MICHIGAN—When Weber Basin Job Corps Center Residential Living Manager Derek Goodwin took a temporary assignment as acting deputy district ranger on Hiawatha National Forest’s West Zone, he brought with him his passion for the Job Corps mission. Seeing need on the forest for additional staff to support a variety of work, Goodwin leapt at the opportunity to initiate a new kind of work-based learning program.

Coordinating with his Job Corps Center contacts, Goodwin arranged for six Job Corps students to travel to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan from centers around the country to participate in six weeks of work-based mentoring in the areas of heavy equipment operation, recreation maintenance and timber management.

Goodwin, who is currently completing his doctorate in leadership and development, is a champion for the correlation between work-based development opportunities and student success. “I am very proud of how the Hiawatha’s employees have stepped up to mentor these students—and in return, the students are excited about career possibilities in the Forest Service.”

In addition to mentoring, Goodwin asserts that from a career development perspective, it is also important that work-based mentoring not be limited to the kind of work the students are already trained in. “Part of the success of this pilot project is that the students have been exposed to a wide range of Forest Service careers—engineering, recreation, forestry, biology and more!”

During their time on the forest, students participated in a variety of work with mentoring and coaching from Hiawatha employees. Two students who arrived certified served as equipment operators have implemented site preparation critical for our 2023 spring tree planting. Other work accomplished by students included building split rail fence, kiosk repair, timber marking, gathering seed pinecones, fisheries work and more.

Michael Holmes, liaison specialist at Schenck Job Corps Center in North Carolina, is enthusiastic about the importance of such work-based mentoring programs. “I was probably more excited than the students because they couldn’t yet understand the magnitude of the opportunity. But coming out of their experiences, my wish is that the students have gained two things: a new sense of accomplishment and self-worth, and a new feeling of hope or possibility for the future!”

Albert Fuller is a heavy equipment operation student from Mingo Job Corps Center, Missouri, who participated in the work-based mentoring program. “On the Hiawatha, I have had the opportunity to run new kinds of machinery, doing work that is very different than at school.”

Fuller added that his experience on the Hiawatha has inspired him to earn his commercial driver’s license when he gets back to Job Corps, and then look to the Forest Service for career opportunities.

Nathan Smith, a heavy equipment operation student at the Fort Simcoe Job Corps Center in Washington, said, “I’ve learned that the heavy equipment work at the Forest Service is very interesting and varied.” He, too, is interested in pursuing a Forest Service career when he finishes his Job Corps education.

“At Job Corps, students have access to room and board while they learn skills in specific training areas for up to three years,” said Goodwin. For instance, nearby Blackwell Job Corps Center in Wisconsin,  offers training in welding, bricklaying, carpentry, construction craft laborer, and forestry conservation and firefighting careers.

Lawrence Ferrell, center director at Mingo Job Corps Center, is excited that one of his center’s students is participating in the program. “I think it is so important for students to experience an actual workplace as part of their Job Corps experience—work-based learning is exactly what the students need, allowing them to turn possibilities into realities.”

Ferrell added that he also hopes the students’ experiences working with Forest Service employees will inspire the students to pay it forward by mentoring other students in the future.

“The Forest Service is committed to achieving a representative, inclusive and thriving Forest Service workforce, which dovetails perfectly with the Job Corps mission of helping eligible young people achieve meaningful careers. We hope this mentoring program will be the model for an agency-wide work-based mentoring program that connects the agency with Job Corps students,” said Mary Moore, forest supervisor, Hiawatha National Forest.