The Moncton Lions Club is hoping to expand its Ladder Up program, that offers skills and trades training to youth, who may have been left behind.
Vice President for the Mark Avenue Club George Crossman says there are many at risk youth between the ages of 12 and 18 who need a bit of an intervention to assist in their success.”Not every child is academically inclined. ,We have kids that are walking the streets out there who have the potential to be trades people. they just need to be taught some job skills and some work ethics. We’re doing it as an 18 week program and we can introduce them to two or three trades to see which one they would actually like to be in. According to a lot of the Community Colleges, a lot of kids graduate from grade 12, pick a trade and three months in they walk out because it’s not what they really wanted to do.”
Crossman says adds that the Ladder Up pilot program will help to fill a gap that currently exists, “It’s pretty gratifying to see their success. You see the result when you run into them. I ran into one of the kids we worked with one night at a grocery store, and he ran down the aisle, and ran back with his wife and two kids. He introduced me as the one who helped him while he was on suicide watch. So it’s a pretty darn good feeling.”
He adds, they are also catering to individuals in their 20’s or older, who didn’t succeed in school, or were dropped by the educational system.
