Our mission at Edgewater Collective is cultivating partnerships for thriving schools. This week we have a great example of what this looks like.

For the last three years, we have been working with community partners to connect more Jefferson graduates to college and career with our Jefferson Success Pathway work. As we look at the data and talk to students, we’ve realized that a good portion of our graduates are not ready for college. With partners and schools we are working preventively to make sure that students start school ready to learn, grow academically each year and graduate ready for college. But we also have to work to connect graduates with real career pathways after Jefferson.

This school year we are working with Jefferson Junior/Senior High School counselors, 21st Century Community Learning Center after school programs, local business leaders and Red Rocks Community College to design two week clubs to introduce junior and seniors to career pathways after Jefferson.

We are starting with an Intro to Cosmetology Careers club in November which will feature female business leaders from Aspire Medical Spa and Sparrow Hair Parlour right here in Edgewater. They will share about their careers and then take students on a tour of their businesses during the second session. We will also be partnering with Red Rocks Community College to share about the cosmetology certificates available for students.

If this first club is successful, we are looking at other Intro to Career clubs over the next few months. It is an excellent way to connect our local businesses to our schools and connect students to realistic career pathways. Our goal for this school year is to connect at least 20 Jefferson seniors with trade and career pathways after they graduate.