Marshall Pre-K became a part of the Private Industry Council’s PA Pre-K Counts family in 2017. Marshall Pre-K is located at Marshall Elementary in the Laurel Highlands School District which is located in Uniontown, Fayette County. In 2021, a second Pre-K classroom was...
Our staff would like to invite everyone to a very exciting event that will be happening at our local PA CareerLink® locations to celebrate National Workforce Development Month. All three sites will be hosting the 3rd Annual Awareness Day event to celebrate what the...
This year we had a safari theme titled “Wild About MMM.” It was a great success with all the families that attended. The day consisted of stations for art and craft activities, movement activities, and eating. Local community representatives were also stationed...
My original intent for this article was to provide parents with information on how to prepare their preschool children for school. You know, practices like establish routines, talk with your children about what the day will look like, and validate their feelings and...
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Head Start / Early Head Start FAQs The Private Industry Council discusses frequently asked questions for Head Start and Early Head Start students. Private Industry Council operates the Head Start / Early Head Start program for Beaver and Fayette Counties in the...
The PA CareerLink® is a one-stop job center designed to meet all of your employment needs. As the Title 1 provider at both the PA CareerLink® Westmoreland County located at the Westmoreland County Community College in Youngwood, the PA CareerLink® Alle-Kiski located in the Westmoreland County Community College in New Kensington and the PA CareerLink® Fayette County located inside the Private Industry Council office at Lemont Furnace, the Private Industry Council of Westmoreland/Fayette, Inc. (PIC) strives to ensure all needs are met fro everyone who comes into a PA CareerLink® office. An example of this is the story of Joni.
Joni came into the Fayette County PA CareerLink® office as a Trade Act participant. Joni first meet with the PA CareerLink® Program Supervisor, Chris Sonita, and told them about her desires to become a Licensed Practical Nurse or a LPN. Joni attended a Benefits, Rights Interview with GTT Communications in Lemont Furnace and began preparing for the LPN entrance exam by attending Adult Basic Education classes and was gaining the needed skills for the exam. While she was preparing for the TEAS, or the Test of Essential Academic Skills, Joni discovered that her preferred training provider was not beginning classes until March of 2020. In addition a series of family medical crisises drew her attention away from focusing on preparing for the TEAS.
As Joni’s situation situation began to settle down, she was back on track to take her TEAS on January 7th. Joni however was worried that all of the progress she had made prior in the preparation of the exam would no longer be enough. While her chosen testing provider does offering tutoring for the exam, there is a $250 fee and unfortunately Joni did not have the ability to take advantage of the opportunity at that time.
During her next appointment with Chris, she asked if the CareerLink® office offered any free TEAS tutoring. Since Devin McCusker, the Career Pathways instructor, has been so open to helping a wide variety of participants, Chris decided to visit his classroom to discuss the situation with him. Devin readily agreed to call Joni and make arrangements for her to use his Career Pathways program to help Joni on the skills needed to pass the TEAS exam such as math, science and test-taking.
Prior to the Career Pathways program being moved to the Lemont Furnace office, Joni would have been referred back to the Adult Basic Education provider in the area for additional tutoring. By keeping all services in-house it has become more convenient for customers like Joni to have access to a variety of resources that are offered through both the PA CareerLink® and PIC. In addition, by having customers stay in-house for services, it is easier for our employees to stay in touch with the customer and ensure all needs are being met. Chris’ drive to help the customer as well as Devin’s willingness to help by offering the services he has access to in order to help someone reach their goals is a great example of the one-stop reemployment services model at its best.
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