Berks Business Education Coalition
The Berks Business Education Coalition highlights the connections between local education and the regional workforce. Through conversations with educators, employers, and community leaders, the podcast explores innovative programs, career pathways, and collaborations that prepare Berks County students for success in the local economy.
Berks Business Education Coalition
School-To-Work Program
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BBEC Executive Director Terri Hill’s conversation with Cheryl Spangler, Director of Staffing & Recruitment at East Penn Manufacturing, and Kristi Bonanno, Internship Coordinator at Governor Mifflin High School, about their School-To-Work Program partnership.
Hi, my name is Terry Hill, and I'm the Executive Director of the Burks Business Education Coalition. And thank you for tuning into our podcast. Our organization is really centered and meant to bring business and education together in order to help our students better prepare for their lives after graduation. Today we're going to take one of our summit presentations that we recently had and allow our presenters to expand and share some of the more detailed and really, I think, exciting parts that we were not able to address in our summit. And this program is dedicated to the School to Work program. But before we get into that, I do have two guests. I'd like to introduce them. Christy, do you want to go first? Do you want to say a little bit about who you are and also your journey? We talked about this because we're all about the career journeys. If you can share your journey to where you are today.
SPEAKER_02Sure. Well, thank you so much for having me today. Very excited about our program today. So my name is Christy Bonanno, and I am currently the internship coordinator at Governor Mifflin High School. And my journey, I have been in education for 28 years now as a business education teacher. My first 20 years were at Wilson School District at the middle school level, and then my past eight years with Governor Mifflin and the past four years as full-time internship coordinator. But one of the things we talk about with the kids is where you start might not be where you're going to end up. So my original degree is in marketing, and I worked with Hershey Entertainment, a resort company in the marketing department. But something that always stood out to me is when I was in college the first time and applying for internships, I spent a lot of time at the career center. And I absolutely fell in love with the work that they did. And I can remember being 22 years old and thinking to myself, this is my dream job. I want to work with students, I want to help them find their passion, I want to help them apply for opportunities and you know, just help them figure out the direction that they want to go in life. So I'm I feel very fortunate, you know, fast forward all these decades and it's finally what I'm getting to do.
SPEAKER_01You always reach the goal. It may take a while, but you reach the goal.
SPEAKER_00And Cheryl? Hi, I'm Cheryl Spangler. I'm the director of staffing and recruiting at East Penn Manufacturing Company. Um I started at East Penn a long time ago. My dad was an employee at East Penn, and I got to job shadow him when he would go into work. I would go along with him and see the manufacturing floor. So when I had the opportunity to start there, jumped on it and I started in accounting. And when I started there, um, when I went to school, you didn't learn a lot about computers. So I found out that I really liked the business world, working with computers, so I went back to school, eventually made my way into human resources and have been there ever since. I'm now, as I said, the director of staffing and recruiting, and what I love best about my job is kind of helping the students or candidates or employees finding their career paths within the company.
SPEAKER_01So before we actually still go forward, there's two things about East Penn I would like you to address. Um, one about the size of your organization, and then also I want you to just give a shout-out about being another top place to work.
SPEAKER_00Sure. East Penn um employs a little over 10,000 employees in Pennsylvania or Berks County is 8,000 employees. The majority of our staff is in Lyons Station in Berks County. And we have been voted one of the best places to work in Pennsylvania on and off, I should say mostly for the last 20 years. And just recently, the last few years as one of the best places to work in the United States.
SPEAKER_01Congratulations. Thank you. And I I will I do want our listeners to note that this recognition is based on the employee feedback. So employees nominate their businesses in order to get this recognition. So it is truly a reflection on the community that you have there. So congratulations on that. So now we're gonna get it back to Christy. Uh so today we're gonna talk about the school-to-work program. And while it falls under the scope of internship, there is some, there are some distinct unique values or or or things within that. So can you please just help people understand what an internship is at a high school level versus a school-to-work program?
SPEAKER_02So let me begin by saying Burks County has a thriving program, internship, school-to-work. All school districts, some of us call the programs the same thing, some of us use different terminology. However, um, you know, all school districts now have a coordinator that basically oversees our kids who have an opportunity to leave the building. Um, and sometimes it's in the building, but they have an opportunity to get credit for career experiences. So, like when we were growing up, I remember hearing the term co-op all the time. And a lot of our generation, when we talk about this, they'll immediately say, Oh, it's a co-op. And I wish my man RC Youss was here because he is the expert in all of this. Shout out to RC. Um, but cooperative education by state guidelines, it's a very formal program that requires some in-class instruction. Um, it can be audited by the state and it follows very strict guidelines. Then, under state guidelines, you can have something called internship paid and unpaid. So some school districts just say internship. At Governor Mifflin, we differentiate the two programs. So we have internship and we have school to work. Internship and school to work both allow students to get credit for the hours that they log in their experience. Most of our internship kids are there to see if this is a career that they'd like to pursue before heading off to college. So most internships are not paid opportunities. They're they're unpaid, and the kids are there for the experience. And it runs the gamut in all industries. And at Governor Mifflin, we allow one credit for that. School to work's a little bit different. We allow three credits for school to work. So our school to work kids actually can go to work for half of the school day and only be at Mifflin for the required classes that they have to have. And again, the main goal there with that group of kids, most often they know their initial path is not college. They really want to enter the workforce. So it gives them kind of a leg up on getting started in that process.
SPEAKER_01Um, and one of the other things I believe also is unique about this population. First of all, they're seniors. Yes. And a lot of them are even at risk of not graduating. Correct. Okay, so there there is a unique profile of the individuals that qualify or choose to use a school to work program at that stage.
SPEAKER_02That's correct. And most of the schools allow internship 11th and 12th grade. And then I think we all make exceptions for different cases, you know, based on a kid. One of the neat things that's very different about school today from when we were there is every student almost has their own plan. And I know at Governor Mifflin I have amazing support from my administration and my school board that if we have an opportunity that's best for that individual student, we make it work.
SPEAKER_01And one other thing I will point out when we mentioned co-op, uh co-op primarily uh goes to the Career and Technology Center, is runs through a career technology center. So it is co-op does not run through a school at our our schools at this point, our radio schools. Most of them, yes. So, Cheryl, we are now going to focus on you. So, one of the things that East Penn decided to do is really lean into the school-to-work opportunity and to uh address that those seniors that are looking to enter the workforce directly out of uh high school. So, can you talk a little bit about your program when you started it and a little bit about the details around it?
SPEAKER_00Sure, we started the program three years ago. Um Reading School District came to us with their early career academy, and I really liked the program. It was something similar that I wanted to start a number of years ago, but it never got off the ground where the students would come half half the day to East Penn and learn a job, and then the other half of the day be at school. So we tried it with the Early Career Academy and it was really successful. The next year we grew it, we added some more school districts to the program, and this year we're even adding more school districts to the program and adding the number of students that come into the program. They um they go through an interview process, pre-employment process, orientation, just like a regular employee would. Um they learn a job, they're given a mentor, they're paid for their time at East Penn like they were a regular employee, and we give them other opportunities to visit other careers within the company, not just the manufacturing position that they're assigned to as well. It gives them a great opportunity and great exposure to manufacturing life and job opportunities and careers that they can build upon after they graduate.
SPEAKER_01I I I just am I'm just so excited. I l I love this program. So can you just share with us the numbers like the first year you had Reading? So how many students did you have participate in that?
SPEAKER_00Um that year we had nine students. Okay. And I believe we we hired three of those students. Um it's not that we didn't want to hire all nine, um, the other um students had other opportunities and choose a different career path. And then the next year we had twelve, and we hired five of those students, and the other seven um again chose other career opportunities. Uh some of them even went back to school, actually found a career that they wanted to pursue. Some of them were at risk at not graduating, and then for to hear that they're going on to college was so rewarding to hear.
SPEAKER_01I think that's fabulous. And how many are you preparing for? Now, I will say one of the unique things or one of the qualifications in order to come and do this, participate in the school to work is they have to be 18. That is correct. Okay. Yeah. So how many of those uh students are you looking to bring on board?
SPEAKER_00We are um looking to grow the program to 15 this year, but um it's not capped off at 15. If we exceed that goal, that's perfectly fine.
SPEAKER_01And you're happy about that.
SPEAKER_00Yes, I am.
SPEAKER_01So one of the things I'm gonna ask quickly is um, you know, it takes time um and planning and a commitment on your part. So what at East Penn has driven this focus and and this desire to really participate and bring this to fruition?
SPEAKER_00Good question. Um we're always looking to grow talent into manufacturing, and I we saw this as a great opportunity to um bring students in and see what it's all about because manufacturing isn't what it used to be. It's more robotic, more automated. Um it's just uh I don't know what to say, a lot more um uh uh fancy, I'm gonna say, than it used to be years ago. So it's more technical sometimes, exactly. Um and we just wanted to share that opportunity with the students, plus build partnerships with the um community and the school districts out there. And we just wanted to give the students an opportunity.
SPEAKER_01I I I love that. Um and I've had a chance to listen to a few students' stories. So I'm gonna go back to bounce it back to Christy. I know you had a a success story of a student that went through the program, I believe it was last year. So if you want to just share, you don't have to share names, but if you want to, however, whatever you want to share. Sure.
SPEAKER_02So when we, you know, we're selective who we choose to go into the program. And um, you know, it's it's definitely our kids who need an opportunity to succeed somewhere. And school is not necessarily their their area for that, which is okay. And part of why we love this is that we show kids that they can be successful at something. And I don't think we even realize, now when I say we, um I collaborate with Troy Murphy, who is our transition coordinator at Governor Mifflin and really is the driving force behind this program at our school and talks to um Angela Purcell almost daily. So she deserves a lot of credit because she works with us in H, she's an HR at East Penn. And, you know, I don't think we quite realized the the impact beyond just having money in their pocket that this program was gonna create for our kids. So we have a business council at Governor Mifflin, and we meet quarterly, and we invited some of our kids to come speak to the council. So we didn't even know what this young lady was gonna say and share. And she admitted at the council how like they all start the job and they're all very nervous, and then they get their first paycheck and they're so excited because most of our school-to-work population works 40 hours a week at $10 an hour and they Uber to work. So now because my my superintendent and my school board and my admin was able to find grant money, we transport our kids to their job so they don't need to worry about Uber. And um, so this young lady stood up and she started to share how her, you know, how she got to know some of her colleagues and her confidence grew, and then she admitted to the group that in 11th grade her plan was to drop out of high school. So this experience not only showed her that she could make good money by working hard, but she then shared with us that she was planning on applying to college and joining the National Guard and continuing at East Penn third shift in order for all of that to happen. And in sharing her story, we have two young ladies in the program this year. Um they were very motivated by that and very excited by that. And again, never thought they would go to college, and now that's their plan, like right out of the gate, is to work at East Penn as well as pursue a college degree. So we're I know it's it's the best, and we're so grateful for this program because it's it's a game changer.
SPEAKER_01And I mean, East Penn, you are large. I mean, we uh we obviously you told us and shared the size, and you I believe you're the largest employer in our county. Uh so there's businesses out there that may say we don't have the capacity like East Penn, we don't have the number of people or the resources that East Penn has in order to develop a program like this. What would you say, or how do you would recommend somebody to get started if they were saying, we want to start building the talent pipeline, we have entry-level positions that we could bring students into to help. How would they, what would, you know, what would you recommend that they do?
SPEAKER_00They don't need to have as many as East Penn. Um, they can just take in one student. Um there aren't a whole lot of like some of the smaller school districts only have one or two students that they're looking to place into a program similar to ours. All they need to do is give the student a chance as a regular, treat them as a regular full-time employee that's only coming, or a part-time employee that's only coming half a day, mentoring them and giving them exposure to career opportunities within their industry, within their company, they might be surprised they might be hiring their next best employee. I love that.
SPEAKER_01Thank you so much. And I believe at the end of this we will be having your contact information so that if anybody is interested in getting started or just having that conversation on you know what best practices they should implement, um we'll we'll share with make sure we share that with you. And then, you know, Christy, of course, we'll we'll make sure we have your information as well. Um I just again I just absolutely adore that. So uh where do you see like East Penn is one? Do you have other uh organizations and partners that are currently part of your school to work?
SPEAKER_02We do. Um there's a a couple of companies, so The Heritage is one that works very closely with Troy Murphy in taking internship and school-to-work kids. Um and you know, a few others here, they're nothing to this level. Um, the other thing is Morgan Truckbody has traditionally run an apprenticeship program, which is where this program's a little bit different because when you talk about like the time and the resources, our students are entering orientation, I think, just as any regular employee at East Penn. So there's there's no differentiation between that, it's not a separate program, it's not so much an apprenticeship, it's just an opportunity to work a job. And I think the only difference with East Penn is that our kids are there, I believe, 24 hours a week versus the full time. That's where the difference is because they don't have the high school or they're not out of high school yet. So I know a lot of companies for liability reasons and manpower, you know, the term apprenticeship is, I think, a deterrent. And Morgan Truck Body runs a phenomenal welding apprenticeship, very competitive. Um, so that that's a different situation. But I think the buy-in for other companies is to realize it doesn't have to be a different program. It's exactly as a regular employee rolls rolls into it. It's the same for our kids because they're 18, they just have to be willing to accept the the 24 hours a week versus the 40 hours a week.
SPEAKER_01I love that. Um where do you see this program going? Like I I hear 12, I hear 15. Do we have 30? Like I I feel like I feel like an auctioneer.
SPEAKER_00Do we have you know of course I would love to grow the program as large as it can grow. Um we're always looking for good employees, um, trained employees. So this is a good bridge way to bring in good employees into the company.
SPEAKER_01So one thing I I believe I under I know about East Penn, and don't quiz me on everything, but um, is that you also offer tuition reimbursement and you encourage uh your employees to go back and further their education. So um have you or um is this could this be part of the program too, that you have the students there and they then select that I need more precision machining or I need some other education. Do they then go back? Have you seen that yet?
SPEAKER_00Um I have not seen that yet, but that is presented to the students. The students, when we interview them, tell us what areas within manufacturing that they would like to learn more about, um, like engineering or maintenance, logistics, HR, accounting, and then we have experts in those areas come in and talk to the high school students and tell them about their job, their educational journey to get into that job, and they take them for tours of the facility in which they work. Um for our maintenance. We do have a scholarship program, so when any student that expresses interest in going into the maintenance program, they are given information regarding our scholarship program and also our tuition reimbursement program for any of the other areas.
SPEAKER_01So I I just love this, and I I will say I shadowed students when they toured your facility. And uh I will say that your employees are such positive, you can't of course you're gonna not gonna pick the other ones, but you always have very positive spokespeople that just talk about how they chose to come to East Penn because of the culture there. So I want to I want to thank you on that. Um we're almost getting ready to wrap up, so I want to make sure I give each of you an opportunity to just highlight something that maybe we didn't talk about yet that you really want our audience or the people that are listening in to learn about either internship-wise or student opportunity-wise, um, because as you said, Christy, what's going on now in the schools in career preparation is so different. I mean, you're younger than me. I there was no career preparation talk. So please share anything that you have.
SPEAKER_02Well, I just I think if if you're a community member, if you are a business owner, if you're part of a large organization, and you don't know what's going on in your local district, like take some time to check it out. There's some really Neat things happening in education. Like I said, it is it's not the classroom that we remember when we were kids. It's very hands-on, it's very experiential. School is very different. And, you know, if if you're willing to take on a student as an intern or as an employee, you know, our mentors always say the experience was just as valuable for me as hopefully it was for the student. And it gives you a pulse on what's going on with the young people today. And it's just so rewarding to work with our, you know, our young kids. So I would encourage people to find out what's going on in their school district. I think they'd be really excited about it and to consider being a mentor for our kids. Thank you. And go ahead.
SPEAKER_00I truly um agree with everything. She said the school and the programs they have available to the students now is unbelievable, and you really need to go out and see what they have. There the students now, as our largest applicant pool, if you look at it that way, with the workforce decreasing, they're our future. And if we're not tapping into that, um I think it's a loss. So East Penn has made that commitment to partner with different school districts and make sure that the largest sector, the manufacturing sector of Berks County, has that talent pool and qualified candidates coming into the workforce.
SPEAKER_01And we will we will start to close on that. Manufacturing is our largest sector. I just had uh an interview with Amber Colombo, and manufacturing by by large numbers is is where our businesses, the density, density of our businesses in our community, uh help followed quickly by or uh by healthcare. So the opportunities are there. Uh I know you can make really good money in manufacturing. Um yes?
SPEAKER_00Yes, you can.
SPEAKER_01Yes, you can. So uh I was I was uh at uh another uh manufacturer who basically shared that you know they have people on the floor making $100,000 a year, which uh, you know, who who wouldn't want an opportunity to uh to really give their their family a really good life. So I thank you both for sharing the school to work program, the success behind it. I just get so excited when I I feel like students can see success in their lives and they find their path going forward. Um as we all know, you don't need to know the whole path, you just need to know where you're going. Your next step is. So thank you for providing those opportunities. Um and I'd like to thank you for tuning in and hearing more about the School to Work program. Uh, courtesy of East Pen Manufacturing and Governor Mifflin and of course the BBEC. Thank you.