Margate Hosts Free Life and Workforce Readiness Workshops for Teens. Albert Gibbs of The AG Leadership Academy leads the class. {City of Margate}
By Paulina Splechta
With modern-day teen life consumed by social media and impacted by celebrities and social influencers, Michael A. Jones, Director of Margate’s parks and recreation department was inspired to positively impact teens’ futures by hosting life and workforce readiness workshops.
“I witnessed our summer camp hiring process, and thinking to myself that these young adults today do not have the knowledge of how to properly conduct themselves in job interviews,” said Jones.
With this in mind, Margate Recreation Supervisor, Bethany Lamar, reached out to a former middle school and high school classmate, Albert Gibbs, who was running a program for at-risk youth at Margate Middle School and Deerfield Beach High School, about starting a program at Firefighters Park.
The aim of bringing Gibbs’ program to the City of Margate was to provide teens with workforce readiness and life skills to jumpstart their post-graduate careers immediately.
Gibbs represents The AG Leadership Academy, founded in 2016, an established non-profit organization in Broward County. “Creating Leaders through Mentorship” is their motto. He is leading the workshops at the City of Margate.
“The hope of this program is to provide the next generation with social, emotional, and professional development. There are so many alternatives out there to traditional colleges, such as trade schools and certificate programs. So whatever path they choose, we want them to be equipped and ready to be productive and successful,” said Lamar.
Seventeen teenagers ages 14-18 registered for the ten bi-weekly free workshops hosted by the City of Margate for the first year ever.
Margate Hosts Free Life and Workforce Readiness Workshops for Teens {City of Margate}
“The overall feedback thus far has been extremely positive. The teens are very engaged and ask lots of questions throughout,” said Lamar.
Workshop topics include leadership, conflict resolution, and resume writing. The workshops conclude this week with the City of Margate Career Day.
The program began April 13th, spanning through this week. Workshops were offered indoors at the Firefighters Park’s Game room on Wednesdays from 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm, and Saturdays from 10:00 am- 11:30 am.
Workshops will be offered annually and modified based on the program’s demand as needed. The City will conduct a survey at the end of the program from both participants and parents and a follow-up review with their instructors for more information and direct feedback.
To track the teens’ progress, the City of Margate plans to follow up with each enrolled participant’s job placement and individual success in a year or two.
For more information or to enroll, go to www.margatefl.com/registration
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