Word: carrasco
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...programs. Of those who graduate, 96% have been placed in jobs, and the vast majority stay employed for the long term. With that record, the El Paso center has ranked No. 1 for the past ten years among the 107 Job Corps units in the U.S. Declares Director David Carrasco: "The community is sold on us. We're turning out a proven product...
Nearly everyone gives the credit to Carrasco. A onetime Peace Corpsman and athletic director at American University in Washington, the 68-year-old "Mr. C.," as he is known, enforces a boot-camp regimen. He and his 23 instructors impose fines and extra chores on students who fail to keep their rooms clean or who litter the yards. The youths must stay on the eight-acre grounds except on weekends and Wednesday nights, when they are granted leave. They put in an eleven-hour day of training, academic instruction, physical exercise and cleanup. The youths train...
...reform-school ambience is essential, Carrasco believes, because nearly all the trainees are dropouts (average age: 17) and have been in scrapes with the law or have had trouble at home. But all sign up voluntarily, usually after repeatedly failing to get a job. They endure the regimen partly because of parental pressure, which Carrasco helps to generate by visiting his students' families at home. "We involve the parents at every turn," he explains. "We correct the notion that their children are 'our' responsibility. Hell, no. We have to work together...
...Carrasco gives his charges plenty of incentives, including cash bonuses of $25 to the Corps Member of the Month and $15 for outstanding arts-and-crafts work. He encourages esprit-building projects: the trainees are refurbishing several old trolley cars to be operated as tourist attractions in El Paso. Alumni success stories serve as sources of inspiration. After being hired as a switchboard operator, a young woman wrote the center saying "This check will make me the first in my family not to be eligible for food stamps...
When nothing else works, the intimidating presence of the 220-lb. Carrasco, a champion boxer in his college days, can make the difference. "He's a top sergeant, shouting 'This is your last chance! Without training, you're going nowhere!' " recalls Alumnus Carlos Porras, now a tobacco salesman who owns a house complete with swimming pool...