August 3, 2023
When school’s out for summer, Mercy Home makes sure our young people remain engaged in learning. And with our Summer Career Institute and Summer Enrichment programming, we’re getting help from our friends. By opening their doors to our young people or by visiting our Home, area companies, organizations, and workplaces provide our young people with valuable insights into a variety of different career fields.
Two recent examples include experiences with tech and trades.
First, a group of our young people visited the Chicago offices of global search giant Google, located walking distance from our West Loop Campus. After each visitor received a temporary badge, they heard from a Google employee who described her day-to-day tasks. While Google frequently welcomes our young people, the visit was a first for one of our youth named Marc.
“I think my favorite part was probably learning about different skills and situations you need to not just work at Google, but in all workspaces in general,” Marc said.
One of the key takeaways from the experience was that while Google is a tech company, it requires professionals with a wide variety of skills to keep operations humming along. They learned about essential roles such as marketing and advertising, engineering, data analysis, and so many more.
After the presentation, the group toured the bright and spacious facility just outside of downtown Chicago. Google staff emphasized that they did not want their building to just be a place of work for their employees. Their recreation rooms and kitchens were places for coworkers to learn about each other and have fun together.
“It was fun to see the whole campus and how everything works and the space that they work at,” Marc said.
Later, a group traveled to Alsip, IL to visit the Sprinkler Fitters Local 281, U.A. training center. The trade union is a member of the Construction Industry Service Corporation (CISCO). Visitors were shown demonstrations of the different tools that used to install the complex fire safety equipment in buildings that many of us seldom notice, even though lives may depend on it. The visitors also practiced using different circuits with hands-on activities throughout the morning.
“The biggest thing I learned was that it is a heavy-duty job, and it takes risks,” Marc said. “They have to take big precautions with such a job and have such specific skills and knowledge.”
The young people also learned about Cisco’s apprenticeship program and what they look for on an aptitude test and in their applications. The apprenticeship program gives people the ability to learn the skills through classroom training and on-the-job training. They also discussed hourly wages and what the union building trades do.
The Summer Career Institute and Summer Enrichment Program continues to encourage our young people to think about their future careers and what kind of education they they need to achieve their professional goals. And while there is no telling whether these young people will ultimately choose careers in tech or trade, the exposure to a variety of professional workplaces helps them to formulate a long-term plan ahead of the new school year. Mercy Home youth Marc said that while he might want to become a doctor or study music, for example, he’s enjoying each of the trips offered through the program.
“Obviously, I have stuff that I’m passionate in, but it’s nice to see experts in jobs with higher stakes,” Marc said.
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