Soft Skills Challenge

Save the Dates: April 7, 8, 9. 10, 11, 14, 15

• Juniors and Seniors
• Voluntary
• Prizes Available

Career and Job Fair

SAVE THE DATE for the second annual 2025 Armstrong-Indiana Career Fair, which will be held on Friday, March 28th at the former Elderton High School gymnasium. The format for this year’s career fair will be similar to last year’s event. Schools will send their students during the morning session – school arrival times will be staggered. The event will transition to a job fair in the afternoon, after all students depart. Approximately 70 employers from a variety of industries will be in attendance to network with your students and educate them about current and future career opportunities, including conversations about post-secondary education paths leading to careers with their companies.

The Armstrong Center for Community Learning will secure a grant from the Tri-County Workforce Investment Board to reimburse each school for busing and substitute teachers on the day of the career fair. The grant will also be used to hire security officers to patrol the facilities and scan all attendees through metal detectors upon arrival.

We are excited to share registration information for the Healthcare Education & Learning Pathways (HELP) Summit on February 24, 2025, hosted by the Armstrong Indiana Career Pathways Partnership (AICPP).

Please complete the registration steps by Monday, February 9, 2025.

1. Click here for information about the event.
2. Complete the School Registration Form to let us know your school is coming.
3. Share the Student Registration Form with each student you plan to bring so that we may schedule their sessions based on their interests. (PDF version attached for reference.)

Space is limited, so we encourage focusing on students whose interests align with healthcare fields or STEM-related areas.

Remake Learning Days is a joyful celebration of hands-on learning events across Pennsylvania.RLD launched in May 2016 in Pittsburgh, PA as the largest open-house for families featuring hands-on learning. Your school can get involved with Remake Learning Days in the following ways:

1. Host an event

2. Promote events in your area

3. Register for the Career Ready PA Backpack Challenge

4. Participate in the discoverED design challenge (grades 1-2)

For more information, visit the link below.

Who Can Attend:

• K-12 teachers from ANY subject area!
• Administrators, curriculum directors, guidance counselors

November 13, 2024

Butler County Community College

107 College Dr, Butler, PA 16002

8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Why you should attend:

• Join a peer network community of fellow educators.
• Learn how the manufacturing industry is using the emerging Industry 4.0 technologies and see them in action.
• Learn how you can implement Industry 4.0 technologies and career pathway knowledge into your classroom.
• Network with resource providers, partner organizations, and manufacturing industry representatives through a panel discussion, tours, and hands-on activities.

LEARN MORE & REGISTER NOW

BEP Grant Status — The current Business Education Partnership grant has been extended to June 30, 2025. There is around $27,000 left for career awareness activities. TCWIB has submitted

an application for the next round of funding. Notification of award should be sent out shortly. The next round is for $150,000 from Sept. 2024 to June 2026. Click the file below to download the mini-grant application.

The Request for Funds for agriculture and AI projects are still being accepted as well. These career awareness activities may include, but not limited to:

● Job shadowing

● Career camps

● Company tours

● Mentoring

● STEM teams for competitions

● Robotics competitions

● Classroom presentations

● Career fairs

● Speakers

● Industry-related materials

● Activity workshops

● Professional development for educators

UPMC’s Pathways for Students Educational Career Event will be held on Wednesday, December 4th at Acrisure Stadium. Lunch will be provided, and transportation assistance is available upon request.

"We are so excited to bring you an opportunity for your students to connect with representatives from 40+ career areas for the region’s largest employer. We will have representatives bringing hands-on, engaging displays for your students to interact with from a variety of job fields: everything from Nursing, Therapy, and Labs to Legal, HR, Actuary and Finance. We will truly have a career area for every student interest. UPMC is lucky to have employees who love their jobs, and we are thrilled to give your students a chance to connect with employees and gain inspiration for their career journey."

Please see the attached image and register using this link: UPMC Pathways for Students Career Event Registration

For transportation assistance, please reach out to Gina Barrett with the Consortium for Public Education - gbarrett@tcfpe.org

The Pennsylvania Department of Education is pleased to announce that the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University is now accepting applications from talented high school juniors for the summer 2025 program.

PGSS is an intensive, five-week summer residential program that emphasizes cooperative learning and hands-on laboratory research for high school juniors pursuing careers in science and mathematics.

Completed applications must be emailed per instructions on the Carnegie Mellon University - Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Sciences webpage no later than January 31, 2025. Applications emailed after this date and time will be disqualified.

Applications can be completed following the instructions available on the Apply to the Governor's School for the Sciences webpage.

For additional information about the program, please visit the Governor's School for the Sciences webpage.

High school seniors may receive an Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship of up to $40,000 toward a degree in engineering or CS. Applications are due December 19, 2024.

Mercyhurst University is offering a special (free!) dual enrollment opportunity this spring for high school juniors and seniors with autism across Pennsylvania.

The program runs from January - May and involves a virtual 3 credit introductory course in the cybersecurity major plus these supports:

• Weekly one-hour 1-1 meetings with Autism Initiative at Mercyhurst (AIM) professionals to discuss the student's academic progress, executive functioning skills, and related topics

• Academic tutoring

• Additional enrichment, including tips and best practices for transitioning to college, including an in-person session on campus and multiple virtual information sessions for families

Review the brochure here for more information.

The Mentorship Academy is an initiative of CNX Foundation and part of CNX’s commitment to investing in its local community. Designed for high school students who do not plan to immediately attend a four-year college, the Academy is focused on providing urban and rural youth from historically marginalized Appalachian communities with greater opportunities—helping provide these young adults a bridge to family-sustaining careers. Following the mentorship program, students will have developed new relationships with peers and business leaders across western Pennsylvania, a new excitement for the region’s career opportunities and an understanding of how to pursue those careers.

Interested in joining the 2024-2025 class? The application period is now open. Please use the link below to apply and for more information:

https://www.cnx.com/about-us/the_mentorship-academy

The Armstrong Center for Community Learning will be launching a new Youth Water Quality Education & Engagement Program at the Outdoor Discovery Center at Crooked Creek. This is a great opportunity for high school students to learn about real world environmental issues and play a part in helping to reduce water pollution in their communities. There will be lots of hands-on engaging opportunities for them to take part in, from tree planting, to constructing catfish spawning boxes and then installing them in Crooked Creek Lake alongside park rangers, to building their own rain barrels, learning about rain gardens, and much more.

You can learn more about the program by visiting: https://www.armstrongcenter.org/odc-events/youth-water-quality-education/

The kick off event (with food and prizes) is scheduled for Saturday, November 2nd at 10am.

Purpose: We are a K-16+ partnership that helps students land in careers they were prepared for in a program they chose after they had meaningful career connected learning (CCL) experiences in K-12. Click here for more information.

ARIN has partnered with Indiana and Armstrong County offices and technical centers as part of the Whole Home Repairs Program. As an educational service agency, ARIN is providing coordination with local schools to raise awareness of skilled trades as a viable and rewarding career option among students, parents, and educators in the local workforce while providing information about training pathways associated with skilled trades in the area.

Goals:

• Coordinate a diverse group of stakeholders to partner in the effort to increase the number of students considering skilled trades as a career option by the end of the academic year.
• Facilitate partnerships with local businesses or trade organizations to offer work-based learning opportunities to interested students by the end of the academic year.
  
• Provide information about training pathways associated with skilled trades to the local student population, their parents, and the local community by the end of the academic year.
  

Career Ready Connections - Newsletter

Career Ready PDE Site - one stop shop for career readiness resources

Helpful Sites / Sources

• PA Workstats
• Career Ready PA Coalition
• PA Career Ready Skills
• Join the Career Readiness Learning Community. (PDE SAS login is required.)