Students Tour Food Services for 'EmployAbility Awareness Day'

Two local teenagers spent part of a recent morning job-shadowing and touring the dining units on Pennsylvania College of Technology' s main campus in Williamsport as part of Lycoming County EmployAbililty Awareness Day. The college was among dozens of local businesses that offered job-shadowing opportunities.

Students Guthrie Lowmiller and Jason Forrestal toured the college' s Food Services facilities, including its seven main-campus dining units, with Cathy J. Michael, food services recruitment/training specialist. The students asked questions about the food services industry and saw aspects of the process from receiving to serving to cleanup.

The Lycoming County Transition Council sponsored the day' s activities, which it modeled after the National Disability Mentoring Day that began in Washington, D.C., in 1999 to promote opportunities for employing students with disabilities. The council includes members of local schools and agencies and is committed to increasingstudent success in the transition from high school to work or postsecondary education.

According to the council, students involved in the mentoring event benefit by being encouraged to think early about their careers and to develop the skills necessary to compete in the marketplace. It keeps them motivated to learn by demonstrating the tangible applications of classroom instruction and empowers students with disabilities by providing opportunities to boost their financial security and inclusion in America' s economic growth.

Food Services at Penn College provides work-site training through such CareerLink programs as 55 and Over, Out of School Youth, and Paid Work Experience. It also participates in providing job locations for individuals through the BLaST Intermediate Unit 17 and through the Williamsport Area School District' s School to Work program.