Attala County high school juniors and seniors have an opportunity to learn more about which career paths they are interested in through first-hand experience thanks to the North Central Planning and Development District Career Coach Program.
Attala County high schools now have career coaches to help students discover and excel in careers they are suited for.
“Essentially what we’re doing is helping these young people figure out what they want to do,” said NCPDD Career Coach Arrik Newsome. Newsome is the career coach for junior and senior students at Ethel and McAdams high schools.
“This particular program was initiated by Gov. Tate Reeves. In fact, when we had our first meeting in October for all of the career coaches across the state, the governor came and met with us. I expected him just to shoot in and shoot out, but he actually stayed there and gave a presentation and afterwards took time for questions and answers. I say all that to say this is something he really believes in, very much so in terms of helping students,” added Newsome.
The program offers eligible students paid internships with local businesses. The students earn $8 per hour. Their earnings and workers’ compensation are paid by the program, not by the businesses they intern at.
“We cover workers’ comp and we pay them. We only need businesses and community leaders to be a mentor to them. If someone is coming to work in the clerical office, mentor them and make sure they are using the skills they have been taught. Direct them and tell them where their weaknesses are through constructive criticism,” said Career Coach Veronica Brooks.
Many interns will be doing clerical work because students will not be permitted to operate machinery. Students also have the opportunity to shadow workers, but do not earn money for shadowing. The program is funded by the Mississippi Partnership Workforce Area.
In addition to being placed in shadowing positions and paid internships, students can also receive guidance from their career coach with college applications, college financial aid applications and scholarship applications. They will learn resume writing and interviewing skills.
“I believe that it is a win-win for all of us, we’re going to be impacting the young people of our town, our community, our county, we’ll also be impacting our industry, our businesses,” said Kosciusko High School Career Coach Teresa Trussell. “We’re going to work with them on soft skills; communicating, eye contact, handshakes, how to tie a tie,” said Trussell.
Trussell and Newsome also spoke about the career coach program at the Kosciusko Board of Aldermen meeting.
Other topics discussed at the Board of Supervisors meeting:
• District 2 Supervisor Billy Coffee was appointed board president and District 1 supervisor Bobby Lindsay was appointed vice president.
• Approving payment to Belinda Stewart Architects for the courthouse project.
• Approving payments to Gardner Engineering for fire station project.
