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2017 ANNUAL REPORT .   . 2. A Partnership That Works | Berks Business Education Coalition | Annual Report 2017

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT John P. Weidenhammer Chairman, Berks Business Education Coalition

Much is happening in education in Berks County and at the Berks Business Education Coalition MISSION: (BBEC) we are pleased to be part of it. As you will The mission of the Berks Business read in this report, a focus around the county is on Education Coalition is to develop and points of transition. to coordinate programs within the business and education communities The newly formed Berks Early Learning Coalition which improve the competencies of (BELC) advocates for programs and resources for students and ensure that they have children in the Pre-K learning years. We can all agree the aspirations, skills, and knowledge that these formative years are the building blocks to plan appropriately for their lives for learning all the years through high school and after high school. beyond. The Berks Business Education Coalition is GOALS: pleased to be an active partner in this advocacy. 1. Promote career awareness and Two Berks Business Education Coalition programs, development programs for Students Interacting with Business and Higher students in Berks County. Education Campus Visits, provide ninth graders a first 2. Support member schools in the look into the culture and expectations of business and effort to improve basic academic higher education during the first year of high school. performance. The past two years, BBEC has been instrumental in 3. Promote appropriate, differenti - helping schools develop internship placements for ated interest in pursuit of post juniors and seniors to explore possible career interests secondary education. after graduation. 4. Facilitate continuing dialogue between, with, and among Making good, informed decisions is what life is all K-12 and higher education. about. At the Berks Business Education Coalition, we 5. Provide for the viability and are excited to be active partners with the schools and sustainability of Coalition the business community to support students to engage programs and services. positively in this process.

John P. Weidenhammer Annual Report 2017 | Berks Business Education Coalition | A Partnership That Works 3.

Students Interacting with Business

The Students Interacting with Business program engages S students for the better part of one day in class size groups for a “boots on the ground” experience with a participating Berks County

business. The day starts with a morning assembly program presented I by a business professional focusing on the factors that employers

value in a good employee. The students then travel by bus to a W business to learn about that business and the array of employment opportunities available at that business and within Berks County more generally. A big “tip of the hat” Brandywine Heights Area High School ninth graders Seventeen of the 18 Berks County enjoyed the sweet taste of success at R. M. Palmer school districts participated in 2017, to these businesses B Company, September 29, 2017, under the guidance sending 3,833 ninth graders, September for their engagement. of Steve Weltman, Director of Human Resources. 25 to 29, to 26 Berks County businesses. Alcon Research, Ltd. BB&T Berks County Agricultural Center Brentwood Industries Cambridge-Lee Industries LLC Carpenter Technology Corporation Dollar General DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel East Penn Manufacturing Co. EnerSys Fleetwood Industries Met-Ed, A FirstEnergy Company Penn State Health St. Joseph Penske Truck Leasing Quadrant Engineering Products Schuylkill Valley students weathering a rainy day Reading Health System Higher Education visit with the Penn State Berks Lion, April 4, 2017. R. M. Palmer Company Campus Visits Sealstrip Corporation Berks County is fortunate to be the home public school districts have partnered for the SFS intec, Inc. for five colleges and universities. Albright past 14 years to bring students Steve Moyer Subaru College, , Kutztown early in their secondary school experience University, Penn State Berks, and the Reading onto the college/university campuses to expe - UGI Energy Services Area Community College offer a spectrum of rience directly the culture and expectations of UGI Utilities, Inc. programs suitable to every possible need and the college environment. In 2017 the higher Unique Pretzels interest of post-secondary students. education institutions welcomed 4,435 ninth graders in class size groups, providing informa - Weidenhammer Systems The five schools, the Berks Business Educa - tion, a campus tour, and culminating, not Corporation tion Coalition, and the 18 Berks County least important, with lunch! WORLD electronics 4. A Partnership That Works | Berks Business Education Coalition | Annual Report 2017 The Internship Experience Recently I attended the 30th more possible career directions transitional experience, one level reunion of the Class of 1987 of post high school. of endeavor to another. For high Baltimore City College (High school seniors, it provides an Similar programs are emerging School). The class was 350 strong. informed step into adulthood. here in Berks County, led by the I was their principal. A senior year long standing program in the Twin Transition points on every option for the students was the Valley . Thirteen level of a child’s education are practicum experience, placing stu - (13) of the eighteen (18) Berks important. Pre-K to ; dents for two hours each day, five County public school districts grade 3 to grade 4; grade 4 to grade days a week for the semester have internship (practicum) 8; and grade 8 to grade 9. Setting and/or year at a business or other programs in place at some level. milestones, points of attainment, professional site to gain an Internships as part of the high academically, emotionally, and informed perspective for their post school curriculum, primarily physically creates standards for high school plans: 90 of the stu - senior year, have increased from assessment. dents, or 25% of the class chose three, just three years ago to 13 in that option. They thrived in that For the high school senior, the the 2017/2018 school year. The “real world” experience while still internship experience can be life thirteen districts reported a total under the guiding, supportive changing. The student can verify of 222 external and 129 in district umbrella of their school. They (or not, equally important) that a placements as of November, 2017. developed an enhanced perspective perceived career interest is really The number of students will be of the world that awaited them, what he/she wishes to continue augmented by additional place - they acquired a greater sense of to pursue and in so doing, have ments in the spring, 2018. themselves, and importantly, they formed a basis for informed life learned in depth about one or The internship experience is a decisions after high school. Solomon Lausch

BERKS COUNTY HIGH SCHOOLS INTERNSHIP PLACEMENTS First Semester 2017--2018

SCHOOL SENIORS EXTERNAL INTERNAL Boyertown Area Senior HS 547 6 10 Brandywine Heights Area HS 114 20 5 Conrad Weiser Area HS 245 15 -- Exeter Township Senior HS 361 4 6 Fleetwood Area HS 200 10 0 Governor Mifflin Senior HS 355 17 7 Hamburg Area HS 173 4 1 Kutztown Area Senior HS 114 10 4 Oley Valley HS 145 1 1 Reading HS 831 -- -- Schuylkill Valley HS 159 0 11 Twin Valley HS 312 72 68 Wilson HS 520 63 16

TOTALS 4,076 222 129 Annual Report 2017 | Berks Business Education Coalition | A Partnership That Works 5.

Our thanks to Intern Andrea Landrum, participating businesses Wyomissing Area SD, and organizations: shared her experience with the group. Alvernia University East Penn Manufacturing Co., Inc. Greater Reading Convention & Visitors Bureau In partnership with the Berks County Intermediate Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Unit, the Berks Business Kautter & Kelley Architects Education Coalition Make the Road PA placed 27 Berks County educators at 18 participat - Met-Ed, A First Energy Company ing businesses and Nolde Forest organizations for one Packaging Corporation of America week this past summer. The educators gained Penn Werner Hotel direct insight into the Quadrant Engineering culture, expectations, and Reading Public Museum employment opportunities at that business or Reading Eagle organization and developed teaching Reading Health System materials to be used with their students in Safe Berks the classroom. (formerly Berks Women in Crisis) TOMPKINS VIST Bank United Way of Berks County White Star Tour & Travel Center

insid eBerk sbusiness provided relevant, first-hand experiences to 23 educators in Berks County this year.

Connie Skipper (BCIU), Solomon Lausch, and Lori Gerber (BCIU) introduce the educators as they share their experiences with the iBb program. 6. A Partnership That Works | Berks Business Education Coalition | Annual Report 2017

OUR ROLE IS MISSION AWARENESS, To promote Berks County business ADV OCACY, partnerships and community & ACTION . connections that support pre-kindergarten early learning.

The Berks Early Learning Coalition children in formal Pre-K programs working as teacher aides in Pre-K (BELC) formed in 2016 to focus on and to improve the quality of the programs which serve students mostly the issue of Pre-K education. Co-chairs instruction the students receive. On of lower income Latino heritage. The Julia H. Klein , Chairwoman and the latter point, it can be a constant program includes small group and CEO, C. H. Briggs Company, and struggle to find and keep high quality one-to-one mentoring. For the aides, Alan J. Ottinger , CEO, QIC, Inc., are Pre-K providers, teachers and aides. a $1,000 salary bonus is provided each also governor appointees to the state- The problem is often of money, with of two years upon completion of wide Early Learning teachers able to command higher certain milestones. The program also Investment Commission. salaries in the public and private provides funding for persons who are The research is clear on the school K-12 programs. For classroom interested to pursue an associate degree positive, long term effect of dollars aides, the issue is even more acute. in early childhood education at the invested early on student achieve - Salaries typically are set at or only Reading Area Community College. ment. The key always is which slightly above minimum wage. Practical, innovative programs such programs and at what level of compe - The United Way of Berks County, as the above hold real promise in the tence and duration. working with a grant from Brad and battle to intervene early, when it In Berks County we are committed Barbara Hall, Berks County philan - makes a difference, to overcome the to determining cost effective measures thropists, has piloted a three year barriers to achievement which to expand the number of eligible program for 12 persons presently associate with poverty.

BELC PURPOSE To ensure all Berks County pre-kindergarten children who are considered at risk have access to a high-quality early learning education.

www.berksiu.org/belc Annual Report 2017 | Berks Business Education Coalition | A Partnership That Works 7.

The nonprofit Manufacturer’s Resource Center (MRC), Allen - MIDDLE SCHOOL TEAMS COMPANY PARTICIPANTS town, PA is engaged with students Boyertown Area Bally Ribbon Mills to discover the answer to just this Conrad Weiser Area Misco Products Corporation question. In the 2016/2017 school year, MRC brought the What’s Daniel Boone Area American Crane & Equipment Corp. Cool About Manufacturing program, Fleetwood Area Tray Pak Corporation already successful in Lehigh County, to Berks County and Governor Mifflin Brentwood Industries, Inc. Schuylkill County. Kutztown Area PetSmart The program provides teams of Muhlenberg Appeelling Fruit, Inc. 6 to 8 seventh and eighth graders and a teacher adviser, the resources North Schuylkill Ashland Technologies, Inc. and coaching to develop a plan to Reading Northwest MS Carpenter Technology Corporation report on a manufacturing business. The students typically Reading Northeast MS Berks Packing Company, Inc. observe, tour, interview and film Reading Southern MS Remcon Plastics, Inc. for about three hours. They then edit what they have filmed into a Reading Southwest MS Industrial Metal Plating, Inc. three minute video which then is Schuylkill Haven SAPA Extrusion judged by a panel of experts, with awards in 10 categories. The Schuylkill Valley Packaging Corporation of America winning teams are announced in a Tamaqua Highwood USA culminating evening celebration, held this first year March 7, 2017, Tulpehocken Area Unique Pretzel Bakery, Inc. at the Sovereign Performing Arts Twin Valley Morgan Corporation Center with 600 people attending. Wilson West MS Sweet Street Desserts John Weidenhammer , BBEC Board Chairman, served as master of Wilson Southern MS Cambridge-Lee Industries LLC ceremonies. The program generates lots of The program has grown exponentially in just the second year. excitement, school and community In 2017/2018, 29 schools and manufacturers are participating. The spirit, just the right fit for high 2018 culminating event is planned for March 6 at the DoubleTree energy 13- and 14-year-olds. This by Hilton, Reading, PA. first year, 19 middle schools in The videos for each of the 19 schools and manufacturers are Berks and Schuylkill Counties readily accessed through our BBEC website ( www.berksbec.org) . participated, matched with 19 They are interesting to watch and tell 19 good stories about manufacturing companies. manufacturing in our local and greater community. 8. A Partnership That Works | Berks Business Education Coalition | Annual Report 2017

Academic Standards Academic standards and achievement have Russian satellite Sputnik scare. rightly been the focus of education through all And so it has been for the 60 years millennia. In the formal, topical sense, it has cer - since then. tainly been so throughout the 150 years of manda - One problem has been failure tory public education in American history. to set consistent policy, adminis - Discussion became more pronounced in the tration to administration at both middle of the last century as education came to be the national and state levels. seen as the gateway to upward mobility. Concern Pennsylvania has had in place the for an equitable standard for college admissions, Pennsylvania System for School for example, resulted in the adoption of the Assessment since 1992. Remark - Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) in the 1940’s. able that a program has endured with the same name for 16 years, Every president since Dwight Eisenhower has unremarkable in that it has gone in some way declared himself the “education” through iteration after iteration, president. Thus the passage of the 1958 federal always with a moving set of legislation focusing on science in reaction to the content and standards. Having said all the above, there is some light if the assessments that 2016-2017 PSSA REPORT CARD have been in place for the past School Performance Profile Scores three years hold, giving the schools something to bite into! Assess - Antietam Middle-Senior HS 56.8 ment scores are reported by school: Boyertown Area HS 84.2 elementary, middle and high Brandywine Heights Area HS 68.4 school. Setting aside the , which has its own Conrad Weiser Area HS 74.9 challenges relating to poverty and Daniel Boone Area HS 66.1 other socio-economic factors, and Exeter Township HS 75.9 where, not coincidentally real progress is being achieved, the Fleetwood Area HS 82.9 demographics for the rest of Berks Governor Mifflin HS 76.2 County, with some exception, are relatively consistent. Hamburg Area HS 79.3 A legitimate exercise for those Kutztown Area HS 85.8 schools scoring below 70, but with Muhlenberg HS 80.6 similar demographics as high Oley Valley HS 78.6 scoring schools such as Boyertown Area, Kutztown Area, and Wilson, Reading HS Score Not Available would be to examine the programs Schuylkill Valley HS 63.9 in those schools to determine what Tulpehocken Junior-Senior HS 75.1 changes they might incorporate into their curricula. The point is Twin Valley HS 64.1 more acute if the same pattern has Wilson HS 88.8 prevailed for two or more years. Wyomissing Area Junior-Senior HS 70.1 Solomon Lausch Annual Report 2017 | Berks Business Education Coalition | A Partnership That Works 9.

13 % EDUCATION

14 % FINANCIAL REPORT FOUNDATIONS OPERATIONS 2016 2017 Operating Income: 73 % Business 74,000 92,850 BUSINESS Education 16,900 16,050 Foundations 24,600 18,600 Interest on Savings 66 75 Total Operating Income $115,566 $127,575

Operating Expenses: Salaries and Benefits 85,289 85,729 201 7 Other Operating Supplies & Expenses 28,648 33,786 OPERATING Total Operating Expenses $113,937 $119,915

INCOME Operating Gain (Loss) $1,629 $7,660

15 % EDUCATION 62 % PROGRAM BUSINESS EXPENDITURES 201 6 201 7 Direct Payment to Schools 74,999 47,734 Berks Early Learning Coalition 0 2,071 Higher Education Campus Visits 4,640 1,741 23 % Total Program Expenditures $79,639 $51,546 FOUNDATIONS

Financial Position Total Liability and Equity $171,030 $173,746

2016 OPERATING INCOME 10. A Partnership That Works | Berks Business Education Coalition | Annual Report 2017

MEMBERSHIP LIST

Albright College Conrad Weiser Area Jerlyn Foundation Remcon Plastics School District Alcon Research Ltd. Kutztown Area School District R. M. Palmer Company Customers Bank Alvernia University Kutztown University Schuylkill Valley Daniel Boone Area M&T Bank School District School District BB&T Bank Marlin Miller Jr. Sealstrip Corporation Diocese of Allentown Family Foundation Berks Career SFS intec, Inc. Dollar General & Technology Center Met-Ed, A FirstEnergy Company Steve Moyer Subaru DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Berks County Meridian Bank TOMPKINS VIST Bank Agricultural Center East Penn Manufacturing Muhlenberg School District Tulpehocken Area Co., Inc. Berks County Community Oley Valley School District School District Foundation EnerSys Penn State Berks Twin Valley School District Berks County Intermediate Unit Exeter Township School District Penn State Health St. Joseph UGI Energy Services Berks County First Energy Foundation Penske Truck Leasing Co. UGI Utilities, Inc. Workforce Development Board First National Bank of PA Quadrant EPP USA Unique Pretzels Brentwood Industries First Priority Bank Weidenhammer Boyertown Area School District QIC, Inc. Fleetwood Area School District Systems Corporation Brandywine Heights Area Reading Area Fleetwood Industries Wells Fargo Bank School District Community College Fulton Bank White Star Tours Cacoosing Family Reading Eagle Charitable Foundation Gage Personnel Reading Health System Cambridge-Lee Industries LLC Governor Mifflin School District Reading Muhlenberg Career & WORLD electronic Carpenter Technology Greater Reading Technology Center Wyomissing Area Corporation Chamber Alliance Reading School District School District Catherine V. & Martin Hamburg Area School District RKL LLP Wyomissing Foundation W. Hofmann Foundation Annual Report 2017 | Berks Business Education Coalition | A Partnership That Works 11.

2017 ANNUAL REPORT www.berksbec.org board members Melissa G. Brewer, Ed.D. Antietam School District Richard Faidley, Ed.D. officers Wilson School District CHAIRMAN SECRETARY George Fiore, Ed.D. John P. Weidenhammer Alan J. Ottinger Kutztown Area School District President President Weidenhammer Systems QIC, Inc . Thomas F. Flynn, Ph.D. Corporation Alvernia University EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Dr. Solomon Lausch VICE CHAIRMAN Philip J. Fromuth, Ph.D. Dr. Jill M. Hackman Berks Business Diocese of Allentown Executive Director Education Coalition Andrea J. Funk Berks County Intermediate Unit Cambridge-Lee Industries LLC Steven M. Gerhard, Ed.D. TREASURER staff Governor Mifflin School District Jeffrey R. Rush EXECUTIVE President DIRECTOR Randall Grove, Ed.D. Fulton Bank Solomon Lausch Ph.D. Conrad Weiser Area School District EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT Paris Ann Smith Jill M. Hackman, Ed.D. Berks County Intermediate Unit William Long, Sr. Paul R. Roedel John P. Weidenhammer M&T Bank Wyomissing Foundation Weidenhammer Systems (Retired) Corporation Marlin Miller, Jr. Norwich Ventures, Inc. Roger J. Schmidt Anna Weitz, D.Ed. E. J. Breneman (Retired) Reading Area Khalid Mumin, Ed.D. Community College Reading School District Rolf D. Schmidt Sharpoint LLP Tammy White Alan J. Ottinger United Way of Berks County QIC, Inc. Bruce G. Smith Fulton Bank Chester Winters Robert Pleis, Ed.D. Reading Area Twin Valley School District Michael Toledo Community College Centro Hispano Daniel Torres Andrew Potteiger Brandywine Heights Area Christina L. Weeber, CPA School District East Penn Manufacturing Co. 2017 ANNUAL REPORT

www.berksbec.org

960 Old Mill Road | Wyomissing PA 19610 Phone: 610-372-6114 | Fax: 610-372-7626 Designed and produced by January2018 Berks County Intermediate Unit