Pittsburgh Public Schools, city pledge to provide students with more jobs, internships

Students participating in the Career and Technical Education program at Pittsburgh Public Schools will have increased access to job shadowing, paid internships and jobs, city and school officials announced Friday.

A partnership between the city, the school district and local corporate partners aims to prepare students for the workforce and help them directly connect with jobs upon graduation. Called Prepare to Prosper, the program provides students with “actionable steps that invest in their economic livelihood,” Superintendent Wayne Walters said.

The initiative aims to break down barriers to employment and ensure students are ready for a rapidly-changing workforce, Walters said.

The district already has partnered with around 40 or 50 companies — including UPMC, Allegheny Health Network Presbyterian Senior Care and several trade unions — that offer career opportunities for students, said Angela Mike, executive director of the Career and Technical Education division at PPS.

The school’s Career and Technical Education program recruits students in 10th grade for a program that helps students prepare for careers that interest them. They begin with job shadowing, and move to paid internships with the city and various industry partners.

Participating students will receive short-term paid internships during the district’s winter and spring breaks, as well as cooperative education placements and and summer and part time jobs. The city and its partner network will provide entry-level, career ladder jobs to eligible students.

Within the next two years, the Prepare to Prosper partnership also will participate in experiences like the CTE-City of Pittsburgh Career Expo, Hire Learning employability event, field trips and job shadowing with various city positions.

The program has received support from several local companies, including the Steamfitters, who donated over $20,000 in equipment for a lab for students, Mike said.

“We have come together as one coalition with one purpose — to help our students succeed,” Mike said.

The city offers job shadowing and internship opportunities for students in various city departments, and the mayor’s office had two PPS interns over the summer, according to Maria Montaño, the mayor’s spokesperson.

The Prepare to Prosper program, Montaño explained, aims to help ensure the students who participate in those programs have direct access to jobs with Pittsburgh companies.

“When it comes to risk factors that would lead to a barrier that would make it harder for you to be employed, the highest risk group is (ages)16 to 24,” said Robert Cherry, CEO of Partner4Work, an organization that connects job seekers with employers.

That’s why Partner4Work is now partnering with Pittsburgh Public Schools to offer their resources and connections to link students with jobs in fields that interest them.

Mayor Ed Gainey and the PPS Career and Technical Division are announcing Prepare to Prosper, a workforce development partnership between the city and school district.

The mayor is addressing PPS students at City Hall. pic.twitter.com/dMSNFMJPUE

— Julia Felton (@JuliaFelton16) September 9, 2022

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey told the PPS seniors gathered for the announcement that they should take advantage of these opportunities.

“The only way we grow as a city is if we have a partnership based on our children,” Gainey said. “Without our youth, there is no future. You are the future leaders. Our job is to make sure you grow up in an area where you can make a life for yourself and your family.”

The mayor told students they should be able to access any level of higher learning or job training they seek.

“You can marry this thing called education and birth a lifetime of opportunity that you can spend your life enjoying,” Gainey told students. “In order to do that, we as leaders have an obligation and a responsibility to you. We need to create as many pathways to prosperity as possible.”

Bryan Salesky, founder and CEO of Pittsburgh-based autonomous driving technology company Argo AI and a member of the chamber of commerce, told students the city’s businesses are there with “open arms, willing to take you in.”

“On behalf of the local business community, we’re here for you,” he said. “We’re here to support you.”

Salesky acknowledged that some students may not know how to take the next steps to find jobs or explore industries they may want to enter, but said business owners like himself can guide students in the right direction

“You do not need a college degree in order to be successful,” he said. “If you want to go to college, that’s a great pathway, but there are so many others that are out there. We need people who know how to work with their hands and their minds.”