Press Releases

Los Angeles area students graduate from Shell Youth Training Academy: 95 students successfullly complete jobs training program

11/06/2004

On Saturday, June 12, nearly 500 people will assemble at the University of Southern California to witness and celebrate the graduation of 95 Los Angeles area students from the Shell Youth Training Academy (SYTA).

For more than a decade, the Los Angeles SYTA has provided practical job-training programs to inner-city high school students that enhanced their employment opportunities and enabled them to make contacts in the working world. After completion of training, Shell partnered with local employees to provide students with paid internships giving students the opportunity to experience the corporate work environment and to identify and strive to meet employer expectations. Partnering companies also provided mentors to help students understand and fulfill these expectations.

The graduation class of 2004 will join approximately 1,500 former graduates who have benefited from the SYTA program since its inception in 1993. More than 90 percent of these graduates have furthered their education and/or obtained full-time jobs with career development opportunities.

“After 18 weeks of learning job entry skills, such as resume writing, computer training and workplace ethics, the 2004 graduates will now be better equipped to realize their post-secondary education or career goals,” said David Burrow, Regional Manager of Western Region for Shell Oil Products US.

The audience at Saturday’s graduation ceremony will include representatives from Shell, local public officials and educators as well as participating mentoring companies. The event will take place at 12 Noon in the University of Southern California’s Town & Gown Ballroom.

Shell’s social investment strategy includes establishing partnerships that address critical community needs and then developing them into successful, self-sustaining projects.  The SYTA is a model example of how the strategy is intended to work. After 12 years of growth and demonstrated success, the SYTA program is now ready to transition to new management. Effective June 30, 2004, the program will be transferred to a new Los Angeles Unified School District partnership with the Southern California Youth and Family Center, an organization deeply committed to youth development and the Los Angeles community.

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