WARREN HARDING Program offers link for careers

The idea for the Bridges program came from a committee of community members.
By DENISE DICK
and JENNIFER COLES-SHESKO
SPECIAL TO THE VINDICATOR
WARREN -- More than 30 Mahoning Valley professionals got a sample Thursday of a career in education.
The professionals in fields from art and medicine to media and the military spent part of the day talking to students and teachers at Warren G. Harding High School for the school's Bridges: Connecting Business to Education program. The remainder of the day, the tables were turned as teachers spent the afternoon with participating businesspeople.
Linda Detwiler, coordinator for the school's office of strategic planning, said this marks the program's fifth year.
The idea came out of the strategic planning committee as a way to teach students about the business world. The committee is comprised of community members from different fields. Detwiler thought of the Bridges concept and pitched it to William Mullane, school principal, who gave it the go-ahead.
"It was a resounding success," Detwiler said.
Teachers earn professional development credit for participating the program.
"We had 40 people the first year," she said.
Mullane believes the program benefits teachers as well as those who participate.
Seeing another side
It gives teachers the opportunity to see how the concepts they teach in the classroom are applied in the business world. People from the community get to see what a teacher's day entails.
"They get to see what school is like and maybe dispel some of the myths," Mullane said.
It also provides connections between the teachers and the school and the business people and the community.
"It's been a very positive program," Mullane said. "It gives people a different feel for what other people do."
People who participate often call Detwiler following the event, asking when the next Bridges event is scheduled, Detwiler said.
"They have a great time," she said.
Business participants talk about their fields in general or specific careers. Elizabeth Nohra, who works at the Mahoning Valley Historical Society, passed around artifacts from the museum's stock, demonstrating how an article can tell a story about the person who owned it or the period from which it originated.
"If we don't known what came before us, how do we know how we got where we are?" Nohra asked.
Sue Ann Taylor, newspapers in education coordinator at The Vindicator, showed freshmen English students how newspapers are relevant in their lives.
XJennifer Coles-Shesko, a freshmen English teacher at Warren G. Harding High School, contributed to this story as part of the school's Bridges: Connecting Business to Education program.