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Youth Employment Series (YES) November 16-18, 2018 Creating Your Best Self through Mind and Body: Ingredients for Personal Empowerment

In November, join the LightHouse Youth Employment Series, YES, workshop focusing on the importance of personal wellbeing in establishing self-confidence. Blind and low vision mentors and professionals will share tools and strategies for creating positive habits, establishing a confident image, as well as embodying this confidence as they pursue employment and social success. Youth will have the opportunity to tryout exciting fitness activities, learn positive time and stress management skills, experiment with delicious and fun food recipes all while connecting with blind and low vision peers and mentors as they learn the importance of effective workplace readiness and skills to access work and academic opportunities.

YES workshops are monthly weekend-long learning experiences emphasizing the vocational enrichment of low vision and blind youth, increasing and providing access to a multifaceted array of mentorship, employment readiness skills, and alternative accessible techniques. The YES Workshop in November will empower students with the tools to present themselves with confidence, learn strategies to develop habits for maintaining personal wellbeing as well as develop the imperative soft skills needed to achieve personal success. The weekend is spent learning from blind and low vision mentors and engaging in creative hands-on activities which further support youth to explore and achieve their individualized and professional aspirations.

Workshop Learning Objectives:
1. Participants will learn and hone crucial work-place readiness soft skills (time and stress management, effective communication, collaboration, etc.) and how these skills relate to personal confidence and success in and outside of the home.
2. Transitional age youth will elevate their attitude and awareness in a variety of opportunities from accessing health and wellness resources in their communities to building positive habits for personal and professional growth.
3. Students will participate in interactive activities as they plan, prepare for, and execute goals for confidence building and a variety of settings from academics, cooking, social, to employment.
4. The over-night nature of the YES workshop provides opportunities for students to refine their workplace readiness soft skills including effective social and professional communication and independent living all while building community with their blind and low vision peers.

Things to Bring:
1. A notetaking device or implement (braille note, pen, slate and stylus, phone with keyboard, laptop, etc.). You will be asked to complete activities electronically.
2. Necessities you may need such as any orientation and mobility tools to travel safely, money for transportation to and from the workshop, or personal medication.

If you are interested in participating in the November YES Weekend Workshop, please:
1. Contact your Department of Rehabilitation counselor to discuss workshop attendance and authorization.
2. Confirm attendance with Ann Wai-Yee Kwong, Transition Program Specialist, by email at youth@lighthouse-sf.org or by phone at 415-694-7328. If you have any questions or would like to pay for your participation in the workshop, please contact youth@lighthouse-sf.org. Each workshop costs $950 to attend for the entire weekend. Please note, space for this program is limited to 15 students and workshop attendance must be confirmed one week prior. DOR authorizations must be received by November 12th.