Spring Young Professionals Leadership Initiative is a wrap!

It's a wrap! Our Spring 2014 Young Professionals Leadership Initiative came to an end on Saturday, March 29. Beyond Expectations works with teens across the entire state of New Jersey. This Mercer County session focused on young adults from the Anchor House Youth Achievers Council, Anchor Link, and Anchor Line programs who successfully completed the six-week leadership training in 3 tracks:

• Careers and Employment Skills
• Independent Living Skills
• Media Advocacy

The objective of our leadership program is to help students uncover their own existing talents, work collaboratively as they learn new skills, and build professional relationships with our facilitators and volunteers.

To address the real issues around independent living, a strong emphasis was placed on budgeting and the basics of finance on "how money works". Executive Chef Kahlil Wyche related hands-on practices in the culinary industry to managing a household budget. During week 5, students had an opportunity to put the instruction to use by developing a budget, selecting the menu items, and preparing a three course meal for the entire group within their budget.

There was a focus throughout our entire program to strengthen communication skills particularly to prepare them for job interviews on the final day of class with our corporate partner AMC Hamilton 24 Theatres. 

In preparation, students received direct training from our team of facilitators, Toastmasters, National Speakers Association, and Dow Jones News Fund. They prepared personal brand statements, conducted background research on AMC, and participated in mock interviews. 

Finally, through ongoing hands-on instruction, confidence grew as students became more comfortable in front of and behind the camera working collaboratively as part of our production crew. Efforts will continue as we prepare to implement their ideas for the Family Film Screening slated for Sunday, May 18.

Special thanks to the staff at Anchor House, AMC Hamilton Theatres General Manager Gregory Rice and Senior Manager Tracy Brangan, Kat Clayton at Jersey Cares, Dr. He Len Chung's Collaborative Research Lab students at The College of New Jersey, our entire crew of facilitators and volunteers.

Another great program with another group of phenomenal young adults!

>> more highlights

Independent Living Skills with Executive Chef Kahlil Wyche

Trenton, NJ -- For the past four weeks, students from our Young Professionals Leadership Initiative have been working under the direction of Executive Chef Kahlil Wyche on the principles of proper food handling for the culinary industry and preparing healthy meals on a limited household budget. This week, they had a chance to put their training into practice by working collaboratively in the kitchen to prepare a complete meal including salad, entree, and a dessert.

The afternoon was spent continuing their studies on budgeting with a comprehensive session on "How Money Works" with certified financial advisor Wendy Walston. The interactive session focused on the Basics of Savings/Checking Accounts, Understanding Credit Cards, Compounding Interest, Starting Early with Retirement Savings, and The Rule of 72 which illustrates how money can double over time.

The day ended with a review of their final Video Resumes which were created for each student in preparation for their live job interviews with corporate partner AMC Theatres which will take place during our session next week.

Personal Branding Workshop w/ NSA President Kevin Thompson

Trenton, NJ - We're moving closer to the live job interviews for the participants of our Young Professionals Leadership Initiative. This week, Kevin Thompson, president of the National Speakers Association (NJ Chapter) and Distinguished Toastmaster, facilitated a workshop on Personal Branding.

Our team of facilitators then worked individually to help develop their own personal brand statements and conduct online background research on the interviewing company. They had an opportunity to put their statements immediately into practice during individual mock interviews with Mr. Thompson.

Executive Chef Kahlil Wyche continued his Independent Living Series with an introduction to general budgeting principles. The budgets will be used to help the participants develop a greater awareness of earning, managing, saving, and spending money.

We wrapped the day with a review of media terminology and crew positions as we plan for our annual Spring Film Screening (in collaboration with SCRA - Society for Community Resource & Action) on Sunday, May 18.     

Healthy Cooking and Nutrition with Executive Chef Kahlil Wyche

Trenton, NJ - The Young Professionals Leadership Initiative Spring Session continued with an independent living workshop on Healthy Cooking and Nutrition. Executive Chef Kahlil Wyche conducted a session focused on Sanitation and Pathogen Prevention. Students participated in an interactive exercise using their smartphones to identify food borne diseases. The session continued with Managing a Personal Hygiene Program and testing their knowledge of safe food handling under the ServSafe guidelines of the National Restaurant Association.

The rest of the session was spent working directly with Beyond Expectations facilitators, volunteers, and crew.

Students participated in a Skills Assessment exercise that was used to begin creating video resumes, then conducted online research in preparation for upcoming job interviews with a partner company.

The Spring Session will run through March 29 followed by a team community service project.