By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
St. Joseph teachers will have an opportunity this summer to learn more about the jobs available to their students.
The St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce will host teacher "externships", modeled after internships, bringing area teachers into local businesses to learn more about the local workforce.
Chamber President Natalie Hawn says the externships provide a hands-on opportunity for teachers to better understand the jobs available in St. Joseph
"So then when they're working with the students every day, they have a better idea of that student’s skillset and they kind of know first-hand what kind of jobs we have available here, so they can recommend to those kiddos what kind of path forward they need to get into those jobs," Hawn tells host of the KFEQ Hotline Barry Birr.
Hawn says it's important for educators to get a better understanding of these jobs and their requirements to help better guide students for the future.
Hawn says teachers will get to go into facilities, such as Altec, to learn more about the business.
"They get to go in and do a tour of the facility, learn more about the different jobs, whether that's an entry level job, whether that's an engineer job, whether that's supervisor, they get to learn about the jobs they have at that facility, what kind of skillsets they take, tour the facility and kind of see in action what they do," Hawn explains.
Hawn says sometimes just getting to come into the facility and talk to someone who does that job everyday helps give a better understanding about job opportunities.
Hawn says teachers and counselors getting to tour workplaces can really spark something that will help guide students into their futures
"So, we do the My Success event, we do manufacturing day, those are in the fall, those are both kind of hands-on learning experiences, but this is really just for the teacher or just the counselor," Hawn says. "And we call it externship because it's like an internship where they're learning about that career so they can go and teach about it."
Teachers from around the St. Joseph area will tour businesses, such as Altec and Boehringer Ingelheim, in mid-July.
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