As a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, more than $265, 000 were awarded to the Southeast Los Angeles County Workforce investment board.

Some of these funds were distributed to the Pathway program department at Cerritos College.

The Pathway program is an on-campus program committed to helping students create a strong career pathway.

One of the ways the program has been able to aid students is through its summer work program.

Nearly 100 Cerritos College students got to take advantage of this over the summer.

As part of the summer work program, participants received the opportunity to take part in a work-readiness training course.

From there, they were placed into different on and off-campus jobs. 

The math, counseling, physical education and career services department were just some of the on-campus departments that benefited from the program.

Obaldo Bautista, proctor and clerk typist of career/assessment services, said, “During the summer, we had a lot of graduated high school students here to take the assessment test.

“The student workers helped keep everything organized and took on a lot of responsibility, it definitely ran smoother than recent years.”

Program participants were all paid through the Workforce Investment Act, which is part of the recent stimulus package.

This enabled companies to hire at no cost to them.

“Since the program was totally grant funded, the grant was essential to running the program,” said Carla Yorke, the pathway programs facilitator.

For many, this was the very first job experience that they have ever had.

Not only did they get very valuable work experience, that during these rough economic times seems essential, but they got work experience that for most, directly corresponded with their future occupational interest.

Perhaps the most direct benefit was that they also earned a paycheck.

Some of the companies that took part in the programs include Mobile gas stations, R&D Steel Company and Christian Dior.