You’ve heard of the BOSS Bus but what in the world is it? Every summer, community members and businesses donate their time to educate a group of youth affected by foster care about potential future careers. The BOSS Bus is quite literally a bus that takes youth around to businesses to explore potential career opportunities.
B.O.S.S = Belonging. Opportunity. Support. Success.
Local businesses expand career visions, provide opportunities, develop interests, spark passions, and show support for youth impacted by foster care.
The BOSS Bus debuted in 2022, and it has grown from there. The initial idea came when Utah Foster Care wanted to find a way to involve local businesses. From there the BOSS Bus was born. Youth have been able to visit businesses like Crumbl, Swire, Coca Cola, Hammerton Lighting, Entrata, Bucked Up, Pioche Village, and more. They have even learned from successful leaders like Kenneth Boggs and Adam Edmunds. There is always amazing swag and fun activities scattered throughout the day as well.
Career Exploration
The purpose of the BOSS Bus is to not only provide a great day of fun, learning, and socializing, but to spark these young minds into what they can do and become someday. The sky is the limit, and we want each youth to be empowered to follow their dreams.
Various types of industries are chosen so that youth can learn about a variety of options. Companies will show the youth around their facility, explain the various roles and positions they hire for, and educate our youth on what types of education or technical requirements would be needed for each role. The youth get to ask questions and see behind the scenes of how these businesses run. Often there are even hands on experiences. Wearing hard hats in the distribution areas, trying out welding, frosting cookies, and powder coating light fixtures are just a few of the hands-on experiences these youth have participated in.
This program is not possible without community involvement. Thank you to the many community partners and businesses that have donated their time and resources to make the BOSS Bus possible. By giving these youth exposure to various types of future careers, you are changing the future. Thank you!
If you are a foster family and have a teen aged 15-19 that would like to join the next BOSS Bus, please reach out to your Retention Specialist for upcoming dates.
If you are a business that is interested in educating youth affected by foster care about your line of work and would like to be considered for an upcoming BOSS Bus, please contact us.