WorkReadyNH, award finalists: Education news

Portsmouth Herald
·3 min read

Students from across generations come together to improve their workforce skills

ROCHESTER — Students from Spaulding High School preparing to enter the workforce and seasoned employees from Laars Heating Systems Co. completed a novel new WorkReadyNH course.

Both groups learned skills related to career success, while developing peer-to-peer generational friendships. Dawn Hamdi, WorkReadyNH director at Great Bay, hopes the class becomes a model. “This has been a real success for both groups, and we want to keep it rolling. It’s a win-win for everyone,” said Hamdi.

Students from Spaulding High School and employees from Laars Heating Systems participate in novel program to learn and expand career skills through WorkReady NH program.
Students from Spaulding High School and employees from Laars Heating Systems participate in novel program to learn and expand career skills through WorkReady NH program.

Offered through the Community College System of New Hampshire, WorkReadyNH is a tuition-free professional-development program designed to build skills that help employees succeed in the workforce and adapt to changes. Those skills include effective communication, team building, problem solving, and decision making. The program is tailored for those who are entering the workforce, as well as people who are employed and interested in improving their skills to become more effective and valuable to their employers.

Historically, the two largest age-groups of participants are 51 to 60 and 18 to 30. Hamdi said this is the first time a community college has offered a WorkReadyNH course with both groups at the same time. During the recently completed session at Great Bay’s Rochester campus, seven graduating seniors from Spaulding took classes with five full-time employees from Laars, a Rochester-based company that designs, builds, and installs residential and commercial heating and water systems.

The participants gathered for three hours every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon from late January through early April. “After the high-school students left school, they walked down the street to our campus, and the Laars folks came over from their facility,” Hamdi said. “They learned from each other, and they had fun getting to know each other.”

Tuition reimbursement available for students interested in Early Childhood Education

The Community College System of New Hampshire is partnering with Granite State College and the state’s Preschool Development Grant program to create a pipeline of skilled workers to help meet workforce demands in Early Childhood Education with tuition reimbursement opportunities.
The Community College System of New Hampshire is partnering with Granite State College and the state’s Preschool Development Grant program to create a pipeline of skilled workers to help meet workforce demands in Early Childhood Education with tuition reimbursement opportunities.

CONCORD – The Community College System of New Hampshire is partnering with Granite State College and the state’s Preschool Development Grant program to create a pipeline of skilled workers to help meet workforce demands in Early Childhood Education. The $500,000 award will cover the full tuition for up to two classes per term for qualifying students enrolled in ECE courses through 2023 at New Hampshire’s seven community colleges.

The goal of the program is to expand available support so individuals can more easily continue their studies while they fulfill any training requirements by working in ECE. Grants are available to individuals working in a New Hampshire licensed childcare or out-of-school childcare facilities. This award builds on an existing program at GSC, which is funded by an Early Childhood Education Assistance grant provided by the N.H. Department of Health and Human Services. Interested students can apply for these funds via the Preschool Development Tuition Assistance website which includes eligibility requirements, application timelines, eligible course lists, and award specifications.

Six NH seniors named semifinalists in U.S. Presidential Scholars Program

CONCORD — Considered one of the nation’s highest honors for graduating high school seniors, six New Hampshire students have been named semifinalists in the 2023 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program.

The semifinalists include: Sydney Buffett of Bedford High School, Aaron R. Joy of Phillips Exeter Academy, William Longtin of Hollis/Brookline High School, Sam McLaughlin of Spaulding High School, Sora Shirai of Hanover High School and Kelly Zhang of Oyster River High School.

New Hampshire’s six semifinalists join an elite group of 628 semifinalists from throughout the nation who are being recognized for their outstanding achievements in academics, the arts, leadership, school and community involvement and career and technical fields; there were more than 5,000 candidates for this year’s program. The Commission on Presidential Scholars will select the finalists, and the U.S. Department of Education will announce the Scholars in mid-May.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: WorkReadyNH, award finalists: Education news