Students attending the P-TECH WNY STEM College and Career Academy summer bridge program are pictured participating in a team-building exercise at the College Lodge in Brocton.

Teamwork and communication are the cornerstones of any successful business model. To put these best practices to use, P-TECH WNY STEM College and Career Academy students recently participated in the Summer Bridge Program.

The six-day-long program housed primarily out of the P-TECH facility located at 55 E. Benton St. in Dunkirk offered new students the chance to meet one another and returning students a chance to further their education.

“Our Summer Bridge Program serves a number of purposes,” explained P-TECH Principal Stephen Ruszczyk. “It helps introduce our incoming freshmen to each other, to students already in the program and to the P-TECH model; sophomores work on an industry challenge project; juniors are able to receive OSHA certification; and seniors participate in a job shadowing project with our business partners.”

The Summer Bridge Program focuses on teamwork, leadership and safety taught through a number of various project-based learning activities. Some activities included students spending time at the College Lodge in Brocton and the Dunkirk City Pool.

“I really had a blast at Summer Bridge,” said sophomore Iaan Ramirez of Dunkirk.

One of the projects, Iaan explained, was to, as he phrased it, “P-TECH-erize” a pickup truck trailer.

“We split into teams, worked together to take measurements, made blueprints and used a 3-D Tinker Tag program to make something great,” he explained. “I really enjoyed it, working together.”

The Pathways in Technology Early College High School is a collaboration between Erie-2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES, Dunkirk City School District, Jamestown Community College and partnerships throughout the community. Students who commit to the free program will graduate with a NYS Regents Diploma and A.A.S. Degrees in Welding Technology or Mechanical Technology with specialization in CADD or machine tool from Jamestown Community College.

E2CCB recently expanded its P-TECH initiative by opening the Careers in Advanced Manufacturing P-TECH Academy in Springville. The CAM P-TECH Academy is in partnership with Alfred State College and offers career pathways in Computer Information Systems or Electrical Construction & Maintenance Electrician. For more information about CAM P-TECH, please contact Janeil Rey, Ph. D., Director of Workforce Development at 805-3126 or email jrey@e2ccb.org.

For more information on WNY P-TECH, please visit www.e2ccb.org/PTECH.cfm or contact Steve Ruszczyk, WNY P-TECH STEM College & Career Academy principal, at 672-3251, ext. 2801 or sruszczyk@e2ccb.org.