CANTON — Superintendent-Director Jill Rossetti and School to Career Partnership Coordinator Jonathan Pryor would like to provide an update regarding the Blue Hills School to Careers 2023-24 school year programming and opportunities.
The Blue Hills School to Careers (STC) brings private and public organizations together through industry-specific seminars, business site visits, classroom speakers, mentorships, internships, job shadow days, professional Q&A panels and more to enrich student learning. Students from seven diverse town high schools and middle schools (Avon, Canton, Dedham, Holbrook, Milton, Norwood and Randolph), along with Blue Hills Regional Technical School students, participate in the Blue Hills STC Partnership program.
Throughout the 2023-24 school year, Coordinator Pryor has worked with community partners to bring more opportunities to students this school year and beyond. Opportunities include:
Trade Expos: The School to Careers Program has identified several opportunities for students to learn and network at trade shows/expos. The program has partnered with the Metro South/West Workforce Board to bring its trade expos to all STC partner schools. The expo features hands-on demonstrations and tutorials in various fields and representatives from area colleges with construction management degree programs speak to those in attendance.
The STC has also partnered with South Shore Hospital to host an expo led by staff from South Shore Health and area colleges that offer healthcare programs. This expo will introduce students to a variety of career options, the education required of these careers, training and/or licensure/certification necessary to succeed, along with ideas on how students may start preparing themselves now.
Additionally, the STC will offer a First Responders Expo in partnership with the Metro South/West Workforce Board. Additional details will be shared at a later date.
Site Visits: Throughout the school year, the STC program provides several opportunities for students to partake in site visits. The STC has recently partnered with the Navy Talent Acquisition Group of New England to bring career education specialists from its partner school to Jacksonville, Florida where they will tour Navy ships and aircrafts, in addition to meeting U.S. Navy Sailors.
Dimeo, Dellbrook JKS and Columbia Construction have also agreed to allow any STC partner school to participate in site visits at largescale commercial sites to discover the various career opportunities that are available within the construction industry.
Conferences, Conventions and Seminars: Juniors and seniors from participating STC schools are invited to attend Bridgewater State University’s Education and Health Sciences Outreach Conference in the spring. The conference is specifically geared toward high school students interested in pursuing a career in education and includes several breakout sessions on various topics related to education.
Additionally, Bridgewater State University’s (BSU) Education and Health Sciences Outreach sponsors the Project Invention Convention each year, which is open to all participating STC schools. Project Invention Convention is designed to give middle school students in grades 5-8 the opportunity to explore the world of science, technology, engineering and mathematics and work as part of a team while enjoying the process of collaboratively creating an invention. Teachers choose 6-8 students to participate and they start planning their invention ideas, which leads to building their invention prototype that is presented to a group of judges at BSU in June.
Participating schools are also invited to attend the Neponset River Regional Chamber of Commerce Student Leadership Seminar. At this seminar, students will hear from professionals about their careers, education and insights on transitioning from high school to further education and beyond
Hands-On, Experiential Learning: The STC program provides participating schools with several opportunities for students to get hands-on learning experience and gain college credits.
Through its partnership with Wentworth Industry Corps, the STC allows participating schools to partake in the School of Management and the School of Computing and Data Science’s Construction and Technology Pathway and Analytics and Information Technology Pathway. These pathways provide tuition-free educational credentials that equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to work full-time on a job site, or to continue their education at the Wentworth Institute of Technology and earn a bachelor’s degree or other credentials to further their career.
JC Cannistraro will also offer participating schools’ students with the Heavy Metal Summer Experience program. As part of the program, participants will spend a week in mechanical contractor JC Cannistraro’s working fabrication shop receiving hands-on mentorship from master tradespeople. This is a free, educational experience that interested students must apply to take part in. Breakfast, lunch, vouchers for work boots and assistance with transportation is provided for those who are accepted.
The STC has also partnered with the Mass Audubon Metro South and the Blue Hills Observatory to create a multi-year STEAM program that will combine school visits with field trips to sanctuaries, set up long-term community science programs and more. The program will focus on a different aspect of the project for each grade, aligning with state science standards and age-appropriate skills.
STC has also taken into consideration existing program experiences and is working with educators to make updates. However, the above-mentioned programs offer new opportunities for students to advance their career goals and prepare them for the future.
“We are pleased to be continuing to review and enhance the offerings through our School to Careers program to ensure that all of our students’ needs across all of our participating schools are being met,” Coordinator Pryor said. “Throughout the year, we collect feedback from students and we will continue to use the data collected to identify new opportunities to further enrich student learning.”
Local business partners seeking to participate in or support the School to Careers partnership program can contact Jonathan Pryor at jpryor@bluehills.org.
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