MontcoWorks NOW to launch job shadowing program at high schools
North Penn, Norristown, Abington and Upper Perkiomen schools participating under new grant
NORRISTOWN » What do I want to do when I grow up? What happens next? These are questions students often face when taking the next step after high school.
MontcoWorks NOW, an organization within the umbrella of the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit, will soon launch an initiative that will give up to 100 Montgomery County high school students an inside look at postgraduate industry employment opportunities to help them answer that question.
“(It’s) just a good way to bridge the employment world with our local school districts,” said Youth Workforce Career Counselor Hakim Jones.
Daniel Chominski, program administrator for college and career readiness, said the program will focus on “major high priority occupations” including construction, health care and manufacturing.
“They’re really feeling the squeeze of the silver tsunami and the great resignation,” Chominski said of those industries. “Everybody needs people.”
“What we’re trying to do is create a better understanding between those two entities through collaborations, and facilitated meetings … with an end game of creating tool kits and templates for those businesses and industries to use so they can better deliver work-based learning experiences in the form of industry tours, and in the form of job shadowing experiences,” Chominski continued.
Grant to fund initiative
An application for a Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industries’ Business Education Partnership grant amounting to $118,007 will fund the yearlong initiative, according to a Montgomery County spokesperson.
Once the program launches on July 1, between 80 and 100 juniors and seniors from Abington, Norristown Area, North Penn, and Upper Perkiomen high schools may participate, according to Kendall GlounerZeamer, assistant director for program development in office of student services.
“We’re starting with four high schools that provided us with letters of support saying that this is something that would benefit them,” Glouner-Zeamer said. “If we’re able to expand further, then we certainly would want to open it up to others.”
“We want our young people that maybe don’t have the opportunity to attend tech school … to experience a job in construction, experience a job in manufacturing, experience a job in health care,” Chominski said. “Because what that does is it helps our young people make better informed decisions on what they want to do when they’re older.”
Finances are also a part of that decision making process as Chominski underscored the value of not “taking on college debt” when pursuing another career path.
“We talk about it all the time,” he said. “There’s a reason why there’s so much college debt in this country that’s not being paid for individuals that maybe drop out after year one, or year two of college, and that’s because maybe the informed decision or things are not where they could have been, and that’s no fault of anyones, but I think there’s a mindset shift kind of happening now where these work-based learning experiences are things that need to happen.”
Educating educators
Teachers and other education
staff are also a crucial part of this program, according to Chominski.
“So that’s a big piece of it as well: educating educators on what kind of jobs are available in the field of manufacturing construction and health care so that they can pass that on to young people that they mentor,” he said.
Organizers are actively working to enlist area businesses and build a network.
Chominski added that the grant funding covers costs the schools may incur for transportation and personnel. The grant is expected to continue through mid-2023.
“It’s just good information,” Chominski said. “The more information young people have to make an informed decision, the better that decision, and potential outcome is going to be.” Glouner-Zeamer agreed. “Sometimes it’s not about helping students figure out what they want to do, but it’s also helping them understand what they might now want to do,” she said. “There are times when young people
are making decisions about postsecondary schooling without being able to see that job in action.”
Job search services
The Norristown-based organization overall offers employment resources to eligible 14-to-24-year-olds in Montgomery County ranging from career fairs to resume writing workshops to training.
“Your typical high school teenager, and sometimes the families, they’re only aware of the jobs we’re all aware of: the major retail sectors, the big box stores, your typical high school job, or your typical entry level job,” Jones said. “I think our department — our organization — can connect our students to career options that they have out there across the many different high priority occupations.”
Jones stressed that the opportunity for teens to explore different career options is crucial.
“Jobs of today are much different than jobs of yesterday,” Jones said. “So I think what we’re giving the young people and their
families and the educators is breaking some stereotypes about different jobs.”
He used manufacturing as an example, an industry that contributes $2.71 trillion annually to the national economy, according to the National Association of Manufacturers, which cited figures from the fourth quarter of 2021. Workers can earn average salary of $92,832 in the U.S.
“The world of manufacturing has changed drastically,” Jones said. “When people (used to) think manufacturing, they think you get dirty every day and your back hurts.
“Now, they’re teaching people to program machines, and you wear a pair of khakis all day, and make great money and work somewhere within a 15-to-20 minute commute,” he continued. “I think the partnership gets people caught up to speed on what the workforce really looks like today, and what the roles entail … a lot of them have changed given the technology, or just given that times have changed.”