Career camp shows students alternative pathways to prosperity
July 22, 2022
By Brian Brehm, The Winchester Star About 75 high school students and recent graduates met Friday at Shenandoah University to learn how they can land the jobs of their dreams with the assistance of Opportunity Scholars.
The Dream Big career camp offered insight into how attendees could secure high-paying jobs as teachers, nurses, accountants, plumbers, welders, technicians, information technology specialists and more, usually without having to earn a four-year degree from a college or university. “These are students who are not currently in the [Opportunity Scholars] program but they’ve shown some interest,” said Connie Van Sickler, a program counselor for the nonprofit at 918 S. Braddock St. in Winchester. |
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“We have a little bit of a smattering here for these kids to explore and understand that there’s some really good-paying jobs right here in our area that don’t necessarily require a [bachelor’s] degree. We can help make that happen.”
Opportunity Scholars is the brainchild of retired healthcare executive John Knox Singleton of Winchester, who formed the nonprofit in 2019 to help students from low- to middle-income families get the career training their parents may not be able to afford while ensuring the Winchester area has a robust number of available employees for companies that currently operate in the region and those considering a move to the area.
Opportunity Scholars does this by fronting the money to pay for students’ post-secondary career training and education at either Shenandoah University or Laurel Ridge Community College in exchange for their pledge to work in the Winchester area until they have paid back the money spent on their tuition, fees, materials and tools. The organization only trains students for careers that have the potential of paying $40,000 or more per year, and participants aren’t required to make monthly installments to Opportunity Scholars until they’ve landed a job that pays at least $35,000 a year.
“Last year at this time, we had about 65 students. By the end of the year, we were at almost a hundred,” Singleton said on Friday. “Now we’re at about 150, and with these [career camp attendees], hopefully we’ll get most of these 75 kids to connect with the program. Our goal for the end of the year is about 250 and I think we’re on our way to achieving that.”
Singleton said Opportunity Scholars’ first group of participants is expected to complete the program by next summer.
“We’ll have an electrician, a draftsman, our first accounting student, our first engineering technology student,” he said with a smile. “When they’re actually in jobs, working for local businesses, that’s really when I think people’s light bulbs are going to go on about what this can do for the community.”
At Friday’s Dream Big career camp, participants received advice from several speakers and attended presentations from local employers who told them what it would take for them to qualify for jobs at their firms.
In the Brandt Student Center at Shenandoah University, representatives from six local employers and two colleges set up information tables and gave brief presentations. The participating employers were Frederick County Public Schools, Winchester Public Schools, Howard Shockey and Sons Inc., Perry Engineering Co. Inc., Valley Health System and Yount, Hyde and Barbour PC, and the colleges were Shenandoah University’s School of Nursing and Laurel Ridge Community College.
Currently, all of the trades supported by Opportunity Scholars require students to be certified in their fields by attending courses at Laurel Ridge Community College or Shenandoah University, but Singleton said the nonprofit is working to expand its services with a new program that would bypass traditional classrooms.
“We’re going to help [high school] students get employment with businesses that will then promise to train them,” he said. “An example is a HVAC business. They’ll pay them pretty well for six months, then put them in an apprenticeship program where they’ll make twice what they would be making in fast food or somewhere else. Two years later [after completing the apprenticeship], they’ll give them a bump in pay.”
Singleton said the on-the-job career training program should be ready to roll out by the end of the year.
To learn more about Opportunity Scholars, visit opportunityscholars.org.
Opportunity Scholars is the brainchild of retired healthcare executive John Knox Singleton of Winchester, who formed the nonprofit in 2019 to help students from low- to middle-income families get the career training their parents may not be able to afford while ensuring the Winchester area has a robust number of available employees for companies that currently operate in the region and those considering a move to the area.
Opportunity Scholars does this by fronting the money to pay for students’ post-secondary career training and education at either Shenandoah University or Laurel Ridge Community College in exchange for their pledge to work in the Winchester area until they have paid back the money spent on their tuition, fees, materials and tools. The organization only trains students for careers that have the potential of paying $40,000 or more per year, and participants aren’t required to make monthly installments to Opportunity Scholars until they’ve landed a job that pays at least $35,000 a year.
“Last year at this time, we had about 65 students. By the end of the year, we were at almost a hundred,” Singleton said on Friday. “Now we’re at about 150, and with these [career camp attendees], hopefully we’ll get most of these 75 kids to connect with the program. Our goal for the end of the year is about 250 and I think we’re on our way to achieving that.”
Singleton said Opportunity Scholars’ first group of participants is expected to complete the program by next summer.
“We’ll have an electrician, a draftsman, our first accounting student, our first engineering technology student,” he said with a smile. “When they’re actually in jobs, working for local businesses, that’s really when I think people’s light bulbs are going to go on about what this can do for the community.”
At Friday’s Dream Big career camp, participants received advice from several speakers and attended presentations from local employers who told them what it would take for them to qualify for jobs at their firms.
In the Brandt Student Center at Shenandoah University, representatives from six local employers and two colleges set up information tables and gave brief presentations. The participating employers were Frederick County Public Schools, Winchester Public Schools, Howard Shockey and Sons Inc., Perry Engineering Co. Inc., Valley Health System and Yount, Hyde and Barbour PC, and the colleges were Shenandoah University’s School of Nursing and Laurel Ridge Community College.
Currently, all of the trades supported by Opportunity Scholars require students to be certified in their fields by attending courses at Laurel Ridge Community College or Shenandoah University, but Singleton said the nonprofit is working to expand its services with a new program that would bypass traditional classrooms.
“We’re going to help [high school] students get employment with businesses that will then promise to train them,” he said. “An example is a HVAC business. They’ll pay them pretty well for six months, then put them in an apprenticeship program where they’ll make twice what they would be making in fast food or somewhere else. Two years later [after completing the apprenticeship], they’ll give them a bump in pay.”
Singleton said the on-the-job career training program should be ready to roll out by the end of the year.
To learn more about Opportunity Scholars, visit opportunityscholars.org.