The Beacon School is preparing its students to enter the workforce by teaching them entrepreneurial skills and job readiness.

The school's vocational program began as an idea of the previous principal, Sheryl Wood, and was carried on by current principal, Titi McKenzie-Moss, who recognized the lack of job opportunities for graduating students.

"When students graduate from The Beacon School, they graduate with a leaving certificate, not a high school diploma," she said. "We wanted to make sure our students left with more than a 'thank you for attending The Beacon School'. We wanted them to leave with a vocation or trade under their belt."

The students learn at the sheltered workshop neighboring the main school campus on Frobisher Drive which has The Potter's Barn, Jazz Café, Arcy's Bath & Body, and KJ's Transformers Car Wash and Tune-up.

The sheltered workshop is open to members of the public who help fund the program by buying items, food, or services created by the students from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

The Potter's Barn is where students create and sell pottery items with the brand name 'A Piece of Grand Bahama' as they are made from Bahamian red clay sourced from the eastern part of the island.

At the Jazz Café, cooking skills are taught as the students learn to manage the small bistro-style café, while Arcy's Bath & Body Shop teaches them how to make their own lip balms, soaps, body butters, and lotions with natural products.

More service industry experience is obtained and basic mechanical skills are taught at KJ's Transformers Car Wash and Tune-up which McKenzie-Moss noted "boasts repeat weekly clientele and stellar service".

The program supervisor, Hazel Adams, said it helps the students grow as individuals.

"One of the aims of the program is to develop their own skills ... some of the soft skills like leadership," Adams said.

"We see they're less introverted and more willing to reach out, communicate with their friends, communicate with strangers, and we've seen that for most of our students."

Adams said the students were able to explore and invest in their ideas like creating their own recipes.

Beacon School teachers and program volunteers Genya Brown and Ethel Cooper believe the vocational program has helped in other ways as well.

"We are also learning not only about food preparation, which is what is involved in the hospitality industry, but also looking at it from a nutritional aspect," Brown said.

She noted that students are able to learn consumer education, resource management, and financial literacy.

Cooper added that the program also allowed students to feel validated in their own ideas, preferences, and creativity in a non-judgmental space.

"The students [through the pottery program] get the opportunity ... to create anything because whatever you create is not wrong," she said.

"I try to allow them to present it and say why did you choose to do this thing."

For senior high students Justin Miller and Levar Laing, the sheltered workshop has been a safe space for them to realize their dreams and capabilities.

"I'm not used to getting out of my comfort zone a lot, so this program helps me a lot," Laing said.

"One of the things I would like to do is to help or just like be a psychiatrist or something and to help other people with the same thing that I had."

Miller stated, "I get to make things with my own hands. It's one of the best feelings in the world."

He added, "I actually want to be a pastry chef and have my own pastry shop somewhere and call it Just-In."

The program proved to be a major benefit to graduating student Stephen Rolle who completed the National Training Agency program and now does clerical work at the Department of Social Services.

"I've learned pretty much how to work at a work establishment, mainly in the restaurant, and I learned how to properly handle money and deal with customers," Rolle said.

He said he looks back fondly at his time in the program as it gave him the confidence to enter the workforce and be self-assured in his own skills in an encouraging environment.

Though the vocational program is thriving, Adams said assistance is still needed and said they are looking for volunteers, customers, or donations as the school wishes to expand the workshop's operating days in order to provide an income for the students and to continue to encourage them.

"Once you have that self-confidence, you're on the road to achieving," Adams said. "Going after that drive, that tenacity, that love for learning and succeeding is always going to be there and there's nothing better. It's been a dream come true for the children."

Individuals or businesses who wish to donate or volunteer can do so by contacting McKenzie-Moss at The Beacon School at 352-8445.

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