Connecting Activities

The Connecting Activities Grant is funded through the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Education.

The Connecting Activities staff works with local schools assisting students with part-time employment with a special emphasis on those schools with a high percentage of students with MCAS failure. The Connecting Activities staff works closely with the School to Career employee and/or MCAS Remediation Specialist. All of the students who are working or participating in a MCAS remediation class after school are on a Work-Based Learning Plan. The Work-Based Learning Plan:

Drives students learning and productivity at the workplace
Measures student skill gain in nine competency areas
Provides a solid framework for the student and supervisor to work together.

For more information contact Cathy Sturtevant at (978) 459-2336 or cathleen.sturtevant@cclowell.org

Youth Job Fair 2007 most successful ever!

On May 9th 2007, the Connecting Activities Program of the Greater Lowell Workforce Investment Board in conjunction with the Career Center of Lowell, Middlesex Community College, and the City of Lowell Parks and Recreation held the 2007 Youth Job Fair, an annual event connecting young job seekers to area employers.

This year’s fair was held at Lowell High School and over 30 employers participated, making this the most successful year ever. More than 400 students attended the fair also, completing applications and interviewing onsite. We anticipate many hires will result from the job fair.

Participating companies included:

· Bank of America
· Boys and Girls Club
· Burger King
· Career Center of Lowell
· Cobblestones Restaurant
· Dunkin Donuts
· Enterprise Bank
· Heritage Farm Ice Cream
· Holiday Inn Hotel
· Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union
· McDonald’s
· Palm Manor Nursing Home
· Panera Bread
· Payless Shoes
· Pizza Hut
· Plaster Fun Time
· Pollard Memorial Library
· Spindle City
· T.J. Maxx
· Tsongas Arena
· UPS
· UTEC Summer Farming
· Viewpoint CRM, Inc.
· WIS International
· Workers Credit Union
· Subway
· Job Corps
· Kohl’s
· Kentucky Fried Chicken/ Taco Bell
· Lowell Fire Department
· Lowell Five Cents Bank
· Lowell Memorial Auditorium
· Lowell National Historical Park
· Lowell Spinners
· Lowell Sun
· Mass Army

Connecting Activities Program Hosts Employer Appreciation Breakfast

On June 1st, 2007 the GLWIB and the Connecting Activities Program hosted the first Employer Appreciation Breakfast at the Holiday Inn Tewksbury.

About 16 local businesses, some with several Greater Lowell locations, have participated in the program by hiring students in the past year. The Chair of the Greater Lowell Workforce Investment Board, Kevin Coughlin, Vice President of Saints Medical Center, and the GLWIB Director Barbara O’Neil spoke about workforce development in our region and the importance of employer commitment. Employers were also presented with individual certificates of appreciation during the event.

Many of these same employers also attended the annual Connecting Activities Youth Job Fair, held at Lowell High School. Over 400 students came to the fair this year, and many were hired as a result. The Connecting Activities Program offers high school students the opportunity for part-time employment during the school year, while providing staff support to students and employers.

For more information about the program or to become a participating employer, please contact Beatriz Sierra at 978-805-4813, or visit our website at www.glwib.org