Junior Achievement of NJ (JANJ) has selected Mark Cacace, School to Careers Coordinator at Passaic County Technical Institute, as Educator of the Year. He is one of three educators in the state to receive this distinct honor.
PCTI’s School to Careers program allows students to seamlessly transition from school to the working world by building career readiness skills which are linked to specific curricula. Mark Cacace describes the challenge of uniting with partners to accomplish this goal, “One of the biggest challenges is finding organizations that are ready and able to assist schools with preparing students for the future. Junior Achievement has helped remove that roadblock. We have successfully worked together since 2009.”
He goes on to explain experiences with the Junior Achievement Job Shadow initiative, how groups of students were able to gain firsthand experience by shadowing volunteer mentors. One of the most memorable experiences was with AT&T when a PCTI student was awarded with the opportunity to attend the Olympics due to an essay he wrote about the impact the JA/AT&T Job Shadow had on his career planning. This year, engineering students participated in Nokia’s Global Innovative Challenge –a Junior Achievement initiative – where they won first place.
The Junior Achievement program prides itself on providing impactful and meaningful educational experiences by inspiring students to succeed in the global economy through real world relationships with business, government, and educational partners. This allows students to develop the employability and financial literacy skills necessary to succeed in the 21st century. The program’s hands-on curriculum emphasizes real-world learning and motivates students to connect with corporate and community role models who are invested in their futures.
Mark Cacace received the Educator of the Year recognition for going above and beyond in connecting students with real-world experiences. He will be featured in the Junior Achievement of NJ’s 2016-2017 Annual Report and will be recognized at one of their upcoming board meetings.
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PCTI’s Mark Cacace Named Junior Achievement Educator of the Year Passaic County Technical Institute School to Careers Coordinator, Mark Cacace (Vernon), was honored with the Educator of the Year award by the Junior Achievement of New Jersey. |