20 Dec Career Scoop: Good Choices Make Good Lives

When people think about Goodwill they think about shopping and making donations to help other people go to work. But what they may not know is that Goodwill is also about helping young people in middle school and high school learn about the importance of making good choices.

Consider the choices you make each day. What will I eat? What will I wear? Will I go to school or to work today? It’s all about deciding what to do. If you go shopping, you may decide to spend money on one big item or on several small items. Each of these decisions has an impact on today, tomorrow and in some manner, the years ahead.

Goodwill wants to encourage young people to stay in school, determine future options, and to understand that the way they behave today, along with the choices they make today, can directly impact them, their family and their community, for the rest of their lives. Goodwill counselors and employee volunteers help teens learn to make good decisions by visiting their schools and presenting a program called CHOICES. The CHOICES training consists of two one-hour interactive presentations that provide information so the students understand how they do have control over their present and their future. They learn the importance of self-discipline as a key to success and they have fun while learning!

Volunteers from Goodwill Industries and the Middle Tennessee Society for HR Management have partnered to make the presentations and fund the supplies for the program. Additional funding was provided by a grant from the Predators Foundation and United Parcel Service.

Know a classroom of eighth or ninth graders that can we can train? Call 615-346-1237.