Courtney Flenory of New Kensington knows first hand what it means not to finish high school and try holding a job. Like a small group of teens today she dropped out of high school just before graduation. Then began a cycle of jobs. Her mother urged her to go to CareerLink and use their services to find stable employment. What happened when she visited helped turn her life around, so much so, that today she works for Arbor Education & Training at their Arbor Career Center located in CareerLink. When Courtney Flenory arrived at CareerLink she was introduced to the staff at Arbor Career Center. She enrolled in their eight-week program and attended classes from 8:30 to 11:30 in the morning and 12:30 to 3:30 in the afternoon. The morning classes taught her basic reading, writing and mathematic skills to earn her GED. The afternoon classes focused on gaining job skills. After her training ended the Arbor folks contacted her every few weeks to encourage and help her maintain what she learned and apply her skills to getting work. Courtney said that this personal investment made a significant difference in her life. Sometime later when she was visiting the Arbor people to get more help they asked her to speak to a group of teenagers in the conference room. Without hesitation she went in and gave them her testimony of what Arbor had done for her. When she finished and went back to her meeting Arbor offered her a job with them as a Youth Aide. Courtney works in both the New Kensington and Pittsburgh offices. In New Kensington her job is to recruit teenagers that have dropped out of high school and those who have graduated but can’t get or hold onto employment. It’s not an easy job, but so far she has been able to help fill the small classes of 8 to 12 persons for their eight-week course. There is no question that if anyone can convince a young person to take these courses, Courtney can do it. She speaks with a passion about what Arbor did for her and has the spirit of an evangelist. The Arbor Teenworks Program in New Kensington is designed to assist local “out-of-school youth”. The program provides three key components of training for the youth that gives them viable opportunities for advancement. The three key components in becoming successful are Academic Skills, Work Skills, and Life Skills. The New Kensington office helps 16 to 21 year olds that have dropped out of high school get their GED certificate and find work. They also work with those who have graduated but are experiencing problems finding work. The Work Skills offer resume writing, interview skills, job search skills, Internet research, job shadowing, industry tours, PA CareerLink enrollment, job training and life skills. The best part of the program is the financial incentives that work to help stabilize those who see it through and get work. Designed to help keep their commitment, they earn financial incentives for every hour of classroom work, bonuses for maintaining attendance, getting employed, staying employed, advancing wages and advancing their careers. Another part of Arbor’s mission in New Kensington is establishing relationships with employers to hire graduating students. Graduates receive a full year follow where they are encouraged to grow in their careers. Because of this, employers have an added incentive to hire those coming out of the Arbor program. Two other people work with Courtney at Arbor Career Center in New Kensington. Karen McLaughlin is an Instructor and Stephen Suchan is the Youth Counselor.

Arbor Career Center is located in the Pennsylvania CareerLink office at 3 Kensington Square in New Kensington. You can contact them by calling 724-334-8600, extension 208. The national web site for Arbor Education & Training is at www.arboret.com.

Watch the Video Interview with Courtney Flenory http://www.alle-kiskitoday.com/webcasts/1304