Finch-Henry Job Corps Center has announced plans to invite local officials, neighbors, and graduates to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Job Corps program.  

The celebration kicks off with a 50th Anniversary assembly program on Tuesday, August 19 at 10 a.m. in the center’s gymnasium. 

Attorney Constance Slaughter-Harvey, who served in the administration of Governor Cliff Finch and worked closely with Dr. Aaron E. Henry, will be the speaker. 

Started in 1964 as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s war on poverty, the Job Corps program provides career technical training and education for low-income young people ages 16 through 24.  Since opening the first of what would become 125 centers, the program has trained more than 2.7 million young people.

Celebration events at Finch-Henry include student community service assignments, hosting former graduates, balloon launching, open house and the special Commencement Ceremony at the Batesville Civic Center at 2 p.m. on August 22. U.S. Senator Roger Wicker will be the speaker. 

“The staff and students are all very excited to be able to show off the skills they have learned at Job Corps,” said center director Cordella Smith.  “It is also important that we provide an opportunity to show the community all the great things that are going on at our center.”

Students from all across Mississippi come to Finch-Henry Job Corps Center. Students scheduled to graduate this month include many from the Batesville area and surrounding cities of Clarksdale, Grenada, Greenwood, Southaven, Tupelo and Memphis.

Job Corps provides hands-on training in more than 100 career technical areas ranging from automotive and machine repair to information technology and renewable resources.  The programs are aligned with industry credentials and include work-based learning.

Career training areas at Finch-Henry Job Corps Center include bricklaying, carpentry, culinary arts, nurse assistant/home health aide, material handling and distribution operation, office assistant, painting and welding. 

Job Corps is the nation’s largest and oldest federally funded career training and education program.  It enrolls nearly 60,000 students annually at 125 Job Corps centers across the country.