CBIA's YES Academy

2003 Participants: list of companies - list of schools

The idea for the Youth Employability Skills (YES) Academy arose out of the Capital Region Workforce Development Board’s experiences with a summer employment program it has offered to young people in the past few years. The board asked CBIA to recruit volunteers and help create a curriculum for a new academy that would teach students basic "employability" skills – which typically aren’t taught in school – and at the same time, provide them with some much-needed mentoring.

     A collaboration of the Capital Region Workforce Development Board, Hartford and East Hartford Public Schools and CBIA, the academy exposes students to accomplished professionals who teach them important employment skills including resume writing, interviewing skills, the importance of a positive attitude, how to make good decisions and dress for success, and the importance of showing up for work on time, every day.

     "We had heard from employers that the students who sought summer employment often didn’t have the appropriate level of

employability skills," says Lauren Weisberg-Kaufman, CBIA vice president for education and training, and director of the association’s Education Foundation. "The academy became an excellent opportunity to get the kids to not only learn about those important job skills, but to hear it from a variety of professionals – people the students could conceivably look up to," she says.

     "The ultimate goal of the academy is to have a better prepared workforce, both now and in the long term, " says Kaufman.

     For the past two years, more than 120 high school students have given up their April break to listen to

professionals from around the state. The students selected to participate have at least a B average and a 90 percent attendance record. They take a pre-test at the beginning of the academy to measure their knowledge of job skills. After four days of intensive, hands-on workshops, the students received certificates of accomplishment at a graduation ceremony.

     Besides gaining skills, students picked up some inspiration from their mentors. "Many of the academy mentors overcame serious challenges to get where they are today – things like disadvantaged family situations, growing up in single-parent households or living in poverty," says Dayl Walker, CBIA program manager. "This made them especially credible to the students, many of whom face similar obstacles. "

     The following companies participated in the 2003 Yes Academy.

The following schools participated in the 2003 YES Academy

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