APAheader

Tech Talk: What's New at APA

August / September 2012 

In This Issue
Lessons Learned APA Graduate Career Job Placements 2012
Welcome New Acting-Principal Ali Muhammad
WaterSaver Faucet to Support APA Counselor Position
Strike Brings APA Community Together

Thank you! 

Thank you to these partners who through the payment of their membership fees help our program provide high-quality career & technical education for the next generation of leaders in manufacturing:

 

American Mold Builders Assoc. (AMBA) Chicago Chapter

Belden, Inc 

Bison Gear & Engineering Corp. 

C. Cretors & Co. 

Chicago Metal Fabricators 

Chicago Paper Tube & Can Co. 

Columbia Metal Spinning

Cragin Metals

DeCardy Diecasting

Freedman Seating

Graymills Company

Iverson & Company

Label Master

Laystrom Manufacturing Co.

Matrix Tooling, Inc. 

NADCA

Overton Chicago Gear

P-K Tool & Mfrg Co.

Paasche Airbrush Co.

Plymouth Tube Co.  

Quality Control Corp

Saporito Finishing Co. 

Sunstar Americas Inc

Swiss Precision Machining

Tempel Steel 

WaterSaver Faucet  
Winzeler Gear Company


We also receive generous support from:  

The Chicago Community Trust

The JP Morgan Chase Foundation

The Lloyd A. Fry Foundation

The Kendeda Fund

The Kresge Foundation

The Nathan Cummings Foundation

The Polk Brothers Foundation

Surdna Foundation   

Society for Manufacturing   Engineers Education Foundation
Tooling and Manufacturing      Association Education Foundation
    

 

For more information about participating in the APA Partner Program, please contact Bill Vogel, Industry Coordinator at [email protected] or 
Phone:
773.534.6326

About Austin Polytech 

Austin Polytechnical Academy is an engineering- and manufacturing-focused and college prep public high school on Chicago's West Side.

Thanks to the support of nearly 60 partner companies, our students learn about the many different career opportunities in manufacturing through field trips, guest speaker visits, job shadowing opportunities, internships, and more.

Austin Polytech's Career Program is a project of the Chicago Manufacturing Renaissance Council. Our career program is operated by the Center for Labor and Community Research.

Learn more at austinpolytech.org 

Support our Career Program

It takes more than a traditional high school budget to help our students engineer their future.

Please help by sending us a check, payable to the Center for Labor and Community Research, at 3411 West Diversey, Suite 10, Chicago, Illinois 60647.

You can also contribute online securely through PayPal by clicking below:


Your donation is tax deductible. For more information about giving to the CLCR-operated Career Program at APA contact:
Erica Swinney, Program Director, at [email protected] or 773-534-6326. 

Tech Talk Archive 

 













APA Network

 

Visit our blog

 

View our photos on flickr

 

Find us on Facebook

 

Contact

Austin Polytechnical Academy
231 N. Pine Ave.
Chicago, Illinois 60644


Main Office: (773) 534-6311
Career Services: (773) 534-6326

 

austinpolytech.org 

Lessons Learned:  APA Graduate Career Job Placements 2012

As of June 2012, APA had 9 graduates hired for Career Jobs with various APA Partner manufacturing companies around the Chicagoland area. Our definition of "Career Job" is a job that consists of full-time, permanent status employment with competitive wages and benefits with a company in which career advancement is an expectation.  In addition to the 9 Career Job placements, 6 graduates were hired as summer employees with the possibility of transitioning to a Career Job based on their intention and performance.  

Currently 4 out of the 15 APA Graduate placements are still working, with 5 of the 15 students leaving work to pursue college full-time, and 6 of 15 were terminated per the employer's discretion. Some of the reasons Partners cited for terminating employment included attendance issues as well as a lack of the employees' demonstrated motivation and initiative. Partners also acknowledge that they could have done more to mentor the APA graduate hire, as we are finding many companies are unaccustomed working with the unique needs of younger employees who may need more guidance and encouragement than more seasoned employees.   

Overall, despite the challenges experienced employing some APA Graduates, we were very heartened to hear that Partners continue to believe in our program and that APA is in fact preparing its students with the skills that their companies need. We will continue to improve the education and training APA students receive as well as work closely with companies who wish to hire APA graduates to develop manageable in-house mentoring programs to help ensure our graduates have the most successful transition possible from high school to the world of work in manufacturing.


Special appreciation and acknowledgment to the following companies who created real career opportunities for APA Graduates this year: 

 

WaterSaver Faucet, Freedman Seating, C.Cretors, Paasche Air Brush, Arrow Gear, Hudson Precision, Atlas Tool and Die, Laystrom Manufacturing,  Meyer Tool, Allied Die Casting, Belden Manufacturing, and Burhke-Olson.  

Welcome New Acting-Principal 
Ali Muhammad 

At the end of July APA Principal LaTonya Austin was suddenly reassigned for undisclosed reasons per CPS.  We have not been informed of any timelines as to when or if Ms. Austin will return.  

Despite these challenging circumstances of losing a principal all of us at APA respected and appreciated working with, we are very pleased to welcome Mr. Ali Muhammad who has been assigned as APA's Acting-Principal. Since mid-August Mr. Muhammad has hit-the- ground-running managing the vital operations of starting a new school year while instilling confidence and enthusiasm in the teachers, students and CLCR Career Program staff.  Mr. Muhammad is unequivocal in his support for APA's unique mission, programs and partnerships and has made clear his commitment to take our school to the next level of performance in terms of academics and our career program during his tenure. We are extremely fortunate to have him join our team and we look forward to a productive school year under his leadership. 

WaterSaver Faucet to Underwrite APA Counselor Position 

 

During the last school year APA did not have a school guidance counselor due to budget cuts.  The guidance counselor is an essential staff position who is responsible for ensuring all students: 1) are on-track to earn enough credits to graduate, 2) receive assistance for preparing college and financial aid applications, and 3) receive assistance for any social/emotional supports as needed. The counselor also plays a leading role in recruiting and enrolling new students into our school.  In Austin Polytech in particular the counselor is also a key liaison between the school and the CLCR-operated Career Program who must work closely together to ensure all students are have viable options after high school either college, career or both.  Not having a counselor last year put Austin Polytech students at a real disadvantage.  

Ms. Austin and CLCR staff discussed the issue back in May 2012 and CLCR committed to assist in additional fundraising to support this essential position in the upcoming school year.  We are incredibly grateful and fortunate that we did not have to go very far for help.  The Chicago Manufacturing Renaissance Council Co-Chair, Steve and Pricilla Kersten, of WaterSaver Faucet, quickly answered our call understanding the vital importance that the guidance counselor position had for the success of APA students awarding $80,562 to fund the position and program to further integrate the career program into APA operations.  On behalf of the Austin Polytech community, we deeply appreciate the Kerstens' vision and commitment to our school. 

We are thrilled to have Ms. Brandi McClinton serve as our counselor this year. Ms. McClinton has a background in both social work and special education as well as an infectious enthusiasm for helping Austin Polytech students succeed. 

Strike Brings the 

APA Community Together

by Erica Swinney, APA Career Program Director

 

Labor strikes by nature can be controversial events within a community.  The CTU Strike has been no different.  As someone who sees firsthand the triumphs and heartbreaks every day within the walls of Austin Polytech in the heart of the Westside of Chicago, I am relieved that the strike has ended on positive terms with teachers returning to school validated and enthusiastic to engage the heavy lift of public education.  

However what impressed me over the week of the strike, as the powers that be parsed and processed dozens of labor contract articles, was how the Austin Polytech community made best use of this otherwise challenging time to actually get to know each other a little better.  As I joined several conversations amongst teachers over that week, teachers commented on how despite the frustration of not knowing when or on what terms they would get back to work they appreciated the time to talk to their coworkers about things other than the latest school-related event or crisis.  And it was not just teachers talking to other teachers, but to their coworker's spouses and children, CLCR staff, students and parents, Local-School-Council members, the school- building custodians, the community members at the local church where teachers held a 'Freedom School' to give students extra ACT-test prep support.   

I am heartened that as we all return to the difficult yet deeply-rewarding work of educating our community's youth, that we do so with a little more trust and a little more appreciation for doing what we do together.