WE2BA Co-Chair Kate Phelon speaks to business and district leaders on Thursday.
WESTFIELD – 30 members of the Westfield Education 2 Business Alliance (WE2BA) met on Thursday morning at the Westfield Gas & Electric Operations Center on Turnpike Industrial Road. Kate Phelon, Executive Director of the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce welcomed the group of school administrators and members of the business community. WE2BA Co-Chair Westfield Public Schools Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski could not attend the meeting.
Phelon introduced Rob Ollari from Westfield Technical Academy to speak to the group about the school’s cooperative education and internship programs. Ollari said the goal of the co-ops is workforce development, fitting into the goals of the alliance to prepare students for the work environment.
Business Tech senior Heather Lannon spoke about her co-op at Aero Fastener in Westfield. Lannon said she works on Excel spreadsheets, and the company works around her schedule which is quite busy with sports and dual enrollment college courses. “I love my job, I love everyone I work with,” Lannon said.
Lannon said that WTA helped to prepare her for the co-op through mock interviews, and preparing a portfolio which includes resumes, letters of recommendation and work the students have done
“You can easily go in and say you can do it, but to physically show your work – you leave 4, 5 steps ahead of everyone,” she said. She said during the mock interviews, students also work on handshakes, eye contact, and overcoming nervous habits.
“We have some great talent. They can become a pipeline,” Ollari said to the business representatives. He said a lot of their students do take post-graduate courses at Springfield Technical Community College, and then transfer to a four year program. Other students are interested in going directly to work, he said.
Westfield Tech senior Heather Lannon spoke about her co-op experience at Aero Fastener.
Phelon asked what the requirements are for a student to get a co-op. Ollari said every one of the 12 tech shops is different, but any grade below 70 knocks them off the list. He said students begin co-ops in the second half of their junior year, and can continue throughout their senior year. Ollari said currently they are looking for placements for students in Business Tech, Graphic Communications and Internet Technology.
Peter Taloumis, WTA Career Technical Director said the school is also looking for internship placements for sophomores, which last two to three weeks and are unpaid, and job shadowing at local businesses for a day or two. Businesses that are interested in any of these opportunities can contact Ollari or Taloumis at WTA.
Michele Tarbox, who teaches physical education and health at Russell Elementary and Abner Gibbs Schools then spoke about future workforce development beginning with the youngest students. Tarbox said that students are becoming more detached socially as technology and family structure changes. She said the schools have been using the Second Step program to teach social and emotional learning beginning in kindergarten. Students work on speaking, listening, not interrupting and asking questions in small groups. They are also taught how to focus their attention and ignore distractions.
“These are skills you need to success, how to successfully interact with a person. Soft skills are more important to get ahead in business and careers than technical skills,” Tarbox said.
Tarbox said the upper elementary grades work on problem solving, e.g., there is one ball and two people want it. She said children are taught to find solutions, and understand consequences. What is the best solution, the one that’s going to work for you and not have consequences. She said these skills are also important in business.
Career Fairs are also being planned again this year, another project that WE2BA took on last year. The combined high schools career fair will be held on Wednesday, April 11 at the Woodward Center at Westfield State University. Phelon said her goal is for 75 companies to sign on this year. She said they are taking note of all the comments from last year’s fair, and will tweak it accordingly. Suggestions from the group on Thursday included finding a way to have parents more involved.
Elementary Schools are planning career days, and in some cases career weeks. Several schools, including Highland Elementary and Paper Mill, whose career weeks are being scheduled from June 4 to June 8, are holding their career events in June. Phelon said the Chamber will help to promote the career days, and encourage members to participate by speaking to students about their fields.
Chris Tolpa also gave a report on the Middle School Career Fair held in October, at which businesses met with teachers and spoke about potential collaborative opportunities. Tolpa said for the next fair next fall, she will prepare a list of ways that businesses and teachers can work together.
Phelon also spoke about a presentation she made on WE2BA to the Economic Development Partners of Western Mass, which was led by Rick Sullivan, President of the Economic Development Council. She said in nine slides she introduced WE2BA to the regional group, noting that it started with Westfield Public Schools becoming a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and then branched out to form the alliance.
Phelon said she was asked to hold a symposium to present WE2BA to other cities, which she is working on tentatively for the spring. “What we’re doing is groundbreaking,” Phelon said.
