Teachers mingle with business professionals at North Middle School career fair on Tuesday.
WESTFIELD – North and South Middle Schools held a combined business to teacher career information fair on Tuesday afternoon in the North Middle School gymnasium. Representatives of more than two dozen local businesses were available to talk to teachers about their work, what skills they look for in employees, and how teachers might better prepare their students for future career opportunities.
The project grew out of WE2BA, the Westfield Education to Business Alliance. Kate Phelon, Executive Director of the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce and co-chair of WE2BA with Westfield Public Schools Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski, said it was great for the teachers to look at companies that operate locally. “It’s good exposure in so many ways,” Phelon said.
WPS Supervisor of Humanities Chris Tolpa and Kate Phelon, Exeuctive Director of the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce
Phelon said the business community has been encouraging employees to take more of a hands-on role with the future workforce. “This is our first attempt at connecting employers and teachers,” she said.
“We’re extremely happy that the business community came out in full force to support this effort,” said Chris Tolpa, supervisor of humanities for the district and a driving force in the career fair, which was called “Partnerships for Positive Learning.” “We have a lot of things (like this) for students, but we have never built the capacity of our teachers who are here for decades. What better way to build the knowledge of teachers so they can make connections to classroom learning,” Tolpa added.
7th and 6th grade student support teachers Kathy Schabowski and Eileen Sullivan speak with Mestek Plant Manager Pete Letendre, Vice President of Manufacturing James Monahan and VP of Human Services Joanne Berwald.
7th and 6th grade student support teachers Kathy Schabowski and Eileen Sullivan spoke to Mestek plant manager Pete Letendre and Vice President of Manufacturing James Monahan about the products the company makes, and the different kinds of employees they look for. Monahan told them that they do hire from high school, and look for basic skills such as showing up on time, which he ranked number one, and basic math skills. He said a large number of employees in their manufacturing firm are also administrative.
“We’re going to have these guys come in,” Schabowski said excitedly following their conversation.
One of the goals of the event was to develop partnerships between teachers and area businesses, and to create new awareness for students of careers they may have never considered by inviting business professionals in as guest speakers.
WNG Publisher Patrick Berry speaks to teachers, some of whom are dressed as superheroes for NMS Spirit Week, about opportunities for students at the newspaper.
Other opportunities for students were also discovered. The Westfield News Group Publisher Patrick Berry informed several teachers about the upcoming Student Think Tank column, which allows students to participate in a discussion about current events, by submitting pieces on topics to the paper. Berry said the column will resume in November. “How cool would it be to see themselves published,” commented one teacher.
Teachers filled out evaluations after visiting the different tables, and speaking with business representatives. Tolpa said most comments found it be informative and relevant.
7th grade math teacher Theresa Friguglietti said she had spoken with representatives from the Polish National Credit Union and invited them to come in to her class and speak about finances. She also spent time with Junior Achievement, which she thought would be beneficial for students to bring into the schools.
WPS Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski thanked businesses and teachers for participating, and said he was encouraged about the possibilities moving forward.
Susan Dargie, WPS director of curriculum and instruction said she was also getting good feedback. “This is good awareness for our teachers on what our businesses have to offer, and what they are looking for. We always strive to make learning relevant in the classroom,” she said.
At the end of the fair, Czaporowski thanked the businesses and teachers for attending. “It was great to see our local business professionals and educators connecting and discussing future collaboration opportunities. This was our first time doing something like this and I am very encouraged about the possibilities moving forward,” he said afterwards.
