Walgreens Pharmacy in Owensboro, Kentucky, has joined the growing list of community businesses and organizations that provide Work-Based Learning (WBL) experiences for MCDC students.
Walgreens accepted its first MCDC student, Pharmacy Tech student Merichelle Johnson, at the end of October for a 12-week WBL experience. Merichelle, working under the supervision of a certified pharmacy technician, has been helping pharmacy staff by counting and restocking medications.
A second MCDC student, Rasheka Kelly, who is in the business technology program, began work at Walgreens Owensboro store this past week, and is doing photo processing, stocking, price changing and customer service. Both students work three days a week for approximately 21 hours a week. While the positions are unpaid ones, the experience these students gain is invaluable.
Walgreens is one of 12 community-based WBL sites. MCDC currently has 12 students working at off-center WBL sites on an unpaid basis; seven working at off-center sites on a paid basis; and six students working at on-center WBL sites.
These sites provide students with some of the required 360 WBL hours they must complete as part of their program requirement. Students can meet these required hours in a number of ways besides the 12-week WBL experience, including participating in job shadowing events, going on program-related field trips; completing internships; attending program-related lectures by guest speakers; and completing program-related community service projects. Students who participate in the 12-week WBL assignments have nearly completed their career technical training programs and have been selected for their maturity, work ethic and job-related skills.
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MCDC Pharmacy Tech student Merichelle Johnson meets with WBL Coordinator Ann Cisney to discuss her work at Walgreens. Merichelle is the first student to do WBL at the Walgreens Pharmacy in Owensboro, Kentucky. |
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