Best Practices, Volume IX, 2007

UPS Store and McLaughlin Secondary School

2007 Star Award Honoree

Table of contents

UPS Store Contact: Tom and Beverly Jenkins Phone: 770-5932		McLaughlin Secondary School Principal: Catherine Jones, 742-1120, 742-4930 SBP Coordinator: Mark Smedley, 742-1158
McLaughlin Secondary School has provided juvenile offenders work readiness and occupational training opportunities for many years. Many of the vocational programs are funded through competitive grants for at-risk youth through the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. These funds have been used to implement vocational programs that meet industry standards and result in a recognized credential, i.e. Cisco, NCCE. More than 30 youths receive training and paid internships in their field of interest each year. One of the major barriers that our youth face when transitioning back in the community involves obtaining meaningful employment. The stigma of being a youthful offender reduces the chances of our youth being employed despite the skills they have gained from their academic, vocational and treatment programs. The UPS Store owners, Thomas and Beverly Jenkins, formed a partnership with McLaughlin to provide paid internships. The youth spend one month at the job site while still residing at McLaughlin Youth Center (MYC) and another month on the job site after they return to live in the community. MYC provides probation officers and transition counselors to support the UPS staff and the youth. This enables early intervention if the youth begins to exhibit problematic behavior on the job site. The youth are trained in customer service and work towards a UPS Packaging Specialist certificate. Upon completion of the internship, the Jenkins refer the youth to other UPS stores as well as the main UPS terminal in Anchorage for non-subsidized employment. They have also directly hired several of the youth they have trained. The UPS Store also provides speakers for Job Fairs at McLaughlin Youth Center in addition to making classroom presentations about transportation industry careers.		This partnership has helped numerous youth people transition successfully from the institutional setting and to the community. Their sense of self-efficacy is increased by being successful in obtaining and maintaining a real job. The students wear the UPS work uniform with pride. The Jenkins enjoy mentoring our high-risk group and are also provided with reliable short-term employees. The outstanding characteristic of this partnership is that both business and school are willing to be extremely patient but tenacious in helping our youth be successful. When these young people make bad decisions on the job site, all parties take a deep breath and say “if we don’t find a way to make this program work for these youth, then who will?” Then a new strategy is developed and everyone gets back to work! Beverly Jenkins trains a student in package tracking.

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Please note: The information on this page is from the 2007 edition of Best Practices. The people, programs and contact information included were current at the time of publication, but may have since changed.