Hays County Commissioners Court recognized Gary Job Corps Groundhog week, in which GJC students shadow professionals working in the careers they are pursuing.
“The Gary Job Corps Center in San Marcos has made a positive and lasting difference in the lives of countless young Texans, and during the week of Jan. 29 to Feb. 2, 2025, proud staff, students and supporters are gathering to mark a shared history of important work and worthwhile accomplishment,” the proclamation stated. “While the no-cost career education and technical training center administered by the U.S. Department of Labor opened in March 1965, its beginnings originated in a public announcement President Lyndon B. Johnson made at his alma mater in November 1964; with that commitment, the deactivated Gary Army Air Field was transformed into what is today the largest of 125 Job Corps centers in the nation, with more than 900 male and female students living and learning on a 775-acre campus.”
Gary Job Corps has 19 programs that it offers its students.
“Gary Job Corps provides people ages 16 to 24 with opportunities to acquire skills that enable them to become more employable and independent; Gary students can earn high school equivalency credentials or certified high school diplomas, receive vocational instruction in 19 occupations in such fields as health, office administration, security, construction and manufacturing, and qualify for financial assistance to pursue higher education,” the proclamation stated. “The Gary Job Corps Center, now one of four in Texas, has seen much change over the course of the last five decades, but it has kept focus on its original mission: boosting productivity, civic engagement and prosperity by giving a hand up to young people in need.”
As the Groundhog got ready to look for his shadow, Gary Job Corps joined thousands of employers and students throughout the county who took part in the “National Groundhog Job Shadow Day” during the first week of February. Since 1999, this initiative to engage students in employment settings has paired student “shadows” with workplace mentors to demonstrate connections between academic and technical skills to careers. Above left, Kyle Chamber of Commerce, Gary Corrections Cadets shadowing during Kyle Gala. Above right, Shadowing Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra are students Via Wilson, Devin Hailey and Coordinator Ramon Navarro. Photos courtesy of Gary Job Corps
