Through the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for a flexible, online curriculum that can guide people through work ethic principles was essential. Through new avenues, Work Development professionals were able to reach their audiences in innovative ways.
Christine Liske, Career Specialist at Lake County Workforce Development, discovered the flexibility of Bring Your ‘A’ Game during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to 2020, Christine and her colleagues incorporated Bring Your ‘A’ Game into a week-long boot camp, which was delivered in person. They found the curriculum to be an effective resource for their teenage students. “They were learning the skills that were required to be successful in the workplace,” stated Christine. “They were coming out of their shells and better prepared to speak to adults, to a group, and to peers.”
The team at Lake County Workforce Development adapted the curriculum to optimize the benefit for their clients. In addition to Bring Your ‘A’ Game, their boot camps included job search strategies and connections with employers. Armed with knowledge about work ethic skills (attitude, attendance, appearance, ambition, acceptance, appreciation, and accountability), clients were prepared to enter short-term training and then make their way into the workforce. However, when the pandemic struck in 2020, the in-person boot camps were forced to take a hiatus.
Rather than eliminate the programming, Christine and her colleagues decided to take it virtual. “The Center for Work Ethic Development launched Bring Your ‘A’ Game Anywhere at just the right time,” noted Christine. Bring Your ‘A’ Game is the fully online version of the Bring Your ‘A’ Game curriculum, allowing users to complete it outside of a traditional classroom setting. This eLearning program became a substitute for students who previously earned wages from participating in summer employment initiatives. Since they were unable to learn work ethic skills on the job, they had the opportunity to earn a stipend for participating in the eLearning curriculum.
Bring Your ‘A’ Game Anywhere was a successful adaptation for students. “The concepts are simple enough; the takeaways were there,” said Christine. The Center for Workforce Development team even heard positive feedback from parents who caught snippets of the program as their children were completing it at home. To get a glimpse into the Bring Your ‘A’ Game Anywhere learning modules that worked so well in Lake County, check out our video overview of the curriculum.
