By Michael Collins

Evening Sun Contributor

ONEONTA – Job Corps, a federally funded program under the United States Department of Labor, provides free education, vocational training and job placement services to underprivileged youth between the ages of 16 and 24.

Celebrating its 50 year anniversary this year, the Oneonta Job Corps Academy is on a mission to spread the word about the programs they offer to young people in Broome, Chenango, Delaware, Otsego and Tioga counties.

The purpose of Job Corps, said Lynn Price of the Oneonta Job Corps Academy, is to see students through the education and training in a particular trade, and to actually place them in in a career. Furthermore, if the student has dropped out of high school, Job Corps will first help them achieve their high school diploma or their TASC (the new acronym for GED).

“When they walk into an employer, our graduates will already have the necessary skills in place,” said Price, giving them an advantage over other, less-qualified, applicants. “We arm them with a trade, if you will.”