WESTFIELD – Members of the Westfield Public Schools and the Westfield Chamber of Commerce met on Friday morning to launch a new education and business task force in the city. Kate Phelon, executive director of the Chamber and Westfield Public Schools Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski hope that the partnership will improve academic performance and grow career opportunities for students, as well as address the work force gap issue.
State Rep. John Velis and Mayor Brian P. Sullivan stopped by at the start of the meeting to offer their support and enthusiasm for the effort. Following a week that included a visit by Governor Charles Baker to Westfield Technical Academy, Sullivan said that folks in Eastern Massachusetts are talking about what is happening here in Westfield.
Phelon and Czaporowski said they don’t know of another partnership in the state like the one they are developing. Phelon said that having the school district as a member of the Chamber of Commerce is also unusual. She said at a recent economic development summit, she spoke about the task force to the state Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Ronald L. Walker, who asked her to keep him informed.
Participating in Friday’s meeting were John Hoime and Patty Midwood from Alternative Health, Pete Letendre of Mestek, Michael Noftall of Whalley Computers, Dan Howard of Westfield G&E and Andrea Allard of the YMCA. Representing the schools along with Czaporowski were WHS principal Charles Jendrysik, Technical Academy principal Joseph Langone, Mary Clare Manning of Highland, Fran St. Peter of Franklin Ave. elementary schools, and Joanne Hentnick of Fort Meadow Early Childhood Center. Diane Prusant, chief of staff for the president at Westfield State University and City Councilor Mary Ann Babinski were also present.
Participants broke into small groups to brainstorm ideas for the Task Force. (Photo by Amy Porter)
After a brief overview of the goals, participants broke into small groups to discuss possibilities and areas that should be addressed. Manning spoke for one group, saying that a lot of the conversation focused on developing interpersonal skills among the students, such as how to have a conversation and shake hands with someone, that will help students in the job market.
Jendrysik said that something like a mock job fair, with an opportunity for students to meet with business leaders one-on-one might be more effective than an assembly where students were sitting with 100 of their peers.
Other ideas included visits by business leaders to the schools, visits by students to businesses, and business participation in teacher development days.
Hentnick said that as a teacher of young students, the conversations and exposure to different types of professions is important for young children. St. Peter agreed that students need to be exposed to different possibilities from a young age, which can build hopes, dreams and opportunities.
Czaporowski gave a shout out to Westfield State for their Credit for Life program, which teaches students about financial responsibility in a hands-on program, which he said has a big impact.
Allard said her group also talked about the possibility of business mentors, or an adopt-a-school program.
Phelon said the Chamber tried it out with the previous superintendent Suzanne Scallion, but failed to implement the program. Allard said it would be important to figure out what the program should look like before presenting it to businesses.
Czaporowski said that the group needed a name going forward, and gave those in attendance five minutes to brainstorm on one. The most popular response was for the Westfield Education to Business Alliance, or WE2BA. Allard contributed a tagline, Working together for student success.
As to the question of how to get more businesses involved, Noftall suggested that everyone present bring a friend to the next meeting. Phelon said she would like to see all industry, all sectors, represented in the task force.
At the next meeting, scheduled for November 18, a school calendar will be shared, and a mission statement for the alliance will be developed.
Following the meeting, John Hoine of Alternative Health in Southwick and Easthampton said he was happy to participate in the effort.
“I employ people and I find that young people don’t have the interpersonal skills to communicate with the people I need them to communicate with,” said Hoine.
“I’m excited. I am very happy with all of the different possibilities that came up here,” said Czaporowski, adding that he is looking forward to continuing the work of the alliance.
