Goodwill teams up with Eagle Rock to rev up career curriculum for changing workforce

DENVER, Colo. – At a time when work opportunities are hard to come by for the average adult, finding a job can be an uphill battle for recent graduates. Educators from Goodwill Industries of Denver’s Youth Career Development program are committed to finding a solution. Goodwill teachers are spending their summer consulting with Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center to expand and evolve Goodwill’s Youth Career Development Curriculum.  This pro-bono partnership will enable Goodwill to strengthen its current program to help even more students successfully plan for their future and formulate meaningful and attainable career paths. 

Currently, Goodwill facilitators work in 28 Denver and northern Colorado area schools providing much needed career development assistance to at-risk students. Eagle Rock School is an initiative of the American Honda Education Corporation. Based in Estes Park Colorado, Eagle Rock’s Professional Development Center works with adult educators from around the country who want to study how to re-engage, retain and graduate students.

Throughout this one year partnership, Goodwill educators will take an asset based approach with Eagle Rock staff to create concrete, measurable goals for student success. Using the backward design method, this process will ultimately reformulate Goodwill’s Youth career curriculum to even better prepare students for the future workforce. 

“This experience has been motivational and challenging,” said Kelsey Glass, a Goodwill Facilitator. “It has inspired us to think more in-depth about our curriculum than ever before.”

Goodwill and the Professional Development Center will work together intensively throughout the next year and plan to implement the newly-designed job readiness curriculum strategies during the 2013-2014 school year.  To learn more about Goodwill’s Youth Career Services program, please visit http://www.goodwilldenver.org/high-school

About Goodwill Industries of Denver
Goodwill Industries of Denver seeks to reverse the cycle of poverty through career preparation and skills training for at-risk youth, struggling families and individuals with disabilities. Through its thrift retail operations and community programs, Goodwill is ensuring that every individual in our community has the opportunity to live to their fullest potential and overcome barriers to success and self-sufficiency. Visit www.goodwilldenver.org to learn more.

About Eagle Rock:
Eagle Rock, a Corporate Social Responsibility initiative of the American Honda Education Corporation, a nonprofit subsidiary of the American Honda Motor Company, is both a school for high school age students and a professional development center for adults, particularly educators. The school is a year-round, residential, and full-scholarship school that enrolls young people ages 15-17 from around the United States in an innovative learning program with national recognition.  The Professional Development Center works with educators from around the country who wish to study how to re-engage, retain and graduate students. The center provides consulting services at school sites and host educators who study and learn from Eagle Rock practices.

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