Law enforcement, health careers and banking ... these are just a sample of the career clusters explored by the students who participated in the Industry Club of Warren County program held at Sheffield Area Middle High School and Youngsville Elementary Middle School during the second half of the school year. Both clubs have been very active and have proven to be a popular after school program at each school. Students meet one afternoon each week to research their career interest areas, participate in activities and meet with local business people to learn about careers.
Industry Club students also spent a day at Jamestown Community College participating in hands-on learning activities organized by the faculty. In particular the students enjoyed the CAD Engineering Department where they created a virtual mechanical device. The Nursing Department was also popular as they have a full hospital experience designed to teach students proper medical procedures. The Industry Club students participated in activities that included CPR, phlebotomy, and first aid. In addition they toured the digital recording studio and were able to experience a digital recording. A presentation on banking and finance was provided as well. A tour of the Welding Dept. at MTI also proved to be quite popular as the students completed a project that involved welding their names on metal plates. A campus tour and lunch concluded their day at JCC.
The culminating activity each year is the Industry Club Expo held at Pitt-Titusville Campus May of each school year. Industry Clubs from the six county WIB region gather to engage in career based learning activities. Each Industry Club is required to present a career cluster that they have studied. This year the group from YEMS made two presentations; health careers and law enforcement. The Sheffield club created an interactive career game that they presented to the judges.
The W/F Higher Education Council, School to Work program has provided the Industry Club program at SAMHS and YEMS for the past several years. Grant funding is obtained from Venango Training and Development Center through the Workforce Investment Board Youth Council initiatives. There are Industry Clubs in all of the six counties included in the NW PA WIB region. For more information on the Industry Club of Warren County program, please contact the School to Work office at 723-3222 ext. 30.