connecting is phenomenally effective," Ransel said.
Sally Hazzard, vice president of ACS's West Coast division, which oversees eight states, said this program is different from other youth mentoring services because of its multi-dimensional approach.
"It's the spirit of combining a teacher in the process, the structured curriculum and the support from our corporate perspective," Hazzard said. She added that the youths are also mentored by their peers, and ACS representatives help teachers help the students.
Though Desert Rose is limited in terms of space and money, its faculty is dedicated in supporting their students in any way possible.
"It's my calling," said Zandra Oshinkski, an English as a Second Language teacher at Desert Rose who was training last week to be a mentor. Oshinski said she is committed to youths who may need an extra push.
"If we can change their perceptions in the environment they live and participate in, I think we've done our job," she said.
She said there is a need for adults to connects with youths, especially in this 24-hour town where parents are not always around.
Though he teaches junior studies class at Sierra Vista High School in the morning and a job skills class at Desert Rose in the afternoon as well as acting as assistant principal in the evening, Ron Issacs is not too busy to be a mentor at Desert Rose this summer.
"I want to make a difference. There is a drastic need for adults to get in touch with kids," Issacs said.
Hazzard said, "This is giving them skills to go into the future. It's giving them substance."
"Our motto is educate to graduate and beyond. The beyond part is almost beyond us," Desert Rose's Ransel said. "I have to make sure every nickel is going to our motto."
For more information about this program, contact ACS's Nevada office at 734-9675.
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