Registration now open for event on October 6 - 7
(Marietta, OH) Building Bridges to Careers (BB2C) is convening businesses, educators, students, and community and organizational leaders to explore programs, partnerships; and best practices around bridging the gap between education and employment, hosted at Ohio University Eastern on Oct. 6-7.
The two-day event includes sessions on work-based learning, strategies for engaging future workforce, business internship models for high school students, network building through marketing, teaching community and career-connected learning in the classroom, organizational capacity building, and more. Keynote speakers are from the Memorial Health System, Appalachian Children’s Coalition, and Ohio University.
Jacqueline Yahn, OHIO Eastern assistant professor and the middle childhood education program coordinator, will be one of the keynote speakers for this event.
She will discuss her work with the rural teacher fellowship, designed for early-career teachers employed in rural school districts in OHIO’s five regional campus service regions.
“My work at OHIO focuses on the viability of rural schools and communities,” said Yahn. “This summit will convene 100-150 stakeholders working to bridge the gap between education and employment in Appalachian Ohio communities.”
Fellows are paired with a mentor, also from a rural school, with extensive experience in this form of teaching and learning. Mentors are recruited from the Building Bridges to Careers’ network of teacher liaisons and partnered with fellows to guide them in their identified focus areas of community- and career-connected learning.
Yahn serves on the Building Bridges to Careers regional steering committee and utilizes the Building Bridges to Careers community partnership for experiential learning opportunities for students enrolled in junior and senior level Ohio University middle childhood education courses.
“What I most want my students to gain from the program is the ability to contribute to this viability through their work as teachers,” Yahn said.
The BB2C Community and Career Connected Learning summit is hosted by OHIO Eastern and sponsored by Success Bound, Tech Prep, Ohio College Tech Prep, and the East Central Ohio Educational Service Center.
Jeremy Ward, BB2C’s new Network Director, shared, “We are extremely excited about our lineup for this year, designed to highlight the efforts of so many that promote Community and Career Connected Learning throughout our region. We feel like the Summit embodies the essence of our work in fostering relationships by connecting business, school, and community leaders who can make thriving communities possible.”
To learn more about the event and to register, visit bb2careers.org/summit .
Building Bridges to Careers (BB2C): BB2C offers career mentoring, job shadowing, internships, and career exploration to students in the Mid-Ohio Valley. They foster relationships to inspire career choice and work to support successful students, prosperous businesses, and thriving communities. The BB2C Network strives to connect organizations and communities together who are bridging the gap between education and employment throughout the Appalachian region.
Ohio University Eastern: OHIO Eastern combines the advantages of a small college with all the benefits and resources of a national recognized university, small class size, a student-oriented faculty, quality university level instruction, and affordable tuition and fees. OHIO Eastern offers a variety of associate and bachelor’s degrees that prepare graduates for placement in high-demand jobs that match their individual career goals.