A program linking Scarborough businesses and high school students is one of five finalists for the Maine Project of the Year award, joining some of the state’s largest projects, including Cianbro’s oil rig in Portland and the widening of the Maine Turnpike, as nominees for the honor.
Last month the Career Development Program, which is a joint venture between the Scarborough Community Chamber of Commerce and Scarborough High School, was selected as a “Project of Distinction” by the Maine Chapter of the Project Management Institute and automatically becomes a finalist for the award.
“They are really looking for amazing projects,” said Susan deGrandpre, co-chairman of the Scarborough Career Development Council. “It’s very gratifying to be selected as a Project of Distinction.”
The Scarborough Career Development program exposes students to a number of different types of careers available to them in Maine through lectures, job shadowing and internships with chamber members.
It started in 2003 when the chamber was looking for a way to become involved with the schools and the high school was looking for a way to become better connected with the community.
There was not a ready-made program so high school Principal Andrew Dolloff and deGrandpre co-chaired a committee that developed the program, which started in the fall of 2004. Guidance Counselor Pat Conant teaches the classes once a semester.
“It really provides us with another avenue with helping students understand what they want to do after high school,” said Dolloff.
The first part of the semester focuses on self-reflection and gives students a better understanding of the types of jobs that may interest them.
The second part is exploring a particular career field. During the year students visited a wide variety of businesses, including lawyers, lobstermen and travel agents. The idea of the class is to help students understand that there are exciting and creative careers available in Maine.
“This will hopefully open up opportunities for kids they didn’t even know existed,” Conant said.
She has taught career development classes before, but then it was up to her to go find local businesses that would participate. She has never had the full cooperation of such a large business organization.
“To have the chamber come to us and make their resources available has made the experience so rich,” Conant said.
The response from local businesses has been excellent. About one-third of the businesses involved with the chamber have agreed to participate.
“Business volunteering has just been fabulous. We have over 50 businesses that have said ‘Yeah, I want to do something,'” deGrandpre said.
The reaction from students has been just been as strong and most have said the class was very beneficial. Some of the students who took the class were unaware of the number of jobs available here and also what skills they require.
“Several kids said it’s the best course they had because it’s practical, it allows them to explore their options,” Dolloff said.
The program benefits both the school and the chamber. The school fulfills its curriculum requirements and also gets a better idea of what businesses would like schools to be teaching. The chamber has interested students in local businesses and will hopefully create future business owners who wish to remain in Maine.
“We believe we’re developing our future colleagues very strongly,” deGrandpre said. “We want those students to graduate, finish their education, and be our partners in the chamber in Scarborough.”
The program is still a work in progress and changes continue to be made. For example, next year there are plans to have a job fair. While it is not specifically related to the actual career development class, it gives the school and local businesses further opportunities to collaborate.
The Maine Chapter of the Project Management Institute holds the competition for Project of the Year. It recognizes projects characterized by excellence in the management of risk, schedule, resources, outcome, quality and client satisfaction.
Past Projects of the Year have included the Portland Jetport parking garage and the Brannigan House residence for the mentally ill.
The selection for Project of the Year will be made on Thursday.
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