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Giving Kids an Early Taste of Work
School-to-career program shows children what real jobs are like
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Business New Haven
7/9/2001
By: Linda Mele
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The hands-on "School to Career" program held recently at Bungay Elementary School in Seymour is just one of many held throughout the state. It's part of the Connecticut School-To-Career (STC) system, which is based on the concept that children learn better when what they are studying has real life or real work applications.
After then-President Bill Clinton signed the School-to-Work Opportunities Act in 1994, the number of participating schools has grown dramatically since the first school districts signed on.
Connecticut's "career clusters" have been identified as:
- Arts and media
- Business and finance
- Construction: technology and design
- Environmental, natural resources and agriculture
- Government, education and human services
- Retail, tourism, recreation and entrepreneurship
- Technologies: manufacturing, communications and repair.
The 651 Bungay students had a chance to check out "Careers on Wheels" as part of the program. Counselor Nancy Staab coordinated the event and says the school will do more programs like this next year and will incorporate one or more of the state's designated career clusters.
"We're asking local businesses, parents and organizations to volunteer a day to help with a hands-on [work] experience," Staab says.
The Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA) became involved in the program is "to promote employee involvement and get businesses and people to team up with one or more schools," says Louis Saloom, CBIA's director of education and STC initiatives.
"There are 118 school districts that have approved STC plans by the state's Department of Education and well over 100 schools - mostly high schools - that have been involved with the program since its inception," Saloom says.
In addition, several thousand businesses have been involved since the program began, according to Saloom.
The day-long program at Bungay featured six different vehicles stationed in the parking lot.
A representative from each company was on hand to explain and demonstrate what he/she did during the day, which also involved the vehicle.
There was an ambulance from the Seymour Ambulance Corps, a cherry picker from Belletti's Total Tree Service, a police car from the New Haven Police Department (one of New Haven officer's children attends the school), a plow from the Seymour Department of Public Works, a dive-rescue truck from the Seymour Police Department and a tow truck from Sardo's Automotive in Ansonia.
"The kids were very excited," says business manager June Marcucio. "They like the hands-on experience. If they could they would drive the [ambulance] up and down the parking lot."
Third-grader Eric Santiago, eight, said having the vehicles there was "great."
"I like the dive-rescue truck the best. I didn't know we had one and I want to know more," Santiago said.
Nine-year-old Hania Zaman says the experience was "great" and very interesting. "It was better seeing them than just reading about them."
Jennifer Ricaurte, nine, called the program "cool. I thought it was a neat idea to have them all here so we could see them," she said.
First-grade teacher Jill Dojny says the children will "take home the excitement and, hopefully, remember the experience when they get older."
The CBIA has even developed an STC Institute to educate employers and schools about the initiative as well as legal and liability issues, model school-to-career practices, student training plans, the Connecticut Career Certificate, tax credits and how to implement a program.
For more information about how your business can become involved or to find out which schools in your region have School-To-Career programs, contact 860-244-1900 or visit the CBIA Web site, www.cbia.com/home.htm.
If your school wants to become a part of the initiative, check out the state Department of Education's Web site (www.state.ct.us/sde/).
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