Spotlight: Gail Joubert

AmeriCorps Program Alumna

By Heather Villars

 

Gail Joubert was recently hired as a Case Manager at the Center for Career Alternatives (CCA), a WDC partner and host of the WorkSource Youth Center. After spending two years as a member of the Snohomish County AmeriCorps Program, sponsored by the Snohomish County Workforce Development Council (WDC), Gail was ready for the transition to regular work life. I sat down with Gail over coffee to discuss her history with the AmeriCorps Program, her passion for at-risk teens, and her joy at being part of the solution for our community's kids.

 

HV: Tell me a little about your two years of service in the AmeriCorps Program.

GJ: During my first year of service, I was placed at the Freshman Academy and Weston High School in Arlington. I worked with at-risk youth in an alternative school setting, working on job preparedness, life skills, and many service learning projects.

 

Then, for my second year, I served at Everett Housing Authority's Grandview Community Center. I worked as the School Liaison for North Middle School and Everett High School. I was in the schools working with the youth from the Grandview Community, in lunch study programs, and in the ESL/ELL class at North Middle School. Really it would take forever to explain all the things I did as an AmeriCorps member, but that is a basic overview.

 

As a second year member I also had the opportunity to attend Leader Corps, which is a gathering of AmeriCorps members from across the northwest who have been chosen based on their leadership abilities to attend a two-part intensive training on National Service Leadership. It was an amazing think-tank of very passionate people who are out there trying to make a change in the world through service.

 

HV: What do you do at the Center for Career Alternatives?

GJ: I'm a Case Manager, which means that I work one-on-one with at-risk teens providing personalized support to gain employment, pass the GED, acquire life skills and job skills, and eventually succeed in adulthood. At CCA the teens are given opportunities to overcome the barriers that prevented them from succeeding in the mainstream education system. They also have the opportunity to explore other options such as Job Corps or Everett Community College's Youth Re-engagement program.

 

HV: What has your transition been like as you've made the move from two years as an AmeriCorps Member to now working a full-time job?

GJ: The transition has been really pretty simple for me. I met a lot of people when I was an AmeriCorps member—in my second year of AmeriCorps, I worked on various projects in the community with Teena Ellison, my site supervisor, which allowed me to gain an inside perspective on the Everett community. I had the opportunity to network with a lot of teen service providers in the community. When my two years of service were complete, I found myself with a lot of connections to people, which helped me find my job at CCA.

 

Moving to CCA has been an easy transition for me as well because I am doing the work that I enjoyed in AmeriCorps. Granted, there is a lot more paperwork, but I still get to work with the youth in the same capacity as before.

 

HV: What skills did you learn as an AmeriCorps Member that you benefit from in your current position?

GJ: I definitely learned a lot about leadership, and working in a team, and being accountable. In my two years in AmeriCorps I gained the skills necessary to work with at-risk teens, through various trainings as well as mentoring from site supervisors and other employees at the sites I worked at.

 

It was through my time in AmeriCorps I realized my connection with at-risk teens and my desire to help them, and the importance of being a positive role model in their lives. It really has become a passion of mine to be able to inspire youth that have spent their lives being put down by the circumstances they find themselves in.

 

HV: What do you miss most about being an AmeriCorps member?

GJ: I miss having more time with youth. I love the teens I'm working with at CCA, but I also have to fill out a lot of paperwork and do some administrative tasks, which means a lot of desk time. When I was an AmeriCorps member, I spent almost all of my time with teens actually doing projects and implementing activities.

 

I also miss being part of a team that was designed to support you and ensure your success. And beyond the team, I miss being part of a national service movement. I was really proud to be part of something that was so much bigger than just me, or my team, or my county, even. I felt proud to serve my country in a way that also allowed me to work with at-risk teens.

 

HV: What's the best part of your job?

GJ: I really like working with the kids that everyone else has labeled “bad.” I think that the "bad" kids are really the most down-to-earth kids, the most real. I was labeled a “bad” kid too, so I know where they're coming from. I appreciate the struggles that they go through, and I like being part of the support network that offers solutions to them.

 

HV: What's the most challenging part of your job?

GJ: Really, my job isn't challenging, it's a joy. But the one thing that gets me down the most is seeing just what the youth I serve are up against. I often meet these amazing young people who have so many barriers they have to fight against just to be “normal” and succeed, and it makes me frustrated because, really, they're just kids.

 

HV: If you were a tree, what tree would you be?

GJ: I think I would be a quaking aspen. Quaking aspens get their names from their leaves, they're flat and they turn their pale undersides over in the wind, which shows you which direction the wind is blowing. I think I'm like that too: I go with the flow and am flexible with whatever comes at me.

Know someone connected to the WorkSource system who should be interviewed for Spotlight? Contact Heather Villars at (425) 921-3439 or by email.