Marie Wiles PhotoMarie Wiles is Superintendent of ONC BOCES. When asked about BOCES' role in ensuring a supply of skilled young workers to meet the demand of the local economy, she proudly points to the partnerships built with the area business leadership and BOCES' flexibility in the creation of curricula to address those needs once identified.

"The community needs a lot more folks who have a background in home health care, certified nursing assistants... the whole health care issue. We're very underemployed in that area" says Wiles. "So we've been creating programs to help people develop the skills needed to fill those posts."

But health care isn't the only local employment sector BOCES is tackling.

"We're starting a program on home repair, (and another for) workers in hotel-motel/restaurant services for our seasonal employers. As a matter of fact, we've had interest in creating a program for high school students in the hospitality area to help create a skill set for what is one of our major industries in this region."

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John Clow photoTo educate students about the local economy you must begin with the teachers.

John Clow is the Director of the Leatherstocking Center for Economic Education and the chief architect of a unique program designed to do just that.

The graduate course is titled "Occupational Trends" and its 5-day curriculum immerses K-12 teachers and guidance counselors in the real world of local business. Each day the class gathers at a different business location (including manufacturing, service and not-for-profit industries) where they tour the facilities, and discuss the nature of the various jobs at the sites and how those jobs have evolved over time.

Key to the program's success has been the participants' appreciation of what the future portends for those jobs. Once they've returned to the classroom, their new-found understanding of the area's occupational trends allows for the identification of specific career "ladders" to which the teachers can direct their students.

Participants in the course also spend an afternoon shadowing two different jobs at the business site.

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As we approach the end of the first decade in the new millennium, we do well to consider the future. Will the area's emerging workforce grow to meet the demands of an expanding economy? Or will it decline as young people, ignorant of local opportunities, pursue their dreams in other regions of the country? The potential impact of the latter is of great concern to many. Luckily, the educational process has already begun.
The Next generation