Shy. Timid. Backward.

Bobby Buis admits that up until five years ago, any of these terms would have described him perfectly.

Bobby settled into his current home in Middlesboro at age 7, when he was adopted by foster parents. Though grateful to have found a permanent home, the instability of his earlier childhood caused him to grow into an uncomfortable and withdrawn adolescent.

Now, the once “at-risk” student is a talkative, confident 19-year-old who is actively training for a career as a heavy equipment operator while holding down a part-time job. Bobby says his shyness is behind him, and he attributes his transformation to the years he spent in the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Youth Program.

“WIA has really pushed me, and helped me make it through the years,” Bobby says. “They were here to help me get through the hard times, and when I needed something all I had to do was ask.”

In July, Bobby will complete a year-long training program at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College that is preparing him to operate a bulldozer, backhoe, excavator, dump truck, and many other pieces of heavy equipment. As he looks forward to a promising future and good-paying career, Bobby recalls his WIA years as the preparation he needed to grow up, succeed in school, and enter the workforce.

“If not for WIA, I wouldn’t be working or in college getting ready for the outside world,” Bobby says.

Bobby first got involved in the WIA Youth Program when he began attending Middlesboro High School. Janet Jackson, WIA Youth coordinator with the Bell County JobSight workforce center, says she saw Bobby’s confidence blossom early on as he worked with other program participants at the local Cumberland Mountain Fall Festival.

“He helped that whole weekend, and ended up helping every year,” Janet says. “From there on, he was always the first person to volunteer to help at events and functions. He really has been one of our best participants.”

Bobby also benefited from the program’s work experience jobs that taught him essential work and interpersonal skills, according to Shawn Jones, WIA Youth Transition coordinator with the Bell County JobSight. Bobby’s jobs included working with maintenance crews at both Middlesboro Middle School and Middlesboro High School.

“Considering how shy Bobby used to be, I really don’t think he would have made it through school had it not been for WIA,” Shawn says, “and I don’t think he would have liked work very much because he wasn’t a ‘people person.’”

In addition to placing teens and young adults in both public and private-sector work experience jobs that match their interests and teach career skills, the WIA Youth Program provides a broad array of year-round services including: tutoring, study skills, alternative schooling, leadership development, mentoring, guidance and counseling. The WIA Youth Program is administered by the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program, Inc. (EKCEP), and provided locally through the Bell County JobSight operated by the Bell-Whitley Community Action Agency in Pineville.

Soon after Bobby graduated high school in May 2006, he earned a $1,000 Dell laptop computer through his participation in the JobSight’s Youth Transition Program. The transition program is a new component in the WIA Youth Program that provides youths graduating from high school the tools and information to make a successful transition to either college or employment.

Bobby and several other participants earned laptops after completing an array of scheduled summer events and workshops that helped them discover and build their job skills and point them toward careers where those skills will be most useful.

"The goal of the WIA Youth Transition Program is to provide youths graduating from high school and entering either college or employment with the tools and information they need to make a successful transition," Shawn says. "Once the youths attended and completed those activities—which went hand-in-hand with their plans for life after high school—they were rewarded with the laptops to help them remain on the right track to make a successful transition into adulthood."

Bobby says he is still proud of earning his laptop computer, which he frequently uses to complete assignments in his classes at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College. He is planning to pursue several job leads once he completes his training, including a job as a heavy equipment operator for a major construction company in Middlesboro.

“I might also try to work a custodial job with the school system,” Bobby says. “Having two jobs never hurt anybody.”

Hearing Bobby outline his work plans brings a smile to Shawn’s face.

“We’ve helped him learn a lot of leadership and ‘people’ skills through the years,” Shawn says. “Now, he talks to people, and no matter what the job is going to be, he’s going to be working somewhere.”

Bobby says his shift from shyness to success would not have been possible without his participation in the WIA Youth Program.

“I just want to stay successful,” Bobby says with a smile. “WIA helped me get where I am today, and I want to keep going.”

• • •

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