BATESVILLE JOB CORPS STUDENT GETS VIEW
OF CAPITOL HILL ACTION WITH SENATOR COCHRAN & STAFF
 
Lillian Herring of Jackson Follows Work of U.S. Senate Office for a Day

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and his staff today hosted Lillian Herring, a student with the Batesville Job Corps Center, for a first-hand and day-long look at the workings of a U.S. Senate office.

Herring, 20, a Jackson native, spent Wednesday in Cochran’s Washington office.  She visited with Cochran and “shadowed” the Senator’s legislative assistant for health care and other Mississippi and Appropriations Committee staff throughout the day.

“I enjoyed the opportunity to visit with Ms. Herring and to learn how the Job Corps program is helping her to guide her life on a promising and hopeful course,” said Cochran, who as the ranking Republican of the Senate Appropriations Committee has supported federal funding for the Job Corps program.

“I trust that Ms. Herring’s experiences here will add to her excitement about learning and starting a career.  That is one of the primary goals of the Job Corps program,” Cochran said.

Herring’s time with the Cochran office is part of the Job Corps celebration of its 45th anniversary.  Herring and Melissa Gleaton of Pope, Miss., were among 60 Job Corps students selected to work as a day intern in a congressional office.  Gleaton worked with the office of Senator Roger Wicker.

“It has been a true pleasure to ‘job shadow’ with Senator Cochran.  I have not only learned a lot about how things work, but I also had an opportunity to be part of the team,” Herring said of her day on Capitol Hill.

Herring earned a certified nursing assistant certificate during her first 18 months with the Job Corps Center at Batesville.  Currently enrolled in the Job Corps Advanced Career Training Program, she is a freshman studying psychology at the Northwest Mississippi Community College at Senatobia.  Herring is president of the Student Government Association at the community college.

Job Corps, administered by the U.S. Department of Labor, is a residential training program for economically disadvantaged youth, aged 16-24.  In addition to the Batesville center, Job Corps also operates training centers at Crystal Springs and Gulfport.