“I love to be here…”

Just over a year ago we started a new training session. I was talking to the mother of a young lady who was going to join the class. She relayed to me her daughter was not attending school and was really done with the school process. When Bella showed up in class, she had very colorful hair and a few piercings. I am not sure if she colored her hair to match her clothing or bought clothing to match her hair. After class we were chatting, Bella said, “I don’t want to go to school because I can’t stand high school students!” She told us one story of her trying to weld in class one day and the other students were taking her personal welding tools and hiding them around the shop. Further along in the conversation Bella said, “I love to be here at VoTech because you all treat me like a real person.” I was taken aback that anyone would not treat this young lady as a person. She has shined in the 71Five VoTech Training. She even rescheduled a surgery so she could complete Phase 1 of our program. After she recovered from the surgery, she came back on a leg scooter to participate in our welding track. She was given the task of building four window grates for the Salvation Army building in Medford. She sat down and designed the grates herself and with the help of a volunteer constructed a jig to make welding the bars easier. Recently, with pride, she installed the last bolt to mount the grates to the building. We’ve seen an amazing turn around in Bella’s life. Not only has she been working on her welding skills here at VoTech, working part time at a local restaurant, she is also just a few credits short of graduating a year early from high school. We are collecting information on the projects she’s accomplished here at 71Five VoTech for her transcript and it should put her over the top for graduation.
 
Your prayers and gifts are changing the lives of young people like Bella in Jackson and Josephine Counties. Thank you!
 
JEFF KEENER,  71Five VoTech Assistant Coordinator – Medford 
(541) 890-8960 | jeffkeener@71Five.org
 
“Lord God, you are my hope. I have trusted you since I was young.” Psalm 71:5 ICB

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Hit & Miss

At 71Five VoTech – Medford we’re usually not training during this time of the year. However, we were asked to do one more 6-week class before summer break. At first this seemed like quite a stretch after a long school year. Additionally, this limits our time to prepare for the next school year. An announcement was sent out to test the interest. To our surprise we had a very large turnout for this summer session. Most of the students arrive 15-20 minutes early for each class and some stay and hang out way beyond the family style dinner we serve after class. During our group discussions at dinner, we’ve had students chatting between themselves about how going through drug rehabilitation really helped them. One of our students told us the other night, “I really need to be in 71Five VoTech right now.” Another student will be headed to college soon after graduating this session. He’s trying to prepare for independent living. One of our sessions is an introduction to the S.M.A.R.T. goal setting system, which he’s using to work through this process.
 
Sometimes we’re asked to trust God by doing what doesn’t make sense. What we thought would be hit and miss attendance has turned into a life changing six weeks for both the students and the instructors. Thank you for making these life changing encounters possible.
 
JEFF KEENER,  71Five VoTech Assistant Coordinator – Medford 
(541) 890-8960 | jeffkeener@71Five.org
 
“Lord God, you are my hope. I have trusted you since I was young.” Psalm 71:5 ICB

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EV Build

71Five VoTech – Medford just completed a cooperative project with Medford Online Academy and Central High School to build an electric vehicle kit. During this seven-week endeavor there were many, what we call, Jesus sightings. One of these was the growth seen in a young man named Jason. When he first entered our program he was very shy. When he would speak, it was so soft unless you really leaned in, you could not hear him. As we progressed through the EV car build, Jason was given the assignment to construct the main electric motor control box. This control box is the nerve center for the vehicle. He had many questions at first, but he learned quickly, and the questions became fewer. After several nights the control box was completed and installed on the vehicle. When the taillights were added to the vehicle and the wires ran into the control box Jason again went to work. This time there were no questions from Jason. Then he beamed as he told me how he had relocated some of the previously installed wires to the other side of the connection block to make the connections for the taillights. Finally, we were ready to install the main battery pack and start testing the vehicle. I asked Jason to go through and make one final check of the dozens of wires in the control box. He just smiled and said, “I don’t have to. They are correct.” When we turned on the power it worked flawlessly.
 
Isn’t it amazing how someone can speak into our lives and encourage us to do things that we would never consider trying? We are wired for so much more than we could ever imagine. We are all like Jason. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.
 
JEFF KEENER,  71Five VoTech Assistant – Medford 
(541) 890-8960 | jeffkeener@71Five.org
 
“Lord God, you are my hope. I have trusted you since I was young.” Psalm 71:5 ICB

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Measuring Up

Sometimes we all feel like we don’t measure up. At 71Five VoTech we teach basic vocational skills along with life and ‘adulting’ skills the students will need to be successful. One example is the use of a tape measure. Most students that come into our program may have seen a tape measure but never held one or attempted to figure out what the plethora of little black and red marks are used for. A couple of weeks ago, two Juvenile Justice youth were tasked with constructing an aquarium stand out of some scrap lumber at VoTech. After determining the required length, the young men took out their tape measures, marked the lumber, and cut off two spindles each with a miter saw. What I heard next was interesting, one of the students said, “You missed cutting the length of the cut by 1/32 of an inch!”
 
What a privilege it is to work with these young people each week and bring them from not knowing anything about a tape measure to getting 1/32 of an inch accuracy in constructing something. What a change in self-confidence I’ve seen in these two young men in the short time with us… not to mention all the equipping with the life skills and Christ-centered principles. Thank you for giving your funds and prayers to 71Five, you’re helping these young men “Measure Up”.
 
JEFF KEENER,  71Five VoTech Assistant Coordinator  
(541) 890-8960 | jeffkeener@71Five.org
 
“Lord God, you are my hope. I have trusted you since I was young.” Psalm 71:5 ICB

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