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Jamestown Public Schools is excited to introduce JPS LAUNCH, a career-connected learning program based at the district's Innovation Center at R.R. Rogers School.
Building upon the district's existing aviation, welding and construction pathways, JPS LAUNCH will provide students with hands-on opportunities to explore careers, develop practical skills and connect their learning with possibilities beyond the classroom.
"We are incredibly excited to see the Innovation Center continue to develop," said JPS Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker. "With Nicole Marino now serving as assistant principal and program administrator, we have greater capacity to move this work forward and continue building strong relationships with our community partners."
LAUNCH -- an acronym for Learn, Apply, Understand, Navigate, Create, and Honor -- represents the mindset that will define career-connected learning at the Innovation Center. The LAUNCH framework also supports NY Inspires, New York State's plan to transform education, and the competencies identified in the state's Portrait of a Graduate.
"JPS LAUNCH will give students meaningful opportunities to discover their interests, develop new skills and see how their learning connects to life beyond the classroom," Marino said. "Whether they are designing, building, collaborating with local professionals or exploring a potential career, we want students to leave these experiences feeling prepared and excited about what comes next."
Marino has been working closely with the region's manufacturing sector, including the Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier and its Dream It Do It Western New York initiative, to better understand local workforce opportunities and develop meaningful experiences for students.
"When the Manufacturers Association started the Dream It Do It program, it was about giving young people the opportunity to see, experience and understand the manufacturing careers that exist right here in their own community," said Todd Tranum, executive director of the Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier. "Manufacturing is critical to the strength and future of our region, and through efforts like JPS LAUNCH, we look forward to collaborating with JPS to connect students with local employers, help them build the skills they need and show them that they can build a successful future right here in Western New York."
"Our goal is not to place students into one career path at an early age," Whitaker said. "It is to help them discover their interests, build confidence and graduate with a clearer understanding of the educational and career opportunities available to them."
More information on the program will be released throughout the school year.