May 2013 Career Opportunities


Coming Home: Pathways to Success for Service Members and Veterans


BY MARTHA KANTER With more than a million veterans


returning home to our nation’s shores over the next five years, we have an unprecedented opportunity – and a civic obligation – to strengthen their pathways to success. To prepare for their return home and their transition back to civilian life, the Obama Administration sought – early on– to bring diverse government partners to the table, calling for an interagency planning effort to support Service members’ career readiness.


In response to President Obama’s


call to action for a career-ready military in August 2011, the Veterans Employment Initiative Task Force was launched, under the leadership of the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. This interagency effort has brought together a collaboration of federal agencies – including Education, the Small Business Administration, Labor, Homeland Security and the Office of Personnel Management, as well as our military services and National Guard and Reserves – as partners, working together on the first major redesign of the military’s Transition Assistance Program in over twenty years to develop a comprehensive, outcome-based re-entry program now called Transition Goals, Plans, Success (Transition GPS).


Each of the partner federal


agencies is contributing leadership and resources to activate the implementation of Transition GPS, in accordance with the VOW to Hire Heroes Act signed into law November 21, 2011. Key to this work has been the development of a core 3-day curriculum, career readiness standards, three optional tracks for transition (Higher Education, Technical Training, and Entrepreneurship), as well as options for learning in brick-and-mor- tar classrooms and online. Throughout their participation, Service members will receive individualized counseling and support in the preparation of a transition plan. The program also provides Service members who are exiting active duty with an education transcript, resume, access to labor market information, employment and housing opportunities, benefits information, mentoring resources, and other support services.


Scholarship Watch CBC Spouses Education Scholarship


The CBC Spouses Education Scholarship is Congressio- nal Black Caucus' general scholarship and is also our larg- est. This scholarship does not have a specific major re- quirement, and is open to students of all academic fields.


To be eligible for the CBC Spouses Education Scholar- ship, applicants must:


• Be preparing to pursue an undergraduate or graduate degree full-time or be a current full-time student in good academic standing at an accredited college or university


• Have a minimum 2.5 GPA • Exhibit leadership ability and participate in community service activities


Preference will be given to CBC member constituents (individuals who live in or at- tend school in a CBC member district/state). Being a CBC member constituent is NOT a requirement to be eligible for this scholarship.


Deadline: June 6, 2013 Apply Online at: www.cbcfinc.org/cbcs-education Visit hamptonroadsmessenger.com for a list of 50 scholarships Based on lessons learned from


as early as 1991 when Congress mandated that a Transition Assistance Plan be enacted, this redesign is guided by the view that preparation for the transition from military to civilian life should begin upon entry to boot camp. Transition GPS is the way forward, ensuring that our separating military men and women prepare for educational advancement and career opportunities throughout their lives. With the availability of military training, courses, and online certificate and degree opportunities, Service members will design an individual education and career plan to guide their future, both during and after their term of duty.


Today, many colleges and


universities provide academic credit for individual courses, full programs of study and prior learning acquired on ships, during combat and at base locations worldwide. In the next few years, Transition GPS will provide the pathways for veterans re-entering their communities with career-ready education and training for success in the workforce. Some will exit having earned their high school diplomas, GEDs, and/or their associates’, bachelors’ or masters’ degrees. Others will seamlessly continue their education or training following their military careers in quality, affordable educational programs, taking advantage of internships or appren- ticeships to be fully ready for their chosen careers.


Federal agency partners working


with Military and Veterans Service Organizations have committed to maximizing resources, aligning benefits for Service members, and reducing duplication and system inefficiencies to best facilitate Service members’ transition to civilian life. More than 60 percent of jobs will require some postsecondary education or training: we want all of our veterans to take advantage of the variety of benefits available to them, so that they can choose an educational program with good job prospects that will serve them well.


Our collective goal – aspiring


for every veteran to have a seamless pathway to pursuing future employment opportunities with career-ready knowledge and skills for success – is ambitious, but Transition GPS is a key component in strengthening that


Education


Meeting the Challenges of Student Writing in the Digital Age


BY DOUG HERBERT Writing is an important part of


the Common Core State Standards in English language arts, but what about students learning to employ the digital tools so natural to them outside the classroom to express themselves in school? The challenges to “going digital” with writing instruction range from choosing the best methods to employ the latest technological tools to accessing quality in-service and joining communities of practice to staying current with the changing definition of a “literate” citizenry.


Fortunately, there is Digital Is


— a forum for teachers to share and engage with other educators in the field of digital writing — to meet these challenges. Developed by the National Writing Project, a venerable source of professional development, curricular and instructional resources, research findings, and best practices based on experiences of K-16 educators, this free Web portal is serving thousands of educators, writers, and K-12 learners.


In “Writing and Learning in a


Digital Age — Digital Is,” the Office of Innovation and Improvement’s


www.hamptonroadsmessenger.com


The Hampton Roads Messenger 11


journey. Whether a veteran needs financial planning, an educational program like Troops to Teachers, help on campus from an experienced counselor, claims assistance, disability or other medical services from the VA, guidance on accessing federal student aid or navigating college and


university opportunities, or help from the SBA to set up a small business, we stand at an extraordinary moment in time to welcome our men and women home and serve them and their families better than we’ve ever done in the past to prepare them for bright and prosperous futures.


Students in Robert Rivera-Amezola’s fourth-grade classroom in Philadelphia work collaboratively on a writing assignment. (Photo by Jason Miczek and provided courtesy of the National Writing Project.)


Margarita Melendez conveys the multiple facets of this unique resource that is supported by funding from the Department of Education. Readers of the feature will also learn about two other OII-supported National Writing Project efforts that are providing teaching modules connected to the Common Core and a professional development program focused on rural school districts.


Career Opportunity


Manufacturing Operations Research Analyst, (Virginia Beach, VA), Develops, formulates & applies engineering manf. production modeling data to assist management with engineering business decisions Collects, assembles & analyzes engineering production & manf. data regarding the formulation of engineering policies for auto parts manf. Designs engineering models for cost & production efficiency. Requires: Master’s Degree (Mechanical Engineering) or foreign equivalent degree & 12 months experience in the position or as a Process Engineer. Employer will accept any suitable combination of education, training or experience. 8 am – 5 pm, 40 hrs. per week. Send resume to HR, IMS Gear Virginia Inc., 949 Seahawk Circle. Virginia Beach, VA 23452


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