SPRING 2009
Articles:
PA eMentoring: Online Mentoring Program Empowers the Next Generation of Employees … One Story at a Time
Editor’s Note: This article was developed with the assistance of Smart Futures and its Intern
Jia Wang.
As an employer, how can you let a high school student know what it’s like to work for your company? How can you attract future employees? One of the most convenient – and effective –ways to influence and attract your future workforce is through electronic mentoring.
Although you’ve “arrived” as an integral part of today’s workforce and the regional economy, take a moment and reflect on your high school days. Remember how uncertain the future seemed? There was a lot of life to figure out while trying to find the best prom dress or ace the SAT exam. College recruiters pulled you right and left with their pamphlets and promises – assuring you their school was the best fit for you. The “real world” seemed so near, yet so far away … so clear, yet so out of focus. Perhaps you wished for someone who could show you the ropes and help you get a handle on your future.
Pittsburgh Regional Compact Member Smart Futures, a local non-profit organization, is devoted to helping tomorrow’s workforce see their futures by making career education a part of every Pennsylvania classroom today. And electronic, or eMentoring, is one way the organization is making a 21st-century impact on workforce development.
Smart Futures recognizes that most students today are under pressure to make choices about the next steps in the college and career journeys; that they have limited exposure to practical information; and that they don’t fully understand what’s required to succeed in college and the workplace. Awareness of options, pathways and opportunities can make a significant difference.
PA eMentoring Creates Career Awareness
An online program, PA eMentoring is designed to connect working adults with high school students via weekly e-mails and structured career-related activities to explore careers and career pathways.
Mentors and mentees are matched by interests and career fields. After completing the PA Child Abuse and Criminal Record Clearances, mentors share their stories and experiences with the aim of inspiring and guiding student mentees to define their own career pathways and goals. PA eMentoring is convenient, easy, and rewarding. Simply find a computer and get connected.
Time to Make a Difference … Only Minutes per Day
Most working adults willingly admit that there are competing demands – professional and personal – for their limited time. That’s why it’s important to recognize that PA eMentoring doesn’t require much time to have impact. Dedicating only a few minutes each day will yield results, and mentors can connect with students from the convenience of their homes or workplaces.
Paul Leger, senior vice president of the workforce quality program at the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, is one business professional who decided that he could find ten minutes per week to share his story with a mentee. Leger signed up and got connected. His mentee thought that he knew where he wanted to go, how to get there, and what opportunities would be available to him. But Leger was able to provide fresh perspective for his mentee by sharing his own post-high school journey and the career paths he pursued.
Leger helped his mentee look at college and career choices through different lenses so that the student is less likely to experience career disappointment and regret later in life.
"I got a new perspective on the need to use ‘career education’ to expose students to many of the options available to them – options that can shape their futures. Students must find out what kinds of training are needed for the career areas that they find interesting. My experience with high school students shows me that they do not have a broad sense of the possibilities for the future. They need much more exposure to the variety of available careers so that they can make informed choices when they graduate. It is sad to meet individuals who are middle aged and to hear them say, ‘I wish I had known ...’ when reflecting on an unsatisfying career choice. That disappointment shouldn’t happen to students who really look at all of the possibilities," said Leger.
Career Inspiration: Convenient … Rewarding … a Community Service Program for an
Entire Company
Your career story can be an inspiration. PA eMentoring has already connected many working adults – each with a unique story, insight and inspiration – with numerous high school students. And the program is expanding, with the demand for new mentors on the rise. PA eMentoring is convenient, fun and rewarding. In fact, this is an excellent community service program in which an entire company can get involved.
If you are ready to share your story, visit www.pa-ementor.org to sign up. Or contact Smart Futures Director of Outreach Romy Banks at 412-288-3900, ext. 288 or by e-mail at rbanks@smartfutures.org.
Getting to Know the World of Work through Workplace Mentoring
Editor’s Note: This article was developed with the assistance of Big Brothers Big Sisters and its staff including Tom Baker and Sarah Joseph.
The Big Brothers Big Sisters Workplace Mentoring Program exposes high school students – tomorrow’s regional workforce – to the real-life world of work via a fun and educational after-school program. The approach is direct and personal: every participating student is matched, one-to-one, with an adult volunteer mentor in a workplace setting. The volunteer mentor shares information about his or her career and workplace, helps students shape future goals and serves as a friend and mentor to the student throughout her or his high school years.
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In the Pittsburgh region, this program began in the fall of 2008 with a partnership between Pittsburgh Regional Compact Member American Eagle Outfitters (AE) and Carrick High School (Pittsburgh Public Schools). Sophomore students from Carrick High School traveled to American Eagle Outfitters to meet with their mentors two times a month for two hours. They invested time strengthening their one-to-one relationships with AE employee mentors and also worked to build a career education curriculum.
This curriculum is relevant to each participating employer’s business. It teaches students about workplace etiquette and essential office skills and engages them in activities that put these skills into practice in a fun and reinforcing manner. It also encourages students to think about their futures and how mentors can assist them in their career planning.
Workplace mentoring is modeled after a program at Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City, which started in 1991. With the mentoring support of 50 companies, more than 1,000 youth from 44 schools were served.
Mentoring: Helping high school students see their place in the workplace.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh is expanding the workplace mentoring program and encourages interested employers in the Pittsburgh region to learn more. Sarah Joseph, site-based program manager, said, “Our staff work hard to make sure everyone has a tremendous experience. We ensure quality training, thorough curriculum planning and high-quality program execution. Big Brothers Big Sisters does all the ‘heavy lifting’ so that employers don’t have to worry about logistics. And even though the program is educational, I can’t help notice that participants are really having a fun experience getting to know each other.”
The mission of Big Brothers Big Sisters is to help children reach their potential through professionally supported one-to-one relationships with measurable impacts. Regional employers who would like to learn more about how to get their companies involved in workplace mentoring should contact Tom Baker, vice president of programs, at 412-204-1217 or tbaker@bbbspgh.org.
Easier Than You’d Imagine! – Tips for Successful Workplace Mentoring
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Sarah Joseph, site-based program manager for Big Brothers Big Sisters, shares these thoughts with employers considering workplace mentoring …
What did you do to create success?
“The workplace mentoring program involves a lot of planning and preparation by Big Brothers Big Sisters. But our efforts make the process as easy as possible for participants.”How would you improve on your success?
“We worked hard to make the experience between American Eagle Outfitters employee mentors and the Carrick High School students worthwhile. That effort paid off, so I would aim to improve future workplace mentoring partnerships by capitalizing, even more, on a sense of collaboration and the team spirit.”What makes the effort worthwhile?
“The skills that the student participants are gaining, along with the bonds they are forming with their mentors, makes this process very worthwhile.”
In Brief:
- Big Brothers Big Sisters plans and prepares to make participation easy.
- Capitalize on team spirit and a sense of collaboration.
- Judge success by the students’ new skills and the bonds they form with mentors.
“Groundhog Job Shadow Day” at the Allegheny Conference Spotlights Marketing Communications Careers
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Amplifying its ongoing engagement with the Pittsburgh Regional Compact, the Allegheny Conference on Community Development hosted four students from the Beaver Area and Quaker Valley High Schools to learn about marketing and communications careers.
On February 2, Junior Achievement organizes an annual job shadow day. Across the Pittsburgh region, employers sign on to offer programs that showcase for students some of the jobs and careers at their sites. Communications Specialist Abby Sadowsky served as site coordinator for the Allegheny Conference activities, which included an office tour guided by Senior Vice President – Workforce Quality Program Paul Leger and short seminars with nearly every member of the Communications team, as well as with the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance’s Senior Marketing Director Cecelia Cagni. These discussions allowed staff to share advice and experiences, explain their work at the Conference, and answer career-related questions. The day was capped off with small group discussions over a pizza lunch. The students left with certificates of completion, token gifts and some valuable insights to guide them into their employment futures!
The Allegheny Conference is one of the region’s collaborative sponsors of the Pittsburgh Regional Compact. In addition to its convening and organizing work related to the Compact, the Conference and its staff last year interacted with 77 students and 12 teachers to provide direct career education.
Imagine! Career Week is April 20 – 24, 2009
Employers and Educators are Invited to a Kick-off Breakfast
Imagine! Career Week is a coordinated series of events that focuses on preparing the region’s youth for 21st-century careers. The week will bring together southwestern Pennsylvania youth, parents, educators, employers and youth-serving agencies that are focused on career education.
The third annual Imagine! Career Week kicks off on Monday, April 20th with a breakfast, jointly hosted by the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and the Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board—two of the sponsors of the Pittsburgh Regional Compact.
The breakfast will showcase best practices for building career education programs and will encourage employers and educators to take the opportunity to discuss how to collaborate to impart real-world career education. For more information, and a complete listing of the week’s events, visit www.imaginecareerweek.org.
Budding Broadcasters Explore Careers at
Saturday Light Brigade Studios
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On January 21, six students and their teachers from The Neighborhood Academy in Pittsburgh participated in hands-on career education, hosted by Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania, at the Saturday Light Brigade Studios (SLB) at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh. The school and Citizens Bank are Pittsburgh Regional Compact members working in career education partnership.
Following a tour of the studio, the students participated in demonstrations of broadcast and recording equipment and recorded their impressions of the recent presidential election and inauguration. They also practiced conducting interviews. Students’ broadcast experiences were burned onto a CD, and a program, featuring the students’ experiences, aired on Saturday, January 24 on six Pennsylvania public radio stations.
In addition to the real-life learning, SLB Executive Director Larry Berger shared personal experiences and pros and cons of a career in broadcast journalism with the enthusiastic students. The school reported that it received a number of calls from parents whose children enjoyed the experience.
Compact Member Penguins Blend Open Practice Session
with Career Ed. for Thousands of Area Students
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The Pittsburgh Penguins, a member of the Pittsburgh Regional Compact, opened the gates of Mellon Arena last December to 8,000-plus students and educators from 63 schools for what may well have been the region’s largest career education event to date.
The December 9th open practice of the Penguins not only energized the thousands of students in attendance (many of whom were undeniably Penguins fans), but it also uniquely provided a venue in which the Penguins organization could showcase a variety of careers associated with a professional sports team. At the same time, the message about how important solid educational foundations are to being successful in these behind-the-scenes jobs, as well as many other types of jobs and careers here in the Pittsburgh region, was communicated to the students – the workforce of tomorrow.
Penguins Team Captain Sidney Crosby offered welcoming remarks to the cheering throngs and also made concluding remarks. In between, the team practiced a variety of drills and plays. At the conclusion of the practice session a career education video, produced by the Penguins, was broadcast on the arena’s JumboTron. The video spotlighted six individuals working behind the scenes to support the team in roles such as marketing, sales, customer service, community relations, administration and graphic design and helped students understand that any successful organization or business demands a skilled and diverse team of individuals. And that while diverse, the individuals comprising these teams need command of basic skills – such as communications, both written and spoken – that make them an attractive addition to the regional workforce.
“This was the first time we’ve undertaken an activity of this magnitude,” said Penguins Senior Consultant Ron Porter. “This open practice was about far more than hockey. It was an affirmation that the Penguins organization is staunchly committed to the Pittsburgh region for decades to come. We were pleased to have more than 8,000 students and educators hear the message that the Pittsburgh Penguins encourage the region’s students to work hard to achieve at that highest possible level. The event was indisputably a success,” said Porter.
Porter notes that representatives of the Penguins will be visiting 15 schools (grades K – 8) this spring. Again, their message will be one of encouraging today’s students – tomorrow’s workforce – to learn about the variety of jobs and careers in the Pittsburgh region and to begin preparing for them early on. In particular, the Penguins will stress completing a solid education and gaining command of the basic skills necessary to succeed in the world of work.
Congratulations to These Award-Winning Compact Members!
Woodland Hills School District is the recipient of the Pennsylvania School Counselors Association’s Multi-level Career and Education Development Award for 2009. Transitional College and Career Counseling Coordinator Karen Rubican has been a tireless partner with the Compact on behalf of the Woodland Hills School District, its faculty and students. This recognition validates the efforts that Woodland Hills is exerting to see that every student has a bright career future.
City Charter High School and Propel McKEESPORT have both won the Effective Practice Incentive Community (EPIC) Award from New Leaders from New Schools, an organization that recognizes and encourages advancement in student achievement. The award identifies schools that have developed practices that create significant gains in achievement and that lead by making those practices available to other schools. This award recognizes these two Compact member schools as among the 23 best charter schools in the United States, based on student achievement on state tests.
Congratulations!
If your Compact member school wins an award or receives significant recognition for academic achievement or career education activities, please let us know so we can recognize your good work in the Pittsburgh Regional Compact Quarterly. Send information to Paul Leger at pleger@alleghenyconference.org.
The Pittsburgh Regional Compact is an employer-driven initiative collaboratively
sponsored by the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, business
leaders, educators, students, educational institutions and workforce development
organizations across the 10-county Pittsburgh region.