In the year and a few months since I have returned to Monroe, now as the district administrator, I keep hearing the same message from our local businesses: our employers are suffering from a shortage of employees.
This message is consistent, regardless of the type of business. Whether it is industry, service providers, small businesses, healthcare or the public sector; we all seem to be seeing fewer applicants for our open positions, and often the applicants we get are not qualified for the vacancies that are available.
The School District of Monroe knows that we need to be part of the solution in filling these employment gaps and we are committed to strengthening our connections with local businesses in order to meet this goal. This year, we will be expanding our school-to-work offerings to allow for a wider variety of workplace experiences that high school students can participate in during the work day. We have re-established “work release” programs where students can work during the school day for local businesses.
Additionally, we have partnered with Monroe Truck, Precision Drive and Control, Woodford Bank and Badger State Ethanol to create more focused “internships” where students can experience a variety of employment opportunities within a local business, while learning valuable employability skills and also earning money.
In order to meet the needs of local businesses, our staff also needs to increase their awareness of the skills and behaviors our employers are looking to employ.
On Aug. 29, every full-time district employee will tour local businesses as part of our August District Inservice activities. These tours are designed to increase awareness of the needs of local businesses, provide a greater context for our work in supporting the academic and workplace readiness needs of our students, and to help build a stronger partnership between our district and the business community in order to help recruits and retain employees to both work and live in Monroe.
The following local businesses and organizations will be participating in the tours:
Klondike Cheese Company
Precision Drive and Control
Badger State Ethanol
Monroe Truck Equipment
Main Street Monroe
Monroe Clinic
Colony Brands
Orchid Industries
Monroe Chamber of Commerce
Green County Economic Development Council
The School District is grateful for the local businesses that are partnering with us on these endeavors and the support we receive from the entire business community. We would very much like to include other local businesses in similar programming in the future. If you would like your business to be part of these types of programs in the future, please contact me at 328-7135, rickwaski@monroe.k12.wi.us or our Director of Pupil Services Joe Monroe at 328-7155, joemonroe@monroe.k12.wi.us.
Have a great August and GO CHEESEMAKERS!!
— Rick Waski is the district administrator for the School District of Monroe. He can be reached at 608-328-7109 or rickwaski@monroe.k12.wi.us.
