The Community Relations / Community Service program of the Central Connecticut Chapter continues its focus on Education and on Hartford high school students.

TheYouthEmployabilitySkillsAcademy

Nearly 200 high school students from Hartford’s five public high schools and high schools from certain surrounding towns and cities attended a week-long program designed to help them not only get a job, but to give thememployability skills that would keep them in the job. The students gave up their days off during their April school vacation to attend the YouthEmployabilitySkillsAcademy, a program sponsored by the Capital Region Workforce Development Board. Omer Perra and Darwin Kovacs represented SIM at the program and were among 120 professionals from all over Connecticut who took several hours out of their busy days to work with the students.

Omer and Darwin each participated in the Professional Advisors Program, a mini-mentoring program where corporate volunteers worked with 10 - 15 students to cover a hands-on curriculum that included communication skills, listening skills, team building, goal setting, managing time, making good decisions, and the value of an education. This program was designed to help the students see how their actions and the decisions they make each day have an impact on their futures.

The idea for the 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 created a curriculum for the YESAcademy that would teach students the basic "employability" skills – which typically aren’t taught in school – and at the same time, provide them with some much-needed mentoring.

A I Prince Regional Vocational TechnicalSchool – Scholarships

The Central Connecticut Chapter of SIM was proud to present two $1000 scholarships to graduates of the Microcomputer Software Technology Department at A. I. Prince Regional Vocational Technical School. The recipients were Franklin Hewitt and Reginald Jennings. Messrs Hewitt and Jennings were selected based on:

  • Academic Standing & Class Rank,
  • Active Involvement in School and Community Groups, and
  • Attendance

A.I.PrinceRegionalVocationalTechnicalSchool is part of the ConnecticutVocationalTechnicalSchool system and awards a high school diploma based on specialized courses of technology and academic instruction. The Microcomputer Software Technology Department prepares their graduates with skills in core academic subjects, problem solving, information management, systems management and creative and critical thinking.


2004 Program Schedule - Upcoming Events

September 21Technology Forecast Hartford Club

October 29CIO Round TableTBD

November 16Executive ForumHartford Club

Regular program meetings begin at 5:30pm.

If you have any ideas for topics or have heard a good speaker that you would like to recommend for a program for 2005 please call Michelle Frank at (860) 808-1102.