03/22/2009: "Turning Points"

(Career Center Coordinator Minnie Knych and SVC instructor Margo Grothe, present Turning Points graduate Susan Hampton with her certificate

The 2009 San Juan County Turning Points class graduation ceremony was held on Wednesday, March 18. Turning Points is a free class provided by a cooperative effort of Skagit Valley College Life Transitions program and the Northwest Workforce Council Career Center .

The fourteen students who completed this class received college credit through Skagit Valley College. Most of the members of the class are job seekers referred through the Workforce Council Career Center.

The Turning Points graduating class with Career Center coordinator, Minnie Knych and instructor Margo Grothe

The class is to teach goal setting and build confidence. The main goals are to learn how to communicate well, improve decision making skills, set goals and stick to them, and how to present transferable skills to employers.

In short the class tries to help people to make a plan for what they want to accomplish, and to learn how to break the big idea down into the steps to accomplish the goals.

Minnie Knych of the Career Center said, “After taking this class, people tell me that it changed their perspective on life."

This class is mostly for anyone who has experienced a major change in life such as death in the family, divorce, job loss etc. Knych said "My focus is on the dislocated workers who usually go through some of the stages of grief after a job loss."

"No matter what the reason for the lay off," Knych said, "most people experience self doubt after losing a job."

The class is entirely free for anyone who wants to take it. The students receive college credit for it and sometimes this is encouragement for them to seek additional training. Because of the self assessment in the class, most of them come out of it with renewed self confidence and a sense of purpose and willingness to pursue their goals assertively.

"Job hunting can be discouraging, especially in a job market like this one," Knych added that the Career Center is their to help