Elwood-John H. Glenn High School’s multifaceted career programs were highlighted at the Jan. 16 Board of Education meeting. Career Coordinator Ilene Fucci, a child development and FACS teacher, led the presentations, which also featured students involved in five different program areas.

Over the past few years, the Board and district administration have partnered to recognize the importance of providing future readiness opportunities for high school students, well before they venture into the workforce. These discussions and visions served as the foundation for the current career initiatives. Nearly 50 other staff members were involved along the way, including Harley Avenue kindergarten teacher Shannon LaBarbera, who also shared her perspective that evening, and Glenn special education teacher Susan Campo.

The first program area, featuring students Bryce Blaylock, Morgan Hepburn, Abigail Millien and Riley Perinchief, highlighted career internship opportunities within the district and through community partnerships, including Career Café and the PAES Lab, a new program that has been implemented with Campo’s life skills classes.

“Every student involved in an internship will create a portfolio with some common pages as well as some individualized to their area of interest,” Fucci said. “Each student will also have regular mentoring time with me or another teacher or staff member in the district. They will all present their portfolios to an administrator at the end of the year, which builds confidence as well as communication and interviewing skills. Career Cafes are opportunities we aim to provide throughout the year based on feedback we get from student interest surveys. This allows for students to have the opportunity to network and make connections with these professionals.”

Glenn’s child development course and teacher pipeline, featuring students Morgan Hepburn, Brian McCormick and Christina Munch, was the second to be highlighted.

“The conversation about this course started a number of years ago when we discussed ways in which to promote our profession as a possible future career for our diverse study body,” Principal Corey McNamara said. “We were looking for ways to incorporate a high school-level curriculum that also provides real-world experience working with children in a classroom setting. This provides a way in which students can explore the field while working directly with students to truly find out if this is something that they might enjoy. In addition, they act as role models for our youngest Knights who might want to follow in their footsteps in their own future.”

Third to be highlighted was the Harley Avenue internships program, featuring students Christina Munch and Madison Sorok.

“Now that we have begun our second year of this successful program, it brings me so much joy to see these new relationships grow each day,” LaBarbera said, “My kindergarteners adore their buddies and are always counting down the days until we see them again. We hope these wonderful interns’ experiences at Harley will set a solid foundation for a wonderful future and career.”

The internship program with Huntington Hospital, featuring students Ava Barth, Rosalinda Lemus, Angelina Lombardi and Hafsah Raza, was next. These five students spend the first part of their school day shadowing a variety of health care professionals at Huntington Hospital through the school’s partnership with the Northwell Health system.

Finally, Glenn’s Business Club and the school’s inaugural Career Day were highlighted, featuring students Christopher Scarola and Ishan Shah.

“Last year, Dr. Hood had connected us with the district attorney’s office and their career initiative program. Through this partnership and the work of Ms. Fucci and Mrs. Campo, we brought in over 40 career speakers and presenters to interact with our entire student body. We had five separate stations that included a career fair, hands-on activities, a civil service and union assembly presentation, individualized career conversations, and career readiness workshops led by our counseling department.”

Date Added: 2/5/2025