In the spring of 2021, one of the Menifee County 4-H Agents worked with the county boys’ group home in a virtual program setting to conduct six lessons to better prepare participants to become employable individuals. Topics covered in the lessons were selected from the Kentucky 4-H Workforce Preparation & Career Preparedness Curriculum and focused on career selection, teamwork, personal skills, resumes, interview etiquette, and personal profiles.

Each lesson consisted of a verbal discussion on the day’s topic followed by a hands-on activity to help participants practice the concepts taught in the lesson. Some of the activities included building a tower out of uncooked spaghetti noodles and marshmallows to practice teamwork, “wordless” acting to practice non-verbal communication skills, mock interviews to practice interview etiquette, and other activities. Lastly, participants reflected on how the activity could relate to real life situations and theorized how they would use what they practiced in the activity in their future workplace.

The group home participants seemed very interested in the topics and were able to discuss their career plans and apply the lessons to their career of interest. Some of the career paths participants were interested in included carpentry, motor mechanics and military paths. Participants verbalized that they felt the skills they learned and practiced in the sessions would be applicable to their careers in the future, and would help them in the application and hiring process for future jobs.