Carrie Bradley presents program to PA Career Ready Coalition

On Dec. 16, 2020, Northern Tier Industry & Education Consortium’s educational coordinator, Carrie Bradley, had the opportunity to virtually present some of NTIEC’s recent successes to PA Career Ready Coalition – a department within the Department of Education.

Carrie spoke about NTIEC’s programs, from school-to-work programs to our summer camps and school lectures, and how helpful our programs are for students. During the presentation, Carrie gave a shout out to a number of colleges NTIEC works with, and some of the careers we continue to place students in like restaurants, construction, childcare and education, hospitality, healthcare, along with a number of other fields. She highlighted the benefits of the school-to-work programs, like earning money while the students learn, the opportunity to serve their community and the benefits of having an internship/apprenticeship experience on their resume for future colleges and careers.

Despite the virtual circumstances, some listeners found a way to interact with each other as Carrie presented, and mentioned what their first job was in the comment section of the video chat. Carrie also talked about the importance of NTIEC’s internship/externship programs, and how getting students experience in the field and encouraging students to stay local and support their community is ultimately helping the Pennsylvania economy.

A topic in Carrie’s presentation was COVID-19, how it has affected NTIEC’s performance, and how we’ve been finding ways to work within the virtual world. COVID has affected the number of students in a few of our traditional programs, but in some programs the number of students has risen because of students’ hybrid and virtual schedules. Carrie said NTIEC continues to safely place students in internships, externships and job shadowing programs, though NTIEC, like many other organizations, has had to get creative with the way we support our students and employers. Carrie also mentioned that her biggest goal has always been providing opportunities and making an impact, and she continues to make that happen through her work for students and the community at NTIEC.