RICHMOND, Va. -- At the Richmond SPCA you'll find dogs and cats looking for a forever home. And you'll find students looking for an opportunity.
A partnership between the Northstar Career Academy, a technical education center for alternative learners and students with disabilities, and the Richmond SPCA, is helping students learn job skills.
"The students are going to clean some cages in our treatment room," Tabitha Treloar, with the Richmond SPCA, said. "And they're going to help prep supplies, syringes, restock the room."
Northstar Career Academy Veterinary Assistant Teacher Tricia Doria will tell you how important this partnership can be.
"They get way more when they utilize what they learned in the classroom and they transfer it over into an actual business," she said. "And they need that little extra ‘umph’ for social skills and patience and learning and environment."
"These are all job skills that can be used to attain employment," Treloar added. "Whether it's in a boarding facility or a veterinary office as an assistant and the students have really thrived in these roles."
Building Better Minds with Rob Cardwell airs Wednesdays on CBS 6 News at 6 a.m.
