What is the HUB? It’s a place where young people, ranging from the ages of sixteen to twenty-four, can attend and be exposed to multiple different types of trades, careers, and opportunities. This is a great option for those who are out of school or do not want to attend formal colleges. The HUB will also help lower the high percentage of youth who graduate from high school, but have no plan or sight for their future.
By collaborating with professionals from various fields from Monday through Saturday, young people will be exposed to multiple businesses and help give them practical experiences. This event will be open to any youth who agrees to show respect, willingness to participate, and no judgement.
What the data says
The Columbus Foundation commissioned Jobs for the Future (JFF) to examine the education and employment challenges facing young adults, age 18 to 25, who are not college bound. The county identified a similar problem, of the estimated 18,000 youth (ages 18-24) without a high school diploma or GED, fewer than 2,250 are in dropout recovery schools, and even fewer are enrolled in Adult Basic and Literacy Education (ABLE) programs to help prepare for the GED. The report noted that “most dropout recovery charter schools are ineffective (17 percent graduation rate), and there is reportedly limited enrollment of youth in federally funded workforce development services for youth.” (Altstadt, Ndiaye, Wright, & Sylla, 2015)
Additionally, many youths fail to enroll in classes that lead to industry-recognized credentials so for South High School less than 1% of the students and for Marion Franklin less than 10% graduate with industry-recognized credential so the youth enter the labor force unprepared to seek work if hired struggled with the adjustment to the workplace. Columbus City School district in 2017 graduated only 4.9% (F) students with an industry-recognized credential, so the district is also challenged to find ways to improve these statistics, which is far below state standards. Columbus City School contracts with I Know I Can work with college-bound students which are about 10% of the graduating class; however, that leaves 90% of the students seeking employment or training on their own.
