Posted throughout Maple Grove High School are concepts of soft skills. Soft skills are non-cognitive attributes that include concepts like communication, initiative, responsibility and time management. P-J photo by Jordan W. Patterson

Posted around Maple Grove Junior-Senior High School’s hallways are soft skills. Words like “responsibility” and “attitude” are written on the walls serving as not-so-subtle reminders to students.

Administrators there said the purpose of such efforts is to prepare students for when they leave the school system. However, school officials said those students are often not ready for what they face.

“It’s the soft skills that kids do not have when they go off to work,” said Julie Verdonik, Maple Grove principal, of what school officials hear from the community. “So, we’re trying to incorporate that into a day-to-day basis.”

Soft skills, or non-cognitive skills, include concepts like communication, initiative, responsibility and time management.

During the 2018-19 school year, many boards of education began discussions, or continued talks, on the idea of teaching what’s known as soft skills.

In November 2018, it was even the primary topic at a Jamestown city Strategic Planning and Partnerships Commission meeting when Dr. Daniel DeMarte, Jamestown Community College president, was in attendance.

At the time, the commission, comprised of local employers and community volunteers, discussed scenarios where incoming workers struggled with basic skills such as communication, customer service and motivation, all forms of soft skills.

Then, the question was asked about when should education of soft skills begin in a child’s, a student’s and a young employee’s life?

In numerous school districts throughout Chautauqua County, it begins at the public school level.

Verdonik and Carrie Yohe, Bemus Point director of student programs, recently detailed the school district’s emphasis on the these sometimes overlooked skills.

“We’re trying to develop a productive student for their future endeavors,” Yohe said. “It’s just the basic skills that they need.”

The Bemus Point Central School District has used Dr. Bill Dagget’s top 10 skills and traits to focus on that include complex problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, people management, coordination with others, emotional intelligence, active listening, service orientation, negotiation and cognitive flexibility. Dagget is the founder of the International Center for Leadership in Education.

In the classroom, students are educated on 11 concepts: responsibility, honesty and trust, adaptability, contemplation, initiative, respect, perseverance, compassion, optimism, courage and loyalty. The district has begun implementing these concepts as early as elementary school through character education.

In addition to the words being visible around the school, specifically on every staircase throughout the high school, comments regarding soft skills are included on each student’s report card.

For example, a student may see comments from teachers about responsibility or time management with target areas for improvement.

“It’s more about those teachable moments,” Verdonik said.

Additionally, the school assists with internships, provides mock job interview days and holds job fairs every other year. All efforts fall in line with the district’s goal of getting every student ready for the workforce.

A new change ahead of the 2019-20 school year was an effort to improve tardiness among students. Students who are late three days in a row are then subjected to a lunch detention.

“That’s worked very well,” Verdonik said.

During a Bemus Point inservice day today, motivational speaker Cindy Aronson will provide workplace training among district staff. Playing into the idea of workforce preparation, Yohe said Aronson’s seminar will help school staff create a positive culture for students, one that cultivates excellence.

Soft skills are also intertwined with a focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, or STEM, education. Recently, the district’s focus on manufacturing reached the sixth-grade level with a STEM course. Also, the high school recently added a welding course.

Some of the skills Bemus Point teaches may not lead to a career path, but both administrators hope they are helping students when they leave in other ways, too.

“That is doing our job to make them ready for their future endeavors and being successful,” Yohe said.

Verdonik said the conversation around reinforcing soft skills began several years ago after an inservice day that featured visits from representatives of SUNY Fredonia, Jamestown Community College, Jamestown Business College and the Manufactures Association of the Southern Tier. The resounding message from local employers was that students were not prepared.

A more intentional push to address soft skills in the school district began during the 2018-19 school year and continued again this year. The theme for the 2019-20 school year is “Every child, every day, whatever it takes.”

“Our job is to capture kids’ hearts,” Yohe said. “Our job is to capture their hearts but we also have to make that connection with them but then we have to teach them how make those connections.”