Job Corps marks 20th anniversary Friday

PALMER — The Alaska Job Corps will celebrate its 20th anniversary Friday.

The center has invited the public to its anniversary celebration at the center in Palmer at 1 p.m., Friday. Center spokeswoman Barb Hunt said that Job Corps expects that people from all over the country and alumni from all over the state will converge at the center for the historic occasion.

“We probably had about 4,000 students graduate from here over the last 20 years from all over the state,” Hunt said.

Some of them went on to own their own companies and hire subsequent generations of Job Corps graduates.

“Eighty percent of the alumni have been successful, and they regard Job Corps as their alma mater,” Hunt said.

In the run-up to that milestone, she helped pull together stories of some of those alumni.

“It took an epic fail in my life for me to realize I needed to catch this last chance to go to Job Corps,” Katiana Bourdovosky said in her testimonial provided to Hunt.

Since graduating, Bourdovosky has worked as a wellness advocate and a victim’s advocate for her community.

“Job Corps is a wonderful opportunity to dreamers and achievers and future professionals. Job Corps is full of amazing people and a great team,” she wrote.

Becki Behm took her Job Corps experience, having graduated in 2011, and turned it into a job on the North Slope, where she’s now a supervisory cook/baker.

“I have more than one strong friendship that originated at the Alaska Job Corps,” Behm wrote. “Backgrounds do not matter. This was a wonderful time of my life.”

She said Job Corps gave her a direction in life that she hadn’t found until then.

Onni Blais refuels tankers and planes for the U.S. Army.

At Job Corps, Blais learned facility maintenance, but also grew spiritually and mentally, got physically stronger, and learned things like rock climbing, boating and crafting.

“I am now proudly a good role model. I know how to improve myself each day. I know how to learn from someone else,” Blais wrote.

For Panganga Pungowiyi, Job Corps ended a period of abuse in her life.

“I disliked and distrusted everyone when I first arrived. I had been brainwashed that no one was to be trusted, except of course, my abuser. Suddenly, at Job Corps, there were all these people smiling and offering support. It was unreal. I was suspicious. What did they want from me?” she wrote.

Now, Pungowiyi works to build her community, serving on the board of a women’s shelter and working with various groups.

“Job Corps assisted me on my journey and your program saved my life. You helped the students but you also helped the communities these students will touch,” she wrote.

Corey Crowdus said he has a great job with great people thanks to his 2011 graduation from Job Corps with an electrical certification. But some things he learned weren’t in the classroom.

“I learned was that I had both the skills and perseverance to attain my goals. I learned confidence and made enduring friendships. I learned life lessons. All of these things were far more valuable to me than all the certificates and awards I received,” he said.

Ericka Hodge, who graduated in 2010, earned a driver’s license, a personal care attendant license and a certified nursing assistant license at Job Corps.

“More importantly I developed the confidence to succeed in my career and in my life,” she wrote. “I learned to compromise. I learned how to give service to others.”

The anniversary celebration Friday will include the opening of a time capsule and music from the 1994 when the center began serving Alaska.

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270 or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.