Berlin High School Students Shadow Comcast Workers
By Editor at May 1, 2024 | 8:45 am | Print
For the third consecutive year, high school students participated in a Junior Achievement job-shadowing program at Comcast’s Western New England region headquarters in Berlin today. House Majority Leader Joe Aresimowicz and Berlin Superintendent of Schools David Erwin joined representatives from Junior Achievement and Comcast during the event, which included 25 students from Berlin High School.
“As a youth football coach I see first-hand how much potential and enthusiasm the youth in our community have,” said Majority Leader Joe Aresimowicz (D-Berlin/Southington). “Comcast’s Junior Achievement program is so beneficial to students because it allows them explore their interests and channel them in a direction that is beneficial to their future.”
“The purpose of public education in Berlin is to stimulate the intellectual, emotional, and physical growth of all students in the community,” added David Erwin, Berlin Superintendent of Schools. “This purpose is helped with public and private partnerships with Comcast and Junior Achievement. Junior Achievement provides a powerful learning experience that focuses on making students financially responsible, prepared for the workforce and entrepreneurially savvy. We appreciate Comcast hosting students from Berlin High School again this year as part of the JA Job Shadow Day. Today’s program provides Berlin students the opportunity to learn about various career opportunities and will stimulate their intellectual and emotional growth towards becoming creative and contributory members of our community.”
The high-schoolers were paired up with Comcast volunteers who work in jobs matching student’s interests and they spent the morning talking about career goals and sharing real life experiences. The program gave students the opportunity to see firsthand what it’s like to work in an office, practice interviewing, and get advice and tips for starting out in their own career and overcoming potential obstacles.
“We are excited to partner with Comcast to give high school students an opportunity to see first-hand what happens inside a great company and to learn what it takes to get an excellent job in the future,” said Lou Golden, President of Junior Achievement of Southwest New England. “We thank Comcast and their employees for taking time out of busy schedules to give young people insight, wisdom and guidance.”
“Comcast is a big supporter of mentoring and helping today’s youth to develop into the next generation of leaders,” said Mary McLaughlin, Comcast Senior Vice President of the Western New England Region, which includes Connecticut. “Whether we are mentoring “Littles” from the Lincoln Elementary School for our “Beyond School Walls” program, or the college students we hire as interns, our employees are dedicated to sharing their leadership and expertise with students as they prepare for the workforce, and possibly even a career here at Comcast.”
Another way Comcast helps students is through their Leaders and Achievers® Scholarship Program, providing one-time $1,000 scholarships to students who strive to achieve their potential, who are catalysts for positive change in their communities, who are involved in their schools, and who serve as models for their fellow students. The philosophy behind the program is to give young people every opportunity to prepare for the future and to engage them in their communities. The program also demonstrates the importance of civic involvement, and the value placed on civic involvement by the business community. 47 high school seniors from Connecticut will be receiving these scholarships this year.
About Comcast in Connecticut:
Comcast is committed to providing an unparalleled entertainment experience to residents and businesses in the 83 communities the company serves in Connecticut. Comcast’s Western New England Region, which includes five states, is headquartered in Berlin, Connecticut, and customers are served by a team of over 1,200 Connecticut employees. Comcast also boasts a call center in Enfield, Connecticut, service centers throughout the state, and six state-of-the-art Xfinity Stores where customers can experience Comcast’s Xfinity products and services firsthand. Comcast’s popular Xfinity brand is also featured on the Xfinity Theatre, one of Hartford’s premier music venues. The company helps to strengthen the communities where its customers and employees live and work by supporting local nonprofit organizations. In 2014, Comcast provided more than $1.3 million to community partners in the state, in the form of Comcast Foundation grants, sponsorships, volunteer hours, courtesy services and in-kind donations.
About Junior Achievement
Since 1919, Junior Achievement’s purpose has been to educate and inspire young people to value free enterprise and understand business and economics to improve the quality of their lives. Junior Achievement of Southwest New England, Inc. is centrally located in downtown Hartford, CT with satellite offices in New Haven and Waterbury. Our staff services 7 counties, including: Hartford, Litchfield, New Haven, Windham, Tolland, New London and Middlesex. Last year, more than 2,000 talented volunteers donated one of the most important things they have to offer…their time. Thanks to the dedication of business professionals, parents, retirees, and college students, more than 34,500 students received Junior Achievement programs. These volunteers used their personal experiences to make the Junior Achievement curricula practical and realistic. Providing children with positive adult role models, who illustrate ways to build self-confidence, develop skills and find avenues of success in our free enterprise system, is a hallmark of Junior Achievement.
