Stacey Clark of The Fountains
Exceptional Student Education (ESE) students at Bayside High School recently learned about career opportunities with several local companies as part of Brevard Achievement Center’s (BAC) World of Work (WOW) program. The program is being offered at Bayside because of a special grant submitted, and awarded, to the school through Brevard Public Schools Foundation’s “Bright Ideas” grant program. BAC’s School Services Coordinator, Mandee Jones, leads WOW.
“Giving students the chance to interact with company leaders and see their business activities firsthand allows them to be better informed about potential careers in the community,” said Jones. “If a spark is ignited, we’ll do everything we can to help fuel that passion.”
A fire erupted recently when 10 of the 11 Bayside ESE students that toured The Fountains, a senior living community in Melbourne, expressed an interest in working in a career that helped seniors; four planned to volunteer at The Fountains in the near future. In addition, Bayside ESE students discovered that The Fountains and BAC already have a healthy working relationship as three BAC clients currently work there.
Students tour the water treatment plant
Further flames were fueled when students toured the City of Palm Bay’s water treatment plant. Julie Clark, community outreach coordinator with Palm Bay Utilities, a department of the City of Palm Bay, escorted students throughout the facility and explained how the department provided clean drinking water to over 32,000 customer accounts and sanitary sewer service to over 15,000 accounts throughout Palm Bay.
Students also got the chance to see a Caterpillar Auto Crane when Sean Kopman, a technician with Ring Power Palm Bay, and Teri Brown, a recruiter for Ring Power Corporation, a full-line Caterpillar dealer with 24 locations in Florida, brought one to the school recently. In addition, Brown talked about the Think Big training and apprenticeship
program, a specialized program for technically minded, hands-on individuals.
Businesses interested in talking to students and/or giving tours of their facilities are encouraged to contact Jones.