Students attend employment boot camp

A handful of students have been taking part in a new type of boot camp since last month.
St. Joe Community Co-op has been hosting an Employment Readiness Program at Glen Oaks Community College.
Tim Carmichael, associate director of St. Joe Community Co-op, said the non- profit organization was founded in 2006.
Its purpose is to teach people with developmental disabilities to work and obtain employment in the community, he said. Over the years, it evolved into hiring people who were chronically unemployed.
The co-op would put these individuals to work in work assignments around the county, Carmichael said. They took a look at the people they were hiring and began to realize that there was a need for better and different training, he added.
After talking to local business leaders and others, they developed a 30-day boot camp.
The purpose of the boot camp is to teach people effective communication and work skills, problem solving, planning and crisis management.