Byline: Staff reports
NY Wired graduated 50 area high school students Thursday from its Career Ready Youth Program, which provides them with professional training and mentors and then a summer job to test out their new skills.
NY Wired CEO Brian Lee, who started the effort, said the program provides urban and rural youth with the skills and education they need to become successful in the business world and bridge the gap between education and businesses in Tech Valley.
The graduation marked the end of a third year in which the students were trained via online courses on subjects like business etiquette, how to deal with difficult people in the workplace, and using computer applications such as Microsoft Excel. The youth were mentored by University at Albany college students aspiring to be teachers.
Students came from Albany, Bishop Maginn, Cohoes, Duanesburg, Harriet Gibbons, Troy and Schenectady high schools.
The graduates will be placed in host companies for the summer (in the student's preferred area - law, health care, finance, etc.) where they will continue to be mentored. Funding for summer salaries comes from the summer youth programs of the city of Albany and Albany, Rensselaer and Schenectady counties. Funds also come from the Workforce Investment Act.
Participating summer host employers include: Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce, Albany Institute of History and Art, Capital District YMCA, New York Business Development Corporation, St. Peter's Healthcare Services and Tech Valley Communications and others.
During Thursday's ceremony, Mayor Jerry Jennings gave the graduation address while County Executive Mike Breslin recognized the graduating students, outstanding performers and program partners.
Lee said the program leads to tangible results for the students - workplace skills, paying jobs and, most importantly, he said, experience and exposure to the opportunities in Tech Valley.
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STEVE JACOBS/TIMES UNION MAYOR JERRY JENNINGS, right, congratulates students during a graduation Thursday for NY Wired's Career Ready Youth Program at Albany City Hall. At left are Bishop Maginn student Charles Pobee-Mensah and Duanesburg's Brittany Lown, the program valedictorian.
