Participants in the schools to careers program shared a healthy breakfast

It was standing room only at the School-to-Careers breakfast at the Baldwin Senior High School library last month. Staff and faculty of the Baldwin’s Union Free School District networked with local business leaders and Baldwin students over coffee at a breakfast marking the official program kickoff for the 2011-2012 academic year. BHS assistant principal Rich Miskiewicz opened the event, introducing the School-to-Careers program as one that “ensures our economic future by providing career training in order to retain Long Island talent and provide a valuable service for our students here in Baldwin.”

Program background

The School-to-Careers committee, run by BHS’s Pat Banhazl is seeking to create a new generation of workers through partnerships with local businesses. Members of the committee actively engage the business community to get involved in the School-to-Careers program, forging partnerships that benefit Baldwin students for years to come. Through partnerships with local businesses like Citibank, National Grid and Northrop Grumman, and mentoring partnerships with business professionals from the Baldwin community, students are exposed to the world of work through hands-on experiences, personal guidance and networking opportunities.

Breakfast remarks praise program

At the Dec. 8 breakfast event — one of two BHS will host this school year — members of the committee delivered updates on recent activities and touted the accomplishments of their students’ in various programs. Barbara Riess, Science Supervisor at Baldwin Senior High School, for example, described the school’s partnership with Northrop Grumman, a leading global security company. Through scholarships, shadow days and other onsite activities, Riess said, Baldwin students like Arthur Phidd (Class of 2011), and juniors Nancy Conforti and Dan Capone, were able to gain first hand experience in fields like aerospace, electronics and information systems. Riess predicted this fieldwork would give these aspiring engineers and others like them a valuable foot-in-the-door on their college applications and even in future job searches.

Several students also took the podium to share their recent experiences. All spoke eloquently and enthusiastically about what they learned through their participation with School-to-Careers. Dasia Jones, a freshman, remarked about her experience at a Northrop Grumman’s shadow day. Dasia said shadowing the marketing group at Northrop gave her an opportunity to see “people do what they love,” as she previewed new marketing initiatives.

These day-in-the-life experiences are thought to be one of the fundamental advantages of the program, allow ing students to plan their own careers with a concrete knowledge of what the world of work is really like.

Phillip Ferguson, a senior, worked at the National Grid power plant last summer—a temporary position that helped cement his decision to pursue engineering. Future accountant, Terrence Robins, talked about his work with the Career Opportunities in the Accounting Profession group, led by Andrea Elder-Howell.

Junior Treyvon Mask saw the inner workings of a local Citibank branch, and described his excitement upon seeing the vault. Citibank’s Pat Edwards, Vice President and Director of Community Relations, shared Treyvon’s excitement, and talked about the importance of connecting today’s students to business professionals and fostering networking skills which will serve them well in their future careers.

Baldwin business well-represented

Many local businesses were represented at the breakfast. Naomi Johnson, Public Relations Specialist at State Farm, mentors students in Baldwin, Hempstead and Uniondale. She spoke enthusiastically about her experience in the mentoring program while presenting a $5000 check to Jim Scannell and the School-to-Careers program committee. Barbara Fullerton of Fullterton Funeral Home, and Vice President of the Baldwin Chamber of Commerce, announced the winners of the recent Holiday Celebration Poster contest while acknowledging the Chamber’s appreciation of the Key Club’s work at the Baldwin Long Island Rail Road Station annual Tree Lighting ceremony.

Enthusiasm was apparent throughout the event, and many present remarked how a program that began with a single shadow day at Mercy Hospital 18 years ago, has bloomed into a staple of BHS’s curriculum. (The School-to-Career program now encompasses countless shadow days, internships and career-building activities for around 630 students.) The School-to-Careers breakfast is held twice per year. The next event will be on May 23. The program in the spring will wrap up the academic year and celebrate the program’s accomplishments.