CAREER EXPLORATION SUMMER CAMPS, 2022

Yuma, Arizona

"STEDY offers Career Exploration summer fun to middle schoolers"

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HANDS ON LEARNING @ Yuma School District One's Fourth Avenue Jr. High

Culinary Arts: Making Sushi!

Construction: Building a table! 

Click here for the <2 minute news story video. 

Career Pathways and Middle School Engagement

The Goal:  The development of a statewide voluntary career education model integrating ALL partners and existing independent successful components into an overall strategic plan to ensure all students have access to quality career awareness, exploration, preparation, and placement programs.  

The Solution:

Key partners that have a piece of the puzzle need to be integrated to form a cohesive, conceptual plan that can be understood and communicated to all Arizona citizens.

THE ROLE OF ABEC: 

 ABEC is uniquely qualified to lead this work because it is a non-partisan, statewide organization with a focus on K-20 education fostered by business and community leaders and partners.  This work is also being guided by the report and recommendations of the Pipeline Az Education Leadership Group’s report (which ABEC played a leading role), Dear Arizona:  A Call from Educators – Reimagining Career Development for All Arizona Students.

Supported by community, state, and federal grants,  ABEC has been able to accomplish the following goals which includes on-going facilitated discussions and collaborations with education, community and business partners currently engaged in the career development process, in order to:

• Support the continued development of an integrated technology one-stop portal for students, families, and employers that optimizes access to currently available resources.
• Develop strategies that lead to the implementation of a statewide education model and solutions for ALL Arizona students that provides equal opportunity for career development and training within three years.
• Develop strategies to ensure available resources and human capital to deliver quality career development to students.
• Facilitate a process to develop or expand a state level coordinating body to focus the state’s effort in making Arizona a premier producer of talent for the workforce pipeline.

ACED

The ABEC Career Exploration & Development (ACED) Project continues to flourish.   ABEC, utilizing grant funds, and in collaboration with other state partners, is helping to build a cohesive middle school program that can be utilized by any school in Arizona.  Due to ABEC’s resolute determination, the impact has truly been dramatic and ensures ABEC partner schools have free access to the career exploration toolbox developed and implemented by ABEC and its’ business and community partners.

Major accomplishments over the past year include:

• In August of 2021, after months of planning and collaboration with ABEC and other education and community partners, the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) launched MyFutureAZ, a new career exploration and planning platform, for students across the state. Originally developed just for high school students, with the support, collaboration and funding from ABEC and the Center for the Future of Arizona, the reach of this new tool was extended to middle schoolers as well.  “Who am I, what do I want, where am I going, and how do I get there” are all critical questions for middle school students as they begin to develop their career identities, understand the link between rigorous coursework and future careers, and transition into high school and beyond.  ABEC’s persistence in ensuring the MyFutureAz middle school platform plays a critical role for students in discovering the answers to these important questions so that they can effectively plan for their futures.   
• ABEC engaged curriculum experts from two Career & Technology Education Districts, WEST-MEC and STEDY, to develop robust curriculum in the areas of:  Construction Trades, Automotive and Transportation, and Culinary Hospitality.  Prior to this effort, there was little, if any, FREE middle school career exploration curriculum related to these particular career pathways.  Efforts are underway to digitize the ABEC developed curriculum with anticipated completion in the next year.  ABEC’s goal in developing these curricula was to ensure skills/information important to businesses and professionals in the field were embedded, as well as to ensure appropriate and meaningful hands-on activities and projects that would actively engage the business community in middle school career exploration and development classrooms.
• During the 2021/2022 school year, a minimum of 4,700 middle school students per semester received career exploration activities through ABEC Projects. 
• Through a community partner collaboration with CFA, ElevateEdAz, and the Pima County Schools Superintendents office, two externships were also conducted impacting approximately 100 teachers.

• In collaboration with the Yuma ABEC Leadership Team, and statewide partners, a Yuma ABEC Community event was planned and implemented on October 18, 2021.  Please see:  https://kyma.com/education/yuma-education/2021/10/18/arizona-business-and-education-coalition-celebrates-career-and-technical-education/. An estimated 100 education, business, community partners, elected officials, and parents participated in the event helping to build community support and awareness for the Yuma ABEC project.

Developing the workforce in your community! 

See what the students are doing! 

Construction slide show                            Computer Science slide show

Public Safety slide show

Career Exploration in Yuma! Check it out! 

ACED and Workforce Readiness 2022 Year-End Summary

ABEC supports the MY Future AZ Platform 

In August 2021, the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) launched MyFutureAZ (https://myfutureaz.pipelineaz.com/), a new career exploration and planning platform, for students across the state.  MyFutureAZ utilizes proven technology and infrastructure from Pipeline AZ, an Arizona career development and job skills exploration platform, to offer students comprehensive resources and support to plan for their future careers.  ABEC, through financial support provided by the AZ GEARUP and the Arizona Community Foundation,  and in collaboration with the Center for the Future of Arizona, provided financial support to extend MyFutureAZ into the middle grades. 

ABEC is proud to have been a long-term partner in the establishment of this statewide technology platform that is accessible to all Arizona P20 students, parents, teachers and future employers for their career development, education  and information.  ABEC officers Jim Zaharis and Deb Raeder have been involved in helping this dream become a reality for well over 15 years. We are proud to have been part of this alignment to provide this free service to Arizona's rising generation as they find their way into the talent pipeline, build their careers and seek economic independence.

The Arizona Coalition for Career Readiness

This effort is part of ABEC’s involvement in the development of a statewide voluntary career education model integrating partners and existing independent successful components into an overall strategic plan to ensure all students have access to quality career awareness, exploration, preparation, and placement programs, of which PipelineAz and MyFutureAz are key components.    

The work of key partners is also being integrated to form a cohesive, conceptual plan that can be understood, communicated, and utilized by all Arizona citizens.

ABEC is uniquely qualified to help lead this work because it is a non-partisan, statewide organization with a focus on K-20 education fostered by business and community leaders and partners.  The report and recommendations of the Pipeline AZ Education Leadership Group’s report (in which ABEC played a leading role), Dear Arizona:  A Call from Educators – Reimagining Career Development for All Arizona Students, is being utilized to guide this work.

The Arizona Coalition for Career Readiness Leadership team has been formed and, staffed by Rachel Yanoff, is working diligently to ensure all students/schools/communities with career related options:

• Support the continued development of an integrated technology one-stop portal for students, families, and employers that optimizes access to currently available resources.
• Develop strategies that provide equal opportunity for education, career development and training for all Arizona students.
• Develop strategies to ensure available resources and human capital to deliver quality career development to students.
• Facilitate a process to develop or expand a state level mechanism to focus the state’s effort in making Arizona a premier producer of talent for the workforce pipeline.

Through ABEC’s collaborative partnerships, a solid foundation is in place to ensure students and communities with:

• Equitable access to career related options;
• A singular, shared technology tool; and
• Feedback loop for education/industry.

This compilation of many years of efforts will now explore the possibility of Arizona legislation modeled after “Talent Ready Utah” which was a direct product of business leadership in Utah which ABEC now seeks to mimic in Arizona as well!

And More from Amazon Web Services and the Garcia Foundation

Collaborating with Amazon, the Arizona Department of Education,  CTEDs from around the State, and the community college system in Maricopa, Pima, and Yuma counties, ABEC continues to play a pivotal role in the plan to implement the Amazon Web Based (AWS) certification project statewide, which also provides a model to align certification programs from middle school through high school, community college and beyond.  Last year, programs were piloted in Yuma Union High School District, the Mesa School District, the Buckeye Union High School District, Amphitheater Unified School District, Saddle Mountain Unified School District, and East Valley Institute of Technology, among others.   Through a generous grant from the Garcia Foundation, Title I students across Arizona can now take AWS certification exams for free!  Contact ABEC for more information!

Grants and Partnerships

Thanks to the GEAR UP, Sundt, and Arizona Community Foundation grants, ABEC has been able to expand a toolbox of programs to both urban and rural areas of Arizona including Maricopa County, Pinal, Pima, and Yuma counties.   Efforts are underway to expand into Coconino, Yavapai, Navajo, Cochise and Santa Cruz Counties.   ABEC is also thrilled to continue to partner with Mesa Public Schools in support of their career pathway programs. These efforts included support of the Mesa Public Schools Diploma Plus Graduation Program, expanded middle school career pathway opportunities, and forming summer and school year end partnerships with Boeing, Empire Caterpillar (and more!) including the virtual opportunities provided by Edge Factor.

ESSER Grant

ABEC’s primary program is the well-established, sustainable, award-winning ACED Project, which has provided the foundation and proven strategy to engage business AND education partners in creating meaningful career exploration programs for students.  The overall goal is to assist students grades 6-14 in making informed decisions regarding their education; bridge the gap between rigorous academics and relevancy to real work environments; and provide an understanding of critical employability skills or credentials needed to succeed in the workforce.

ABEC’s ESSER III Grant will be used to continue to develop and expand career exploration & development programs throughout Arizona that guide students to discovery and nurturing of career aspirations; connects success in school to success in the workforce; and provides another link for meeting Arizona’s future economic and workforce.

Yes, ABEC Supports Mental/Behavioral Health Efforts, too!

In collaboration with Bring Change to Mind (BC2M), ABEC has endorsed and supported the growth of vital mental health services to students throughout Arizona via the formation of clubs on individual campuses.  The clubs give students a chance to openly discuss and learn about mental health issues; taking the stigma out of these vital discussions in both peer and faculty led groups.  We expect the Bring Change To Mind program to continue to grow and flourish with Arizona schools and students in 2023.

And Don’t Forget To Look Up!!

ABEC, in coordination with the Arizona Science Foundation and the Mesa Education Foundation, is exploring the creation of a pilot astronomy program that would serve many east valley students. 

These collaborative efforts exemplify the work of ABEC in making progress in service to Arizona students, schools, and districts, and businesses! We anticipate even more opportunities like these to continue into 2023!

~~~

These outstanding collaborative efforts have been nurtured with passion and dedication by Dr. James Zaharis, Executive Vice President, ABEC, and Ms. Debra Raeder, Vice President, ABEC, and director of the ACED project.

For more information on any of these projects or how your school, business, or community can get involved, contact either Jim, by email at Jim@azbec.org or Deb, by email at debra@azbec.org. 

Thank you! 

And over 300 businesses' on-going support in materials, supplies,  and in-kind time and funds!