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Pathways to Prosperity gets students on career track

Date: 5/8/2015

WEST SPRINGFIELD – The Pathways to Prosperity program at West Springfield High School is wrapping up its first full year and will double in size when the current eighth grade class moves up in the fall.

The program is one of three in the state and is designed to put students on a college track for mechanical engineering. Students have the opportunity to take classes at Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) while attending West Springfield High School, earning up to 12 credits for free, as well as gaining work experience and internships in the field as seniors.

The program is grant funded and includes partnerships with STCC, the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, Ben Franklin Design and Manufacturing, Advance Welding and Hayden Corporation.

Pathways to Prosperity Director at West Springfield High School Eric Hanson said the program’s participants are in ninth and tenth grade. The group totals around 45. After recruiting at the middle school, Hanson has an eighth grade class of about 50 joining the program in the fall.

Hanson said Pathways to Prosperity is open to any student.

“If you want in to the program, you’re in. It’s not like you have to get a B- in math,” Hanson said. “Anybody that wants in is in and that’s important because … it’s equal opportunity. At the end of the day, it’s up to the kids.”

While Hanson admits it is difficult to ask a 14- or 15-year-old to pick a path that will end in a degree, he said students are often drawn to the program because of an underlying passion for engineering. It is normal for students to change their minds about what they want to do in terms of a career, and when they do, he asks why the were interested in taking part in the program in the first place.

Though students join later or drop out, Hanson said the key to guiding them through Pathways to Prosperity is getting the parents on board. He is hosting a parents meeting on May 13 to do just that.

“The key to the whole program is the parents, no question. When you’re dealing with teenagers, they forget what they had for breakfast. Having the buy-in from the parents is huge,” Hanson said. “When Johnny gets off the track a little bit, the parents have to be there to reinforce what this program can do.”

While having the parents on board helps keep students focused in the program, Hanson said there are projects that appeal to the group and its interest. With the grant, Hanson was able to purchase three 3D printers. Hanson has built time into the students’ schedules called “X-Block,” which occurs two or three times a month. The students then have an opportunity take advantage of that technology and build things like chess pieces with the printers.    

That time is set aside to help students hone skills like collaboration, research and problem solving while also having also enjoying themselves.

“The more fun stuff I have the kids doing, the more apt they are to stay in the program, and it reinforces the reason they got into the program to begin with, which is because they were interested in engineering on some level,” Hanson said.

To learn more about the Pathways to Prosperity program, visit www.wshs.wsps.org or email Hanson at Hanson@wsps.org.