Jennings School District and CVS Health recently announced a new workforce development partnership that will provide a wide array of job experiences and on-the-job training for area high school students through the school’s new mock pharmacy.
The mock pharmacy is nearly identical to a real CVS location. Aisles are stocked with typical drugstore products, the walls are plastered with CVS posters and core values (innovation, collaboration, caring, integrity, and accountability), and a large desk and functional cash register stand at the front of the room.
Students from the Special School District, Jennings High School, as well as the alternative school, will have the opportunity to gain customer service and stocking experience, as well as other business-related skills, such as ordering supplies, in the new mock pharmacy. Students will gain class credit for participating in the mock pharmacy program and be able to complete customer service certifications during their training.
Students who complete the program will have the opportunity to gain internship experience at a CVS location nearby. Interns who excel during their in-store experience may be offered employment at the CVS location and be paid $11 an hour. In fact, one student has already been offered a position at a local CVS location.
Jennings Superintendent Art McCoy emphasized that the new workforce development was a collaborative effort between representatives of CVS Health, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce, and Jennings High School students Devon Towsend and Zion Smith, who helped to install the mock pharmacy. According to McCoy, conversations regarding the opening of the facility began in April of last year.
McCoy also mentioned that the mock store is the first of its kind “in the entire state of Missouri.”
Leslie Reis, senior manager of CVS Workforce Initiatives and Development Programs, stated that factors such as accountability and collaboration are core values of the company, adding that ensuring that the diversity of in-store talent reflects that of the community it serves is of utmost importance.
Reis said she is hopeful that students will walk away from the mock pharmacy training site with increased comfort and adaptability within a retail environment.
Rhonda Key, the district director of Secondary Education Partnerships and principal at Jennings High School, called the program’s ability to target special needs students “a blessing,” emphasizing that that the partnership also provides a “hands-on” experience.
According to Key, some of the goals of the program include helping special needs students get hired, earn a living, and become independent.
Representatives of both CVS Health, and Jennings School District shared similar visions for the partnership and expressed optimism that the program will continue to expand and positively impact members of the community.
In order to be a part of the program, they agreed, a student must simply have the desire to “work and learn.”
