About the Training

Purposes and Objectives

The training is designed to teach community volunteers to successfully develop a mentoring relationship with Work First participants.

At the end of the training, the volunteer will be able to:

• Support, advise, and teach skills that help Work First participants cope with problems at work and at home.
• Contribute valuable community service that strengthens the community by helping Work First participants retain jobs.

Target Population

The training is designed for adults recruited to become mentors for Work First participants.

The Training Curriculum

For a description and samples of the curriculum, see Training Curriculum.

The Training Setting

The training is designed to be fun and enjoyable as well as educational. You will create an inviting training environment by setting the correct tone. The theme of the training is coaching. You, the trainer, are conducting training for a group of coaches. The volunteers or coaches take what they learn and, in turn, use it to help their players, the Work First participants, succeed in life and on the job. Therefore, the lesson topics and all of the supporting information carry out the coach-player theme.

Set the tone from the start. Wear a coach's whistle and athletic clothing. This adds visual power to your presentation and helps connect the audience to the training concept.

Prepare nametags that refer to the volunteers as coaches. Each nametag should include the word "coach" and the volunteer's last name (example: Coach Hunt).

Use any other props that will help make this training session seem as real as possible-just like a day in training camp.

To be an effective trainer-to really reach your coaches and get them fired up-you will need to be enthusiastic, creative, and well-prepared. The payoff will be inspired community volunteers eager to get to work.

Length of Training

This training typically takes five to six hours. The time varies based on the number of participants and the amount of discussion that occurs.

Training Materials

There are three pieces of training materials associated with this training:

1. Trainer's Guide
2. Coach's Playbook
3. Player's Success Jotter

Coach's Playbook

The Coach's Playbook contains highlights of the training and other information that will be useful for building a successful one-on-one relationship with a Work First participant. This is given to volunteers that participate in the training.

Player's Success Jotter