Co-hosted by Mayor Joseph Carfora’s office, East Haven Public Schools and the Economic Development Commission, the event highlighted the pathways the district is clearing for students to identify, and realize, the greatest opportunity for success.
A prime reason for the event comes from a study conducted by the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce, according to Ann Benowitz, its vice president for economic development and workforce initiatives: “East Haven high school graduates the largest number of students that do not go on to a four-year college.”
In recognition of that reality, Superintendent of Schools Erica Forti said the district has engaged in a long-term effort to meet the needs of those students.
“Three years ago we set out on a journey to capture the most important skills and attributes our community believed was imperative for every high school student to possess as they walked across the stage as a newly minted graduate,” Forti said.
Part of defining this so-called “Vision of the Graduate” involved a sort of walking tour.
“[Family and community engagement coordinator] Julie Church and I met with town officials, the Chamber, the Rotary Club, and local businesses to gain insight into what they were looking for in high school graduates,” Forti said.
“We learned that town officials wanted kids to have baseline skills in areas like manufacturing, trade, culinary, and automotive repair — all areas that business owners are currently struggling to find worthy hires,” she said. “That would ensure we kept those businesses in town.”
Business owners shared, she said, that “it was less important to have a background in, say, baking, than for them to show a willingness to learn, to show up on time, to practice teamwork and to be problem-solvers.”
EHHS Principal Vincent DeNuzzo discussed how he and his staff sought to realize this vision of the graduate.
“There’s not a single pathway for students to follow through their four years of high school,” he said. “We are preparing students to be college-ready through our rigorous course curriculum, but we’re also preparing those students opting for another pathway to be employable when they cross our stage and graduate.”
That means offering programs that range from desktop publishing to TV production and audio recording to graphic design to a manufacturing lab that prepares students for well-paying jobs at companies such as Sikorsky and Electric Boat.
“We’re fortunate enough to have staff members that work in the industry,” DeNuzzo said. “Our medical careers teacher is not just an educator but also a nurse and dental hygienist.”
DeNuzzo said the aim was not just to make students employable. “We’re hoping that tonight and going forward we find opportunities for our students to get out and have some real work experiences in the workforce whether that be through internships or apprenticeships in the community,” he said.
East Haven Chamber of Commerce President Jennifer Higham pledged a continuing willingness to “help bring our members who are businesses to the students for mentoring opportunities.”
“Getting accountants together with students that want to go into accounting, it brings everything together,” she said. “It brings economic development, the Chamber and the high school together.”
Benowitz, of the Greater New Haven Chamber, lauded the high school’s aviation program, which kicked off in December with a program at Tweed with Avelo Airlines.
“These kids are going to have opportunity here,” she said. “That’s what we want, for them to have jobs here. That’s part of economic development.”
She discussed a methodology called “talent pipeline management,” a strategy “that will help employers clearly communicate their most critical job needs to their partners in education,” she said. “Part of that involves adequately preparing talent that has yet to walk through the door.”
“The idea for all of us,” she said, “is grow the base, grow these children into adults that can be employed in some fantastic jobs.”
There was no one better suited, perhaps, than Michael Iavorone, work-study coordinator and CTE automotive technology instructor, to drive that message home.
“We start out simply with small gas engines in our first-year program and then evolve into the bigger engines,” he told a small group of business owners and citizens as part of a tour to showcase the programs the high school is offering.
He then introduced EHHS junior RJ Serio, who’s doing a work-study at Torello Tire in East Haven. Another student who’s currently interning at Keating Ford was just offered a job there upon graduation, he said.
“I believe in real-life educational experience,” he said. “For some students, that’s what it’s all about.”
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