Westfield was a stop on a national “Listening Tour” of parents and businesses last week. (Photo by Kate Phelon)
WESTFIELD – On Thursday, the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce sponsored a meeting of parents and businesses about preparing students for the workforce. The meeting was part of a “Listening Tour” series being conducted by the Committee for Economic Development (www.ced.org), a non-profit, nonpartisan, business-led, public policy organization based in Washington, D.C.
CED was awarded a new education grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York foundation for a project to conduct the series across the country, and engage business leaders with parents to share firsthand information about workplace demands for high school graduates. The organization was looking for a community in Massachusetts, and Westfield was recommended because of the Westfield Education 2 Business Alliance (WE2BA), a partnership between the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce and Westfield Public Schools which has been meeting regularly for the past year.
At the meeting, CED facilitator Lori Meyer broke out the group into four sections; two tables of five parents (10 total) and two tables of five businesses (10 businesses). She then engaged each group with issues concerning parents and businesses with regards to their needs and expectations from their perspective concerning students being ready for the workforce.
“The facilitator noticed there was no finger pointing between parents and businesses blaming the educational system or each other. She recognized that the two groups, parents and business plus the schools all play a significant role in preparing children of all ages for the workplace,” wrote Kate Phelon, executive director of the Westfield Chamber.
“Lori also recognized a strong sense of community within the group and not everyone knew each other!” added Phelon.
Each group shared their goals and expectations of what they wanted to see achieved. Some of the suggestions included more life skills for students; with parents, teachers and businesses all playing a role.
Parents wanted more opportunities for internships, co-ops, mentoring, and job shadowing, as well as more information about careers at an earlier age, and a better connection of opportunities from the business community.
Business said they are looking for students who can interact socially and verbally; who are able to write and think critically (solve problems), and be on time.
CED plans to document and summarize the conversations from the Listening Tour series. The project goal is to develop a report with recommendations to increase the effectiveness of business engagement in education, as well as to build demand from parents for the information and supports needed to ensure future student and regional economic success.
The key lessons learned will be disseminated to participants, CED and TCB business leader networks, national parent organizations, and through social media channels next spring. The project will contribute to Carnegie’s Public Understanding Program initiative focused on K-12 education.
Phelon said the event was hosted by Mestek and catered by Skyline Trading Company. Each parent participant received a $25 gift card from Blue Umbrella Books.
