SUMMER 2010
McKeesport Area High School Students Win George W. Tippins Annual Business Plan Competition
Proven Success: Students Who Completed PA eMentoring Program Enjoy Better Self Esteem
Eight Compact Member Schools Make Newsweek's List of America's Best High Schools
High-end Cookware Manufacturer All-Clad Benefits from Teens' Innovative Approaches to Manufacturing Challenges
Students Gain "Awesome" Opportunity for Immersion in the World of Business
by Philip J. Cynar, Editor, Pittsburgh Regional Compact Quarterly
Innovating factory process improvements for an international manufacturer of globally known, high-end cookware is not a typical part of most young adults' high school curricula. But for two teams of South Fayette High School students who've recently completed intensive application-based real time experiences with All-Clad Metalcrafters, it was an "awesome" opportunity for immersion in the world of business — replete with challenges and rewards.
Known collectively as the South Fayette Technology Consultants, 11 high school juniors and seniors – nearly evenly divided into Team A and Team B – began their "business relationship" with All-Clad in September 2008 when they met their "client" for the first time, toured All-Clad's manufacturing facility in Canonsburg and met with company executives to learn about the respective challenges in store for each team. For Team A, the challenge was innovating a cost-effective polishing and finishing process for All-Clad cookware that would continue to give the products their trademark shine and quality. For Team B, a greener and cost-effective packaging process was being sought to replace the manufacturer's use of multiple boxes with each set of cookware packaging.
South Fayette: A Career Awareness Innovator and Recognized Model
For the past decade, career awareness and development programs have been embedded into the mission and vision of suburban Pittsburgh's South Fayette High School District – a member of the Pittsburgh Regional Compact. An innovator in combining academics with real time career awareness activities, the school district has been recognized by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, regional businesses and economic and workforce development organizations as a model for these sorts of programs.
Adventures in Technology Program Increases Visibility of Regional Career Opportunities
To help advance its unique approach to real time career awareness and development, South Fayette partnered with Catalyst Connection – an economic development organization with the mission of advancing the performance of manufacturing companies in southwestern Pennsylvania and also a Compact member – and its Adventures in Technology program in the fall of 2008. Adventures in Technology is an industry-focused business, education and community partnership designed to increase the visibility of regional career opportunities. The program spotlights science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers in manufacturing and other technology sectors by stimulating and motivating high school students to participate in innovating solutions to challenges that regional business are facing. All-Clad Metal Crafters is one of these businesses participating in Adventures in Technology, and the company's affiliation with the program began with the South Fayette partnership in September 2008.
Exploring the Art of the Possible
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"This partnership was as much a learning experience for the company as it was for the students," said Dewayne Rideout, director of human resources for Groupe SEB – of which All-Clad is a part. "The learning was reciprocal. There were times when the students became the teachers. Participating in a project like this is a reminder that we need to reconsider how we learn. In the workplace we can become accustomed to certain ways of learning and problem solving, but when teaming up with individuals – like the South Fayette students – whose ideas are broad and unbiased by previous experiences, an exploration of the art of the possible ensues. All-Clad provided the canvas, and the students created masterpieces."
The "masterpiece" solutions included Team A — which struggled greatly with a solution to its challenge related to cookware finishing – finding inspiration (and ultimately a solution) in centrifuge technology that was observed by one of the team's members during a completely unrelated Human Anatomy fieldtrip to UPMC. Use of the centrifuge was integral to providing the solution that All-Clad was seeking for consistent, signature finishes on its cookware. Team B addressed its greener packing challenge by innovating Styrofoam packing chips that are water soluble – eliminating the need for multiple cardboard boxes for each piece of cookware in a set. This was a cost saver that also reduced environmental impact.
"The students' enthusiasm and excitement never diminished throughout the duration of the project, which spanned 10 weeks," said Maureen Pedzwater, post secondary transition coordinator at South Fayette. "Although they were faced with challenges and set-backs on a weekly basis, the teams never lost their determination to find the best solutions. They delivered in spite of the fact that an experience like this is layered on top of other incredible academic demands."
Shaping Innovative Spirits … Self Confident and Persevering
Pedzwater says she believes that while the students who elect to participate in a program like Adventures in Technology may be under a lot of pressure to produce results for their "client" while keeping up with their studies, they benefit from realizing the connection between what they are learning in the classroom and its application in the real world of business. "It's long been a dream of mine to see students gain experience like this. It shapes an inquisitive, innovative spirit, builds self-confidence and fosters perseverance. The experience also allows an unmatched exploration of the real world of work. It helps kids to sort out what they might – or might not – want to do for a living and to make those choices from a more informed position."
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Near the end of the 2010 school year, both teams of students concluded their work with All-Clad as the South Fayette Technology Consultants by making multi-media presentations to company executives that outlined the specific courses of action and cost justifications to improve processes and results.
"It was an honor to work with and help foster the young talent of the South Fayette Technology Consultants," said All-Clad Marketing Communications Vice President Melissa Palmer. "All-Clad is passionate about its cookware and its made-in-the-U.S. heritage, and it was fantastic to have the students share that passion with us. We greatly appreciated their well-thought-out ideas."
Scott Dietz, manager of workforce initiatives and the Adventures in Technology program manager at Catalyst Connection, said, "All of us in attendance [at the teams' final presentations] were impressed with the level of skill, knowledge and commitment exhibited by the students throughout the entire process and particularly during the final presentations."
What's the reward for a job well done? According to All-Clad's Vice President of Research and Development Bill Groll – who worked closely with the students over the course of the partnership – All-Clad will incorporate the teams' solutions into its processes.
And that is a pretty significant mark for 11 teenagers from southwestern Pennsylvania to make on a global business, even before they graduate high school.
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Hiring Plans: OnQ Explores Where the Jobs Are and Who's Hiring in Pittsburgh
LANXESS CEO and Conference Workplace Committee Chair Randy Dearth Gets Candid with Tonia Caruso
Earlier this year, Broadcast Journalist Tonia Caruso – a correspondent for Compact Member WQED Multimedia’s television news magazine OnQ – contacted the Allegheny Conference for assistance with a segment she was preparing on the jobs in the Pittsburgh region in 2010. The Conference was happy to oblige and connected her with LANXESS CEO Randy Dearth, chair of the Conference's Workplace committee for interview. Additionally, arrangements were made for Caruso to interview leadership at two local companies with hiring plans: Education Management Corporation (EDMC) and SEEGRID Corporation, a robotics innovator and manufacturer. The segment recently aired on OnQ, providing insight into some of the thousands of opportunities in the region now, as well as those anticipated in the future. Teachers and counselors involved with career education could find the segment useful for introducing students to the evolving career opportunities in the Pittsburgh region. If you missed it, you can watch the segment here.
McKeesport Area High School Students Win George W. Tippins Annual Business Plan Competition
Award of $2,000 is Venture Capital for Students' Business Targeting the Colorblind
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Can you imagine getting dressed in the dark every day? How would you look? How would others perceive you? How self conscious would you feel? With over 10 million Americans suffering from colorblindness today, getting dressed in the dark is a reality.
That was part of the 30-second pitch that helped Keena Simmons and Ryah Gadsen from McKeesport Area High School win $2,000 in seed capital for their businesses, Made For The Shade, in the fifth Annual George W. Tippins Annual Business Plan Competition in June. Their product is a durable iron-on tag, uniquely designed to indicate primary color clothing, allowing those with colorblindness to easily color coordinate their clothes.
Simmons was excited about winning the competition. "It was a wonderful experience. I realized that I can do anything I set my mind to, and do nothing less than succeed at it."
Pittsburgh Regional Compact Member Entrepreneuring Youth, which sponsors the annual competition, directs resources to engage and benefit young people at risk of failing academically and for whom career paths and opportunities for success seem extremely limited.
"Keena Simmons and Ryah Gadsen represent all that is right with young people in our communities," says Bob Fragasso, chair of the board for Entrepreneuring Youth. "Too often the prospects for high school students in the Pittsburgh region are expressed in stereotypically negative terms. Keena and Ryah vividly portray the vibrancy, intelligence, energy and desire to succeed that exist in our young people. It is the responsibility of all of us to understand that potential and provide opportunities to nurture and grow it."
The competition is a showcase for students, grades 9-12, to demonstrate their business ideas and talents. The program is underwritten by the Tippins Foundation and named in honor of one of Pittsburgh's most successful entrepreneurs, inventors and financiers of the latter half of the twentieth century. The competition provides students with real-life experience in business creation so that they can acquire the knowledge and skills essential for academic success, economic security and fulfilling their aspirations.
"The learning and growth occurring among these competitors and the other young students reached by our current programs demonstrates one important fact – immersing young people in the real-world experience of business creation can fire up their imaginations and propel them to discover just how capable they are," said Jerry M. Cozewith, president of Entrepreneuring Youth. "It also instills entrepreneurial initiative to help them explore new pathways for pursing a life of personal and economic security. That's why it's vital for our community to expand their investments of time as volunteer coaches and funding to engage even more youth, especially those living in economically fragile neighborhoods."
Editor's Note: Thanks to Daniel Casciota, a consultant for Entrepreneuring Youth, for contributing this article and photos.
Proven Success: Students Who Completed PA eMentoring Program Enjoy Better Self Esteem
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This year, as part of its relationship with Highmark Healthy High Five, an initiative of the Highmark Foundation, Pittsburgh Regional Compact Member Smart Futures participated in a data collection and analysis process to measure the affects of online career mentoring on the self esteem of high school-aged youths. The results are positive and summarized below:
Data obtained from the pre- and post-self esteem surveys from 284 program participants during the 2009-10 academic year supported that the PA eMentoring program positively increased the self esteem of student participants. The results showed statistically significant improvements in self-esteem for students who completed the PA eMentoring program, as measured by a pre - and post-program self-esteem survey. Additional data collected support that students participating in PA eMentoring have a better understanding of their own interests, preferences, and aptitudes, as well as a broader awareness of how these match to the work world and a better awareness and broader, more realistic understanding of post secondary opportunities in college and careers.
"These results support our belief in the positive impact having a realistic and appropriate college and career focus can have on young people at a critical time of their lives. We thank the Highmark Foundation, for encouraging us to measure this impact on self esteem. We also thank our other corporate sponsors who supported this program with both employees and dollars. They include BNY Mellon, NexTier Bank, Duquesne Light, UPMC and American Eagle Outfitters. Finally, we thank our foundation supporters who are helping Smart Futures to introduce this program here in southwestern Pennsylvania. These sponsors include the Pittsburgh Foundation, the Buhl Foundation, the Grable Foundation and the Benedum Foundation (via IU1)," said Smart Futures Executive Director David J. Mosey.
Eight Compact Member Schools Make Newsweek's List of America's Best High Schools
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Newsweek annually picks the country's best high schools based on how hard school staffs work to challenge students with advanced placement college-level courses and tests. Approximately 1,600 schools – only six percent of all the public schools in the U.S. – made the list. Among them were eight Compact member schools representing both Allegheny and Beavers counties from the 10-county Pittsburgh region. These include Blackhawk (ranked 857) in Beaver County and Upper St. Clair (905); Quaker Valley (994); Pine-Richland (1,020); Pittsburgh Allderdice/Pittsburgh Public Schools (1,538); South Fayette (1,543); and North Allegheny (1,556) — all in Allegheny County. The rankings are based on a "challenge index," which considers the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or Cambridge tests given at a school in a school year, divided by the number of seniors graduating that year. Schools with a ratio of at least 1.0, which means they had at least as many tests as graduates, are included in the list. Congratulations to these Compact member schools, their staffs and their students.
Laura Fisher - Publisher | Philip Cynar - Editor
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.