Just Say YES – Workplace Literacy
Plaid Sheep recently taught a two week course (January 19 – 29) in Computer Use using Microsoft Office for the Just Say YES – Workplace Literacy program in Calgary, Alberta. Just Say YES is a program focused on increasing the employability of youth in the aboriginal community. From their website:
The Just Say Y.E.S. Program offers a selection of group based workshops to develop and enhance employability skills, and work experience in active workplaces suited to assist youth in their career goals.
Just Say YES - First Nations, Metis & Inuit - A Program for Youth 17 - 30
Over two weeks the students moved from a basic introduction in computer usage, to a creating documents using the core Microsoft Office Suite of products: Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. While Microsoft Office was the tool of the lessons, Plaid Sheep focused on core computer skills in order to ensure the students are able to apply their knowledge in whatever way their careers may take them.
The course was be broken into 5 sections:
- General Computing
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Power Point
- Alternate tools and Resources
Throughout the course we used a fictitious company to demonstrate the creation of common business requirements. This created scenarios that demonstrate common business uses for Office Suite tools and the specific skills required to meet those uses; also having the side benefit of exposing students to common business terminology and documents that they will be exposed to in the workforce. Based on the student demographic (youth aged 18 – 25), the fictitious company chosen was a “Designer Clothing Company” specializing in “Designer Socks”. Each student was expected to create documents throughout the course that could be used by the company to communicate with the it’s customers and employees.
Students completed several projects and class activities over the course of the two weeks:
- Corporate Logo using Microsoft Word’s Drawing tools and Word Art
- Sales Letter using Microsoft Word
- Time Sheet using Excel
- Invoice using Excel
- Trade Show Presentation using PowerPoint
On top of Microsoft Suite of tools, attention was paid to alternate and cost effective resources, such as Google Docs and OpenOffice. We hope students find these tools empowering, allowing them access to sophisticated software regardless of cost or connectivity.
Plaid Sheep would like to thank all students for their hard work through the course of the two weeks. We hope you enjoyed learning as much as we enjoyed teaching. Congratulations to all the graduates of the program, we wish you good luck and hope you continue to expand on everything you have learned.
The Plaid Sheep