CU partners with CHS to teach workplace skills

When Central High School students walk across Jefferson Avenue, it's like walking across a bridge one that connects the classroom and the workplace.

Because of the school's partnership with nearby City Utilities, Central students have the opportunity to develop team-building skills, explore career options, and see the connection between school and the "real world."

Cheri Hamlin, director-utility bench-marking at City Utilities, oversees the partnership programs. "It's really a team effort," she said. "At the beginning of the school year I get together with the coordinators of each module, and I also coordinate one activity each semester."

The partnership's two main goals are to ease the school-to-work transition and to encourage young people to stay in school. These goals are being addressed via three different programs: The Central Advantage, for freshmen; The Competi-tive Edge, for sophomores; and CU Con-nections, for juniors and seniors.

The Central Advantage

All freshmen at CHS participate in the Central Advantage program, Hamlin said.

According to Alisa Boyd, English tea-cher at Central, the program "reinforces the English curriculum." Students go to CU as a group with their English I classes, and the activities are coordinated with the curriculum, tying in literature that the students have been studying in class.

Six different modules are completed in the fall and repeated again in the spring with a different group of students. "In the budgeting module, the students pick an occupation, and then they're given an estimated salary," Hamlin said. "They try to project their lives 10 years in the future. They're asked to budget for expenses such as car payment, house payment, and groceries. And we discuss needs versus wants."

Other modules include goal-setting, team-building, voting, post-high-school opportunities, and following instructions.

"Students learn skills that will help them in the workplace, like teamwork and goal-setting," said Boyd. While some students don't see the value of the activities until later, she said, "some students are able to apply those skills immediately."

Hamlin said the students provide feedback after each module. Last year one student wrote, "Thank you for spending time on the CU partnership. It is giving kids a look at the real world and preparing them for life."

The Competitive Edge

Sophomores at CHS have the chance to participate in the more expanded program, The Competitive Edge, Hamlin said.

Amielia Mitchell, a guidance counselor at Central, oversees the approximately 30 sophomores who are selected each year for the program. The selection is based on attendance, grades, citizenship, and an essay, she said.

The Competitive Edge is designed to get students thinking about life after high school, Mitchell said, and to bridge the gap between high school and the workplace. Four all-day sessions focus on team building, community service, career exploration, and business ethics and professionalism. Students visit college campuses and do volunteer work in the community. They have the chance to explore careers through job shadowing, she said. "The students spend a full day shadowing in areas they may be interested in as a future career."

According to Mitchell, the program is one more step towards graduation and post high school opportunity. "It's a bridge to the next level," she said. "If they want to participate in the internship program, they should participate in The Competitive Edge."

CU Connections

Now going into its third year, CU Connections is an internship program for juniors and seniors.

Students are selected for the program based on an application and interview process. The newest addition to the partnership programs, CU Connections is still getting off the ground, Hamlin said. "We're still taking the baby steps with this program."

Virginia Rabe, a Central senior, spends the first period of every other day at City Utilities. Rabe is in her second year as an intern in CU's safety and training department.

Participating in the Central Advantage and Competitive Edge programs sparked her interest in the internship program. "I could tell when I was there my freshman and sophomore years that the employees really enjoyed working there," she said. "I recognized that City Utilities would be the best place for me to get an education for a future career."

Rabe added that she'd like her experience to extend beyond her high school graduation. "I want to work there after I get out of school."

For one former CHS student, the partnership has continued, Hamlin said. The student, who did an internship two years ago, is now attending Ozarks Technical Community College and working at CU as a co-op student. "It's a real win-win situation," said Hamlin.

Award-winning partnership

The CU-Central partnership has gained statewide and national recognition. In 1997, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners recognized the partnership with the Thomas Harwood Jr. Excellence in Education Award of Merit as the most outstanding utility-related education project of the year.

Then in 1999 the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education designated the CU/ CHS partnership as a "Best Practice Program."

A logical fit'

Gerald Lee, senior manager of gas at City Utilities, was involved in the formation of the partnership. "Our view when we put this thing together was to approach it from several different angles," he said. "One was obviously from a corporate standpoint of getting a qualified work force, getting people in the job market who would be trained and suited for going to work."

Another reason for the partnership was the close proximity of the school to CU's offices, he said. "It was a logical fit for us to partner with Central." Keeping kids in school and helping improve the education of Central students was another important motivator in the decision.

"It's been a great partnership," Lee said. "It's been not only well-received within the educational community but also within City Utilities, with volunteers wanting to help out and participate."

Each module is coordinated by a different CU employee, Hamlin said, and other employees get involved by helping out with activities and interacting with the students.

"It's a chance for our employees to give back to the area students and the community," Hamlin said. "There's a great deal of satisfaction in seeing someone progress though the different activities and throughout the semester, and to see students learning what life is like after high school.

"I think it's wonderful that CU gives people the opportunity to participate in something like this," she added. "It increases job satisfaction, and they have a little bit of extra positive influence on the community."

The partnership has been "a very enlightening process for everybody involved," Lee said. "We have a better understanding of the educational pro-cess, and the students have a better understanding of the corporate world as they prepare to graduate."