Fifteen West Frankfort High School students toured the Continental Tire plant in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, on Wednesday, February 28, 2024. Man-Tra-Con sponsored the 2-hour tour with grant funding from the Local Works Program. Currently celebrating its 50th Anniversary, Continental Tire led a full tour of all departments. Continental staff also discussed apprenticeship opportunities, training programs, and career paths with the students. The tour began at 8:30am and ended at 10:30am. The Local Works program, developed from supplemental grant funding, was designed to connect young adults with local employers in the area and raise awareness about potential job and apprenticeship opportunities available after graduation. This tour was the second of several future tours planned for high school students within Local Workforce Area 25, which includes Franklin, Jackson, Jefferson, Perry, and Williamson Counties. For more information about our services and programs for employers, adult job seekers, dislocated workers, and youth, visit our website at https://mantracon.org.

Madison Sturgeon, at 20, graduated from Shawnee Community College in Spring 2023 and chose the Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) career path. She had a family member experience an accident, which resulted in an SCI. Occupational therapy helped that family member gain a lot of ability to complete daily tasks many people take for granted, such as bathing, toileting, dressing, etc. Madison states that the WIOA program helped her tremendously. I went to clinicals or classes for 40 hours per week during the program, which made it hard to work. WIOA allowed me to focus on school by relieving some financial stress as they assisted me with books, fees, tuition, travel expenses, and clinical equipment. Madison says that at her current job, she works with individuals with various diagnoses in the geriatric population. Part of my job duties is to help these individuals regain strength and restore their profile levels of function while working with the rehab team to the best of my ability. Many people think Occupational Therapy has something to do with people who get hurt on the job, and while this is true, we do work with that population. According to the Occupational Therapy field, Occupation is a term used for daily activities such as bathing, dressing, eating, etc. Occupational Therapists work to promote health, well-being, and your ability to participate in the essential activities in your life. Madison feels that the WIOA program helped her achieve her goal of becoming an OTA by motivating her to stay on track. WIOA assisted her with financial stress so she could maintain focus on schoolwork. Madison also wants to extend her appreciation to the SDC WIOA Program by saying, “Thank you.”