Greater Albany Public Schools is hiring standby drivers to cover bus routes during driver shortages. This is a great way to contribute to your local district and explore a possible new career path.
Training is provided. Read applicant qualifications and how to apply.
Watch this video from the Transportation Department to learn more about bus driver positions in GAPS:
Schools are closed for winter break. See you on Jan. 2, 2018!
Thirty volunteers helped Waverly’s 300 students in kindergarten through fifth grade do their Christmas shopping before leaving for winter break.
The fourth annual Waverly Elementary School Spirit of Giving event is a school and community favorite that brings volunteers and donations to the school so students can shop for holiday gifts.
Each student is allowed to choose a gift for each member of their family. There are more than 1,000 gift items to choose from. The gifts are made possible through community donations and a $1,000 donation from Walmart that allows the school to purchase in-demand gifts such as board games and gifts for men. “Without the Walmart grant, it would be hard to have enough gifts,” said counselor Ann Bailey.
The volunteers come in to help with set-up, gift wrapping, shopping assistance and tear-down. “We have beautiful and generous community members,” said Baily. “We couldn’t do this without them.”
This year’s event brought an extra special guest to the school. Linn County Judge Daniel Murphy visited every classroom to hand out candy canes and hugs.
The 30th annual Albany Chamber of Commerce Youth Job Fair brought more than 1,300 high school seniors, including all seniors at Albany Options School, South Albany and West Albany high schools, to Linn Benton Community College this week.
GAPS sends all high school seniors every year to complete students’ career education requirement for graduation.
High school teachers say it reinforces the messages that students learn about work and careers and it provides an opportunity to practice in a low-risk environment. “Students learn the routine of seeking and pursuing a job and preparing to apply and interview,” said SAHS teacher Denee Newton. “It validates what we’ve told them.”
“During the interviews, they are learning that they will be judged on how they present themselves,” said SAHS teacher Katie Gisler. “Your appearance matters.”
“The students had an incredible time and came back to school feeling inspired and excited for their futures,” said AOS counselor Anna Harryman. “Many Juniors commented to me the following day about how they’re looking forward to the event next year after hearing their peers talk about it.”
The event offers students who will soon be entering the workforce or pursuing career training an opportunity to learn more about careers and practice job seeking skills.
Students cycle through three sessions: a resource fair that includes industry representatives who can answer questions and set up application interviews, an inspirational speaker, and mock interviews that allow students to practice interview skills. Each student can interview twice. Interviews are conducted by 250 volunteers. Some interviewees offer jobs to students during this mock interview process.
The event is part of the Chamber’s Pipeline to Jobs project to help students find meaningful work and employers find qualified workers. It is billed as a community program to provide career guidance to our most important resource – the youth of Linn and Benton counties.
“It is a huge collaborative effort, and the community is so supportive,” said Josefine Fleetwood, executive director of the Pipeline Project. “We couldn’t provide the extensive opportunities we provide without support from employers.
Albany Options also contributed community service time to the event. The 34 students who attended stayed after the event to take down all of the tables and chairs as well as clean up the whole gymnasium where the mock interviews were held.
On Monday, the School Board honored Student All-Stars from Liberty Elementary School for earning the highest scores on the 2016-17 state assessments in language arts, math and science.
The students were introduced by Principal Tracy Day. Liberty students are:
Sam Howard, fifth-grade English language arts; Calista Cwmcwlamare, fourth-grade English language arts; Amelia Kidd, third-grade English language arts; Porter Rose, fifth-grade math and science; Wyatt Morse, fourth-grade math; and Liam Finley, third-grade math.