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By Anne Scholl-Fiedler
Last Summer (July 31 through August 4, 2006) we presented
a 5-day facilitator training at Chesapeake College on the
Eastern Shore of Maryland. This was the third training held
on the East Coast in collaboration with the Maryland
Institute for Workforce Excellence (formerly MIETP, the
Maryland Institute of Employment and Training Professionals).
Chesapeake College has a One-Stop Center with two professionals
who have already gone through the Dependable Strengths training.
They are huge supporters of the process and, in fact, make
it mandatory for their clients to go through a Dependable
Strengths workshop if they want training dollars.
There were 16 participants, including a career counselor
from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC),
where I am Director of the Career Services Center. Other participants
were workforce development professionals from the Maryland
Department of Education/Division of Rehabilitation Services
(DORS), the Maryland Department of Human Resources (DHR),
and the Maryland Department of Labor/Division of Workforce
Development (DWD).
The training was a success, and many of those who participated
are well on their way to implementing Dependable Strengths
in their organizations.
In October, Mary Nagle (my co-facilitator) and I met with
MIETP to discuss future trainings, including our most recent
offering (January 22-26, 2007) and our upcoming 5-day training,
July 23-27. Our plans for the future include the following:
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The Institute (MIETP) will continue to promote Dependable
Strengths within Maryland's education, workforce, and
social-service agencies.
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We have plans to present an overview of the DSA process
for the Maryland Workforce Development Association and
the Eastern Association of Colleges and Employers.
- A participant from January's training will be submitting
a grant proposal to the Maryland State Department of Education
for incorporating DSA in an after school program.
Anne Scholl-Fiedler, a CDS Master Trainer, is the Center
for Dependable Strengths East Coast Representative and Director
of the Career Services Center, University of Maryland, Baltimore
County.
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