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By Jennie Sparandara

Posted Jun 29, 2018 at 5:50 PM

Earlier this year, more than 100 educators and business leaders from Rhode Island and across the country met in Providence to talk about preparing students to succeed after high school and in their career.

During this national convening on career readiness, Ty’Rell Stephens, an 11th grader at Juanita Sanchez High School in Providence, talked about the opportunities he has access to in high school, and how they have increased significantly since his freshman year. Ty’Rell is participating in the community development career pathway at his school and will earn several college credits before he graduates.

Through the PrepareRI initiative, Ty’Rell’s experience is being replicated at schools across Rhode Island, with more students than ever are earning college credits, tackling advanced coursework, and gaining hands-on work experience that will set them on a path to postsecondary success.

Hearing about gatherings like the one in Providence reaffirms for me the importance of involving industry leaders in the design of education. My company, JPMorgan Chase, is working in Rhode Island and nine other states through a $75 million initiative called New Skills for Youth. We developed New Skills for Youth in collaboration with the Council of Chief State School Officers, Advance CTE, and Education Strategy Group. The effort includes a $35 million investment in states to strengthen career readiness approaches, giving students multiple pathways to training and education beyond high school.

Career pathways — which include anything from health sciences to business administration to agriculture — allow students to build real-world skills, explore career opportunities and find a career path that they are passionate about before they begin college.

One of the pathways educators and business leaders have teamed up on is the newly created process technician pathway, which will prepare students to enter an Environmental and Life Sciences program at the post-secondary level and to be job ready as a process technician, a job that earns an average of $24 per hour in Rhode Island. The pathway was created in partnership with higher education officials and leaders from several of the state’s largest biomedical and pharmaceutical employers in response to their industry’s needs. It combines academic requirements such as life sciences, chemistry and math, with safety training, industry credentials, and internships.

At the Providence convening, participants were able to see these kinds of innovative efforts in action on a tour to the Davies Career and Technical High School, which houses the nation’s first in-school mock CVS pharmacy. Davies designed this in partnership with CVS to give students hands-on training by the time they graduate from high school. Many of these students have summer jobs with CVS and plan to continue their pharmacy studies after high school.

Additionally, this summer, the PrepareRI Internship Program will kick off its pilot year by training and placing at least 100 students in paid internships with the state’s top employers in a range of industries. With funding from the Governor’s Workforce Board, and support from our New Skills for Youth initiative, the team in Rhode Island brought in an intermediary, Skills for Rhode Island’s Future, to facilitate the internship program and to help forge stronger connections between education and industry.

Career pathways and internship programs like the ones here in Rhode Island have real-world positive impacts on students. Research and anecdotal evidence show us that investing in career readiness is good for students. In fact, 75 percent of students who complete a career pathway go on to enroll in college. But this work is good for businesses, too; it’s a win-win. Industry leaders know that the jobs they need to fill require skilled workers.

Why not take an active role in training that next generation of employees?

If you’re a business leader in Rhode Island, I challenge you to think about how you can support students like Ty’Rell and the great work already happening in your state’s schools. Whether your investment is with money, advice or time, I urge you to learn more about PrepareRI and contact the team at Skills for Rhode Island’s Future to figure out your first step.

Jennie Sparandara is the executive director of global philanthropy for JPMorgan Chase.

 

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Thanks to the Providence Journal for coming out last week to see what the Skills RI and PrepareRI work-readiness bootcamp was all about:

PROVIDENCE — Imagine having to sell yourself in three minutes. It’s called an elevator pitch and it’s an exercise perfected by most business school students, marketers and salespeople.

On Friday, a dozen junior high school students squeezed into an overheated classroom at Rhode Island College and prepared to be critiqued.

They are part of a larger cohort of 150 juniors from Newport to North Providence who competed for summer jobs with some of Rhode Island’s best-known companies — CVS, Hasbro, Gilbane, Citizens Bank and others. During the past week, the students, who were selected from an applicant pool of 620 teenagers, participated in a boot camp where they learned business skills, among them, public speaking, problem-solving, effective communication and so on.

The program is sponsored by PrepareRI and offers juniors paid six- to eight-week internships.

The camp culminated with Friday’s elevator pitch, an opportunity for teenagers to describe their strengths, which they had previously identified by taking a 170-question survey.

Janessa Diaz, a junior at Rogers High School in Newport, said she was surprised to learn that what she thought were her weaknesses — strong communications skills, empathy — were actually her strengths.

Nina Pande, executive director of Skills for Rhode Island’s Future, the group that organized the summer internship program, and Kiara Butler, CEO of Diversity Talks, provided constructive feedback.

“I know you know this material,” Pande said to Diaz, who was nervous. “Own it.”

“There were moments when you were looking for words,” Butler added. “Tell me a story.”

Daniela Acarapi of North Providence, a recent arrival from Bolivia, did just that.

When a family couldn’t pull together enough money for their daughter’s hip surgery, Acarapi and a friend began fundraising. Although they fell short of their goal, she said the challenge was a lesson in setting goals.

She also described a less successful effort to master English, where she had to swallow her pride and ask for help. After her speech, Butler said, “I liked your level of vulnerability.”

“But I was distracted by the slides,” said Pande, who then encouraged Acarapi to use her bilingualism as an asset.

Jenny King of Lincoln High School said she was disappointed that so many of her strengths fell within one category, the softer skills. None were in strategic thinking. Armed with this knowledge, she is now considering a career in communications. Butler urged her to use the full five minutes allotted for her pitch, while Pande said she left some important information on the table.

After the pitches were over, several students shared their biggest takeaway from boot camp. They all agreed that the sessions devoted to discovering their strengths were the most helpful.

Cameron Borges, who plans to become a software developer, said he felt honored to be here, calling the opportunity “a blessing for me.”

“I love to succeed,” the Newport teenager said. “Finding out that that was my biggest talent was the most wonderful experience.”

Ethan Savoie, of North Smithfield, said the boot camp pushed him out of his middle-class comfort zone.

“I was sitting alone and a few girls of color wanted to know if I’d sit with them,” he said. “We talked about how they live. There were differences but there were also similarities in our lives.”

David Cournoyer wants to be a flight nurse. During boot camp, he had a chance to speak with two top executives from CVS, who told him that the company offers nursing scholarships. That conversation and the whole concept of networking was a revelation.

“I’m going to try and get one of those.”

The program, in its first year, is funded by grants from the Governor’s Workforce Board and New Skills for Youth.

— lborg@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7823

 

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Paid Summer Internships Give High School Students Hands-on Work Experience

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – This summer, through the PrepareRI Internship Program, 100 high school students will gain hands-on work experience at some of Rhode Island’s leading employers, in industries like technology, health care, finance, and education. The application is now open, and students selected to participate will jumpstart their careers through professional skills training, on-the-job experience, and connections to adult mentors who can help them achieve their career goals.

“Seventy percent of jobs in Rhode Island will require some form of postsecondary education or training, making work-based learning a critical piece of our workforce development strategy,” said Governor Gina M. Raimondo. “The PrepareRI Internship Program builds a strong talent pipeline for Rhode Island businesses and gives our young people a head start, allowing them to hone soft skills and learn on the job so they are better prepared for success after high school.”

Summer 2018 is the pilot year for PrepareRI Internships, an initiative of the Governor’s Workforce Board that is being managed by an independent intermediary, Skills for Rhode Island’s Future (SkillsRI). SkillsRI will vet and match rising high school seniors to internship opportunities after the application period closes on April 15.

“For the past few years, more and more employers have expressed concerns about not having enough skilled talent in Rhode Island. The GWB is thrilled to see the overwhelming response from employers to host high school interns and invest in the workforce of their future,” said Heather Hudson, Executive Director of the Governor’s Workforce Board. “Providing our young people with access to real-life work experiences and professional mentors right here in Rhode Island will build their skillsets for good paying jobs, which will in turn enable our businesses to thrive.”

The PrepareRI Internship program fits into the state’s overall Prepare Rhode Island initiative on career readiness. Rhode Island was one of only 10 states to receive a New Skills for Youth grant from JPMorgan Chase and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) to support career education for all youth.

For employers, the PrepareRI Internship program responds to concerns about the lack of skilled talent by building a pipeline of young, diverse, skilled workers who can keep RI’s future economy vibrant and strong. More than 20 employers have signed on to the effort, including Citizens Bank, Amgen, Hasbro, CVS, and Gilbane.

Tom Giordano, Executive Director of The Partnership for Rhode Island, a coalition of Rhode Island business leaders commented, “The Partnership for Rhode Island is excited to host high school interns in our companies across the state and support their attainment of college credit. This program strengthens our state’s talent pipeline and gives high school students the type of professional experience that is usually reserved for budding college graduates. We applaud the Governor, the GWB and Roger Williams University for their ingenuity and hard work in developing this program and look forward to helping shape the next generation of young professionals.”

This program is a win for employers and students across Rhode Island. At Citizens Bank, we look forward to providing high school students with positive and stimulating learning experiences this summer.  We are proud to be a champion employer in the PrepareRI Internship program and introduce young people to career opportunities in the state and at our company. – Barbara Cottam Executive Vice President and Head of Corporate Affairs, Citizens Bank

SkillsRI will work with employers to develop job descriptions and identify essential skills; and will vet, assess, and match student applicants to internships based on interests, required skills, and location. SkillsRI will prepare students for their work experiences through a week-long professional training on essential skills and expectations of the workplace. Additionally, SkillsRI will provide ongoing support to students and employer supervisors throughout the summer to ensure that all participants have a successful experience.

“As an organization with a proven record of demand-driven workforce solutions, the PrepareRI Internship program was a natural fit for SkillsRI.  We are committed to building out career pathways for Rhode Islanders to strengthen our workforce and satisfy the needs of our employers,” said Nina Pande, Executive Director of Skills for Rhode Island’s Future.

The PrepareRI Internship program is open to all rising high school seniors in public high schools in Rhode Island. Applications must be completed online and are due April 15. After a week-long preparation training, student interns will work directly with employers for six to eight weeks, 25-35 hours per week. Interns will be paid for all hours worked.

For more information and a link to the student application, visit:

https://www.prepare-ri.org/internships/