On March 2, 29 students graduated from Project Place’s Work-Ready class, Practicum and Industry Internship Program (IIP). Students and staff celebrated the achievement with a short ceremony and cake. All of the Work-Ready students will now become trainees in Project Place’s social enterprises, and one practicum student will become Project Place’s first instructor intern in the computer lab. Polly Hanson, associate director, took 30 seconds during the ceremony to pause and allow the feeling of accomplishment to really sink in for the graduates. She urged everyone to see the graduation as just the beginning and to continue to use Project Place as a resource in their career development.
One graduate shared, “This experience was definitely not a hand-out, but a hand-up. I feel like I’ve been given an amazing, priceless gift, and a second chance at so many opportunities, some I neglected to try in the past, and others altogether new!”