About 155 Flint & Genesee Students, Families to Celebrate during Ceremony
(FLINT, Mich., March 26, 2015) – The Flint & Genesee Chamber of Commerce will host its TeenQuest program graduation for 155 Genesee County teens on Thursday, March 26.
Hundreds of proud parents and other family members will gather with the students who successfully completed the final TeenQuest session of the 2014-15 school year during a ceremony at 6 p.m. at Riverfront Banquet Center, 1 W. Riverfront Center, in downtown Flint.
Managed by the Flint & Genesee Chamber, TeenQuest is a five-week training program designed to help Genesee County high school students ages 14-18 prepare for business success in the future. Students learn the basics of teamwork, business etiquette, work ethics, communication, goal setting and conflict resolution.
“Economic indicators locally, in Michigan and nationwide are pointing toward a stronger job market, but there is still great competition in the job pool,” said Rhetta Hunyady, Vice President of Education and Training at the Flint & Genesee Chamber. “We have given hundreds of teens the ‘TeenQuest Advantage’ over the duration of this school year, and these program graduates now have the training to land their first job.”
TeenQuest is a pre-requisite for employment through the Summer Youth Initiative (SYI), which matches employers with hundreds of TeenQuest graduates for summer employment.
The TeenQuest spring session that concludes this week is the final of four sessions held during the 2014-15 school year. The afterschool training was held at five area locations. A summer TeenQuest session is planned, and dates will be announced soon.
An invitation-only job fair for all graduates of the 2014-15 TeenQuest sessions who registered for SYI will take place April 25.
Nonprofit organizations and businesses that hire TeenQuest graduates are eligible to have 50 percent to 100 percent of costs subsidized. Last summer, more than 600 youths ages 14-18 were employed through SYI, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and some for-profit businesses.
For more information about TeenQuest, contact Hunyady at .
About the Summer Youth Initiative and TeenQuest
The Summer Youth Initiative is a program that helps Flint-area teens find paid summer jobs. It’s open to students who’ve completed the TeenQuest afterschool program, which provides pre-employment and leadership training to students ages 14 to 19 to help them succeed in college and the 21st century workplace. In 2016, nearly 600 teens gained experience and a paycheck working for local businesses and agencies. Both programs are administered by the Genesee Area Focus Fund, a supporting organization of the Flint & Genesee Chamber of Commerce, with support from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. To apply or learn more, visit www.flintandgenesee.org/teenquest.