leadership in high schools

In June 08, before the end of the school year, the Student Council voted for a $300 seed fund to distributed to the summer school High school classes.  The purpose of this fund is to challenge the thinking of students in free enterprise.  the goal is to see if the students can double the $300 investment and turn a profit for student council based on the idea of free enterprise -running a summer school business over 6 weeks. 

In the first week July 7-11, the students sponsored a salad bar and made a profit of @$54.  Each week the students working with three teachers, Cindy Jackson, Amy Montgomery and Jim Hedlund will embark on a business venture aimed at teaching successful work habits, the value of profit and loss, advertising, how to start and run a business, customer relations etc. 

In the new school year, 2008-09 student council might well benefit from sponsoring a sister club SIFE devoted to the notion of promoting free enterprise with an additional foray into donating some of the profit to a needy organization that benefits students eg.  research into autism, cerebral palsy, mental illnesses or pervasive developmental disorders   all issues that impact the quality of life of our students.  What do you think? 

This past Spring work began on a collaborative model between Chautauqua Works and Erie 2 CC BOCES.  For the Alternative and Special Education High School student who attends the instructional programs at the Hewes Center, linkages were forged between Chautauqua Works and the BOCES.  The entire process of selling the model to students, engaging parents in the process and making work a fashionable alternative to doing noting over the summer became the focus of our consultant teacher, Rose Dorey and our work experience teacher, Amy Montgomery.  The greatest plus of this work experience exposure has been the notion of students understanding the need to not work “under the table”, the need to become tax payers and understand their role in the local economy.  Most important is the schools goal of making education and a high school diploma relevant to the world of work and the skills needed in that environment. 

Students must meet income eligibility requirements - family of four making less than $42,000 a year.  Preference for students on probation.  Will need proof of citizenship, have working papers and have clearance from a physician stating that the student has no work restrictions.  All students must be aged 16-21.  These students are placed in jobs in the community and will be supervised by counselors from Chautauqua Works.

The above program sponsored by Chautauqua Works is different from that offered at the Hewes Center for summer school in that regression statements dictated summer school attendance and limits the number of hours worked to less than 30.  Please refer to category on Collaboration with Chautauqua Works.

Any comments regarding the difference between this summer program and the work experience programs of Erie 2 CC BOCES in the past?

Summer school this year, 6 weeks at the Hewes Center for High School students involves a collaborative model between Erie 2 CC BOCES and Chautauqua Works, a clearing house for all county wide jobs and a state funded initiative to promote employment and employment skills amidst the workforce in Chautauqua County. 

In the morning all students grades 9-12 are engaged in academic subject instruction tying in school learning to skills and information needed in the workplace.  Relevance is portrayed for students between what is taught in school and how it relates to the workplace.  In the afternoon,  all students are engaged in a work model.  Students aged 16+ are working for Chautauqua Works both on and off-campus in jobs ranging from housekeeping-maintenance-pool aides-cafeteria aides-information technology assistant. If the student is deemed eligible in terms of family income guidelines then he/she is paid for this work$7.15 an hour by their employer Chautauqua Works.  If the student does not meet eligibility requirements he/she is considered an employee in training (EIT) and does not get paid by Chautauqua Works. 

Points of Interest:

• All students have received training on work place etiquette, sexual harassment and fidelity to the employer. Additional training has been provided about filling out tax forms, time cards etc.  This work place orientation lasted approx. 2 hours. 
• All student have been assigned a work place counselor from Chautauqua Works who checks up on the students and answers their questions about work place difficulties/problems on the job.   In addition, daily work place support is provided by the teachers of BOCES who monitor the students. 

In order for this program to have been initiated at the Hewes Center of Erie 2 CC BOCES, our district Superintendent Robert Giuffreda had to sign of an the agreement between the school and Chautauqua Works.  In addition, the program required a sign off from the United Staff Association (USA)/ a Union within the BOCES that student employees would not take away work from members and that there would be no decrease in the number of persons employed by the USA over the summer period.