In 1964, The Beatles jumped to the number one spot on the singles charts, the Ford Mustang was unveiled to the public, and President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. But what also happened 60 years ago, and directly related to the 36th president of the United States, was the opening of the Lyndon B. Johnson Job Corps in Macon County. Last week, the education center on Wayah Road celebrated this milestone anniversary with an open house to the public.
In 1964, Johnson launched his War on Poverty and Great Society initiatives; the impetus for the programs was to expand economic and social opportunities for minority and low-income Americans. A natural outgrowth of that was a Job Corps site named in his honor.
LBJ Job Corps is one of many federally funded career and training centers around the U.S., with a mission of providing education programs to equip young people with the knowledge and skills they need to achieve employment in a myriad of areas. “These centers are operated by the U.S. Forest Service and encourage students to learn in nature and work to sustain and improve the land they live on,” according to the information provided by the Wayah Road-located center.
Last Wednesday, Aug. 21, attendees to the open house had an opportunity to take a tour of the campus, visit classrooms, and partake of refreshments provided by the center’s culinary arts department. Plus, the public was able to meet students and ask them about their education experience in such fields as welding, culinary arts, bricklaying, and fire services.
According to LBJ Job Corps Liaison Specialist Keith Bowers, students sometimes have few continuing education opportunities outside of high school due to a number of factors, making career options sometimes bleak, until they learn about what Job Corps offers.
The anniversary celebration and open house was a commemoration for what LBJ Job Corps to inform the public about what it has achieved in six decades and what it intends to provide to students for many years to come.
More information about LBJ Job Corps is available at https://lyndonbjohnson.jobcorps.gov.