Riverside County program helps recent high school graduates learn job skills – Press Enterprise

It was the first day on the job at Walgreens on Murrieta Hot Springs Road and high school student Saleem Stephens admits it wasn’t the best start.

A co-worker asked him to move a box and when Stephens did, he dropped it because it was much heavier than expected.

“It just shattered everywhere,” he said of the box of 80 bottles of wine.

He cleaned it up and learned the valuable lesson of being careful when lifting a box.

“They (his bosses) weren’t mad because they knew I was learning,” he said.

That he is, along with other just-graduated seniors at Vista Murrieta High School who are part of the Transition Partnership Program, a partnership between the school, Riverside County and the state.

Stephens, Lauren Campagna and Austin Thatcher have local jobs through the program and are learning how to be professional, punctual, and responsible, as well as developing a work ethic — skills usually not in a school curriculum.

Thatcher, who works at Grocery Outlet on Winchester Road stocking shelves, said he carries a radio as part of his job and got a call one day. He thought he might be in trouble, but instead was being told to assist an elderly man with a cane.

“I helped him shop,” he said. “It felt good. I love helping people.”

Asked what he learned, Thatcher said, “Respect your elders for one.”

Campagna, who works at the Grocery Outlet on Los Alamos Road, has been made a permanent employee and will be in charge of the store’s health and beauty department, said Justin Haskins, who owns the store with his wife Carla.

They’ve had about five students working at the store since it opened in 2022 and only one hasn’t been hired on as a regular employee.

He said the program “is a huge advantage to us” because he can train the workers, but not have to pay them while they do it.

“I’m able to work with them and instill some work ethic,” Justin Haskins said.

Student salaries are paid through public funding, said Sheilli Wozalek, a program assistant with the county Office of Education.

Thirty-three high schools in 16 districts in Riverside County take part in the program, she said.

Among the southwest Riverside County high schools taking part are Murrieta Mesa and Murrieta Valley, Chaparral in Temecula and Lakeside in Lake Elsinore.

Carrie Hamilton, the Vista Murrieta teacher who’s been involved with the program for more than 15 years, said she teaches job exploration, workplace readiness and learning, self-advocacy, post-high school counseling and financial literacy.

“The final goal is for students to have a plan when they graduate from high school,” she said.

The day we talked, she said she got a note from a student thanking her for the “invaluable knowledge” the person learned.

“I truly appreciate all the effort you put into helping us succeed and prepare for the future,” the student wrote.

Campagna, who wants to be a nutritionist or a dietician eventually, said she’s grateful she got her first job through the program.

Stephens said his job makes him feel more productive, “instead of being lazy around the house.”

He wants to be a plumber and attend a trade school.