The new employment program is designed to help new graduates find jobs and even careers locally, and the endorsement agreement will be the first of dozens pursued by school system, officials said.
As part of the city schools’ Strategic Vision: Passport to Tomorrow, the district’s “Ready Now” program to help Middletown students after they earned a diploma can be a key to revitalizing the city’s economy, said school and business officials.
“There are lots of exciting things our students will get to experience as a result of an endorsement of the Ready Now Campaign,” said Marlon Styles Jr., superintendent of the 6,300-student Middletown Schools, in a released statement.
“Our students will have access to future workforce experiences, mentors throughout the community, different employers and agencies, and higher education institutions,” said Marlon Styles, MCSD Superintendent. “When we met with Worthington Industries, we requested they guarantee any Middletown High School applicant an interview. Mr. Perry and the other executives didn’t blink an eye and agreed without hesitation.”
Michael Perry, Worthington Industries human resource manager, for the company’s Middletown and Monroe plant, said his company “is excited to support the Ready Now – Passport to Tomorrow initiative.”
“Doing so allows us to partner with Middletown City Schools and help students develop the skills necessary to be successful in the workforce upon graduation. We want to see every student in our community reach their full potential so they can, as one Middletown student recently dreamed, make life better for themselves and their families,” said Perry, who attended last week’s Middletown Board of Education meeting.
Worthington Industries takes in tons of steel from Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., formerly AK Steel, in Middletown - and from other companies - and processes it according to manufacturers’ specifications for use in a wide variety of industries.
Styles said the first endorsement announcement marks the school system “recommitting itself to the district’s mission through a strategic vision with equity at the center.”
“As students pursue employment, enrollment, and/or enlistment, the partnership with Worthington Industries will support students’ development of key skill sets to prepare them for future careers beyond graduation,” said Styles.
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