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Job Corps - Building futures, changing lives

February 3, 2022

Woman and man shaking hands and smiling at the camera
From left, Angell Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center United Brotherhood of Carpenters Lead Carpentry Instructor Elizabeth “Tissi” Snelson and United Brotherhood of Carpenters General President Douglas J. McCarron. Photo courtesy photo of Tissi Snelson.

 

OREGON – Forest Service Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers are inextricably tied to national trade unions. Training at Forest Service Job Corps centers is heavily concentrated in the construction trades. This can be traced back to 1966, when then Deputy Director Jack Large, Forest Service Division of Job Corps Administration, introduced union operated and pre-apprenticeship programs on the CCCs. These programs were expanded in 1969.  

The training provided by trade unions, including the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, centered around students earning professional credentials and certifications. The partnership between the union and Forest Service Job Corps facilitated the success of the CCCs in accomplishing their mission of lifting youth out of poverty and placing them into living-wage jobs. These relationships have continued into the 21st century. CCC union trade instructors have continually adapted their programs to provide state-of-the-art, industry-driven training that provides Job Corps graduates a competitive advantage in the job market.

Angell and Wolf Creek Job Corps UBC Lead Carpenter Instructors Elizabeth “Tissi” Snelson and Rich Evoniuk explored the relationship between UBC and the CCCs with Joe Cadwell, host of the "Grit Nation, the Building Trades Podcast," in a podcast that can be found here: Job Corps - Building Futures, Changing Lives.

Close-up of man wearing a white hard hat and sporting a white beard
Wolf Creek Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center United Brotherhood of Carpenters Lead Carpentry Instructor Rich Evoniuk. Photo courtesy photo of Rich Evoniuk.

Evoniuk has a life-long relationship with the CCCs, having graduated from the Fort Simcoe Job Corps center in 1974. He reconnected with Job Corps when he accepted a position as a pre-apprentice carpentry instructor at Wolf Creek on Oct. 14, 2014. “I started my career with Job Corps, and this is where I will end it,” he says.

Snelson arrived at Angel Job Corps CCC on Oct. 31, 2016. On a flight to attend the North America’s Building Trades Union Women Build Nations Conference. She found herself seated next to an Astoria Job Corps Center instructor who explained the program, the mission and invited her for an on-center visit. Snelson was hooked.

In order to keep students accountable, Angell and Wolf Creek carpentry programs are structured and demanding. These programs have a graduation rate of around 95%, with an average of 50 graduates a year for each program. Instructors continually adjust and improve the training curriculum, ensuring their students are steeped in the skills they need to succeed in the workforce. To foster professionalism and integrity, instructors counsel students to complete each days’ work better and faster than the day before.  

Asked to share on the most rewarding aspect of their jobs, Snelson’s and Evoniuk’s responses were indistinguishable— they reflected on the changes they see in students from arrival at the center to completion of the program.

Angell and Wolf Creek carpentry graduates’ benefit from UBCs extensive support system. All graduates are taught how to navigate a system with diverse employment options, “We begin working on our graduates’ exit strategy the day they arrive,” says UBC Field Coordinator Jennifer Newell.

UBC has a four-year apprenticeship program. Pre-apprentices during their training, carpentry graduates become first term apprentices when they join the union. There are a total of eight terms that an apprentice can complete and to advance from one level to the next, an apprentice must complete 40 hours of classwork each quarter over those four years.

Two men wearing face masks post for the camera while standing in front of a banner
Angell Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center United Brotherhood of Carpenters pre-apprenticeship students sign up for the UBC union at Local 271. USDA Forest Service photo.

Entering the union is encouraged, but it is not a path all Wolf Creek Job Corps pre-apprenticeship students are required to follow. The closes union construction jobs near the center are 100 miles away, with a commute of approximately one and one-half hours each way. Many of Evoniuk’s students are local and have no desire to leave home. He steers his graduates into jobs at local mills. Although not presently designated as apprenticeships, the jobs are unionized and Wolf Creek graduates earn good wages along with a pension.

Being an instructor on a CCC is not a nine to five job. UBC instructor’s jobs do not end when students graduate. They continue to see and mentor students at monthly UBC meetings. Instructors follow up on students’ progress and continue to impart life lessons.

The partnership between the CCCs and national trade unions like UBC, that began nearly a half-century ago continues to strengthen and mature. Like Civilian Conservation Centers, unions were created with the mission to improve lives. Working together, today and in the future, these partnerships, powered by instructors like Evoniuk and Snelson, continue the tradition of ensuring Job Corps students’ success.

Group photo
Wolf Creek Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center United Brotherhood of Carpenters pre-apprenticeship students. USDA Forest Service photo.

 

Group photo
Wolf Creek Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center United Brotherhood of Carpenters pre-apprenticeship students display plaques they constructed to thank local businesses for their support of the Archie Creek Fire in 2020. USDA Forest Service photo.

 

 

https://www.fs.usda.gov/inside-fs/delivering-mission/excel/job-corps-building-futures-changing-lives