The Genesee County Business/Education Alliance continues to grow and gain momentum.
In an agency review before the Human Service Committee on Monday, BEA Coordinator and local businesswoman Beth Kemp highlighted the many avenues the partnership uses to prepare students for the world of work.
It was a dizzying gamut of outreach -- from the popular Summer Career Exploration Camps and a hiring event next week at Batavia High School for 10th- through 12th-graders, to school presentations at Le Roy and Byron-Bergen high schools and a bus tour Oct. 7 of local manufacturers, with more in the works.
Upcoming at the YWCA will be the free "Tech Girls" program to enhance critical thinking skills and hands-on learning for at-risk girls ages 9 to 15 with limited access to technology.
"It's important that businesses see the value, too, in helping students achieve success," Kemp said.
The "education of educators on local business opportunities" is one of the area's that the BEA is focusing on, Kemp said, helping them help students hone a career path.
For the next academic year, they will be working with the Genesee County Economic Development Center on piloting a course in Oakfield-Alabama schools about choosing a career. It will include information about the skill sets that will be needed to succeed in jobs at the Science, Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park (STAMP) planned in Alabama.
She cited the WNY Tech Academy in Bergen as having STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) focused education for high-skill, financially stable careers in growth industries.
For the career camps, the alliance is seeking sponsorships to cover the costs for deserving students. Most camps cost $95 and include a week of instruction, a T-shirt, lunches and snacks. A total of 230 sixth- through 11th-graders will take part in camps this summer. (Camp enrollment maximums vary.)
The camps include:
- MST -- Math, Science and Technology
- All About Dogs
- Culinary I
- Culinary II
- Animal Science/Vet
- Medical ($75)
- Hard Hat
- WNY Aviation Adventure (This camp costs more. It's $350 and includes week-long room and board.)
"I think it's amazing what this group can accomplish (for the money)," said Committee Member Andrew Young about the BEA.
Following Kemp's overview, the Committee was asked to recommend approval of a resolution for $3,452 in funding for the BEA through a contract for 2016 between the county and the Chamber of Commerce. The members did so unanimously.
The BEA operates out of the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce office on Main Street and is supported by schools, businesses and county government. It is part of the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership.
