Owensboro Community and Technical College

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OCTC Hosts Refugee Summer Retreat

Owensboro, KY (06/27/2018) — OCTC SkillTrain's Refugee Employment Services program is hosting a retreat for refugee high-school students this week at Mount Saint Joseph in Maple Mount, KY. This three-day retreat, led by program coordinator Emily Woodward and funded by the Kentucky Office for Refugees, is seeking to equip students with work readiness skills and to encourage them to consider college and career possibilities.

"We partnered this school year with Owensboro and Apollo High Schools to teach a work-readiness class for their refugee students," says Woodward. "This retreat builds on what we taught in the high schools this year and also provides opportunities for these students to explore possible career pathways."

The retreat culminates on Wednesday with guests from various technical programs from OCTC, as well as visitors from the Kentucky Career Center.

"Our goal," says Woodward, "is that these students will not only develop the soft skills needed to retain employment, but also that they will begin to think about what kind of career they are interested in pursuing after high school."

OCTC SkillTrain Director Lindsey Kafer adds, "Many of these students' parents work in food processing, and these jobs has been wonderful for supporting their families. As students near graduation, though, and are thinking about their own careers, we want to make them aware of the variety of options that are available to them."

For more information about OCTC's SkillTrain Refugee Employment Services program, please contact Emily Woodward at: emily.woodward@kctcs.edu or 270.686.4579.

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