Ron Story talks fast but he's not a fast talker. He's perpetually busy, but he's not the kind of busy man who can't find time for anyone.
He's got plenty of time to share credit for all his good deeds. He mentions Cory Bowman, Ira Harkavy, David Smith and Clint Davidson--all from Penn--and he mentions James Lytle, the principal at University City High School. He mentions Penn VIPS (Penn Volunteers in Public Service), WEPIC (West Philadelphia Improvement Corps) and the Center for Community Partnership--all Penn-based community service programs; and he mentions United Way Volunteers, the Center for Literacy, the West Philadelphia Partnership. He mentions a lot more people, a lot more programs.
He also has plenty of time for his good deeds.
His most recent good deed is the University City High School-University of Pennsylvania School-to-Work Program, which he began coordinating half time in February, with Penn and the School District splitting the cost of his being there. In this program, his volunteer work has merged with his career.
The program, which serves more than 60 students at a time, teaches them job-readiness skills and sets them up with unpaid and then paid work experience. Before Story began working at University City High School (UCHS) part time, he wrote the curriculum for the program and taught the workshops. But that wasn't enough.
It's the one-on-one counseling that he thinks makes all the difference.
"Penn committed to my being on site. That was key," he said. "I'm now seeing the kids and know who they are. I work with their school counselor to [learn more about them and to] help direct their career.
Ronald Story talks to some students during their computer class at University City High School about the School-to-Work program.
"It's more than just saying here's how you look for a job," he said. The students have no role models. "A lot of the kids' parents didn't work in a career or hold a job. ... A lot have never worked a summer job. A lot of my attitude came from the opportunity to work at summer jobs. These are families without a work ethic."
His volunteer work has generally been related to his career. He's a staffing and recruitment specialist in Human Resource Services, specializing in the Veterinary and Medical Schools, with a background in career development and counseling.
When Director of Human Resource Services David Smith gets invitations to participate in career-related programs for the community, he puts Story on the job. Story goes to career days at churches at the drop of a hat. Representing Penn, he helped the West Philadelphia Partnership create a job-referral program and a "Hire West Philadelphia" program. He also worked with the Partnership and the School District of Philadelphia on a program, also housed in UCHS, to help single parents and displaced homemakers get work. For WEPIC he ran "Job Search Tune-up" workshops for three semesters. He was available for mentoring day and for student tours. He gives mock interviews and resume counseling for just about any group that asks. And that's just scraping the surface.
Story credits Cory Bowman, assistant director of the Penn Program for Public Service, with starting the School-to-Work program. "Bowman asked if it was possible," Story said.
It was.
"It was a hard sell to the teachers, who say you're sugar-coating vocational ed," said Story, describing the growing pains of getting the program started. But he persisted because he saw the students were not employable by time they graduated high school, and he wanted to help them.
The workshops Story developed "acclimate the kids to the work world," said Story. "Problems exist you wouldn't think of."
He tells the tale of a UCHS student working for the Health System, who walked 12 blocks to work, but didn't know how to catch the bus.
"When winter came, she was going to quit," he said. She didn't want to walk 12 blocks in the bad weather. "She got tokens, so that wasn't the issue. Her parents didn't know how to catch the bus, either." Fortunately, Story learned of her plan and her reason, and easily solved the problem.
He continues to be amazed at how much help the students need and how much pleasure it gives him to provide that help.
He remembers a time he was doing resume counseling three years ago for a Penn youth employment program targeted to students from West Philadelphia High School. A young man showed him a resume showing no work experience. The student had a 3.8 average, was on honor roll, and had spent his summers in PRIME, a Penn program targeted to minority students with an interest in engineering. Finally, Story asked the student about his volunteer work. The student said, "I volunteer at my church."
"What do you do at the church?" asked Story.
"I'm the banquet manager."
"He was the banquet manager of one of the largest churches in the African-American community. The church can seat 300 to 400 people," Story said in disbelief, and in pleasure at having such a quick fix for the resume.
What Story loves about the work is watching the students grow. "Working with youth, you can see their development over a two-to-three week period of time," he said. "There's immediate gratification. ... You can actually see their attitudes change. The sky's the limit when applying it to kids. They're still developing."
He added that he hoped the article could mention thanks to all the schools and departments at Penn that hire the kids for internships.
Return to Compass Features for April 22, 1997