The three schools district in Wayne County are working together to provide students the tools they need to go to work in the region. And the latest project is a series of videos about the careers available for students right here.

Joanne Hudak, director of Secondary Education at Wallenpaupack Area, set up the meeting to introduce the school districts — Wayne Highlands and Western Wayne  in addition to Wallenpaupack — to the series of 22 videos. The videos were put together by the Pocono Counties Workforce Investment Area (WIA) to help build the workforce companies in the region need.

Joseph Sebelin, Pocono WIA executive director, explained the WIA was once called the unemployment office, helping people find jobs and collect benefits and help business find employees. They still do that Sebelin said, but they realized that the work was much then that. He said they realized the WIA had to work harder to build the workforce local companies needed or the companies would leave.

He pointed to Tobyhanna Army Depot as an example. Several times in the past two decades local leaders came together to fight to keep the Depot in the area, but two years ago the military changed its tune. Instead of threats to close the facility, they asked what was being done to ensure the Depot had the employees it needs to complete its mission.

Sebelin said that was when they began to work with colleges and schools to find ways to train a workforce to meet that challenge. He noted hundreds of people will be leaving the depot in the next few years, leaving a lot of opportunities for local students.

And its just not the Depot, Sanofi Pasteur is also in need of trained employees. The pharmaceutical company, with a plant in Swiftwater, is looking for biotech trained students.

Hudak said she attended an event at the facility and learned they were looking for 491 biotech trained employees. She noted there was a program at Wallenpaupack High School where after two years the students move to Northampton Community College. Then she said the student can get a job at Sanofi Pasteur and the company will pay for them to complete their degree at East Stroudsburg University while making $30,000 per year.

With all those well paying jobs open, she realized she didn’t have any students in the “pipeline” to take advantage of the opportunities.

Hudak added that about one third of all students who head to college drop out the first year. About 25 percent, don’t complete their degrees. She said a lot of students are still confused about where they want to go and what they want to do with their lives in their junior and senior years.

She explained the schools needed to build programs to get students interested in the local workforce needs and have those programs train the students to fill them.

Wallenpaupack has been working to meet the needs of students who don’t want to go to traditional colleges for several years and this is another step in that direction. The Vo Tech programs such as Automotive and Building Trades were built up to give the students opportunities in those fields. Today, automotive students compete successful against students attending all technical high schools.

Sebelin said the WIA looked at the jobs in the area which could sustain families and the video series is designed to peek the interest of students and their parents about the career available in the region.

For instance, one video focuses on the hospitality industry and features interviews of employees of local resorts, including Woodloch Pines and Skytop to get students interested in the various careers available there.

Another video focuses on electronics and Tobyhanna. It points students to the electronics careers available there and at other electronics companies in the region, including PennTeleData.

“We have to become the dentist,” Sebelin said after hearing Hudak speak of the lack of interest in WAHS’s biotech program, “and pull them to these careers.”

Each School district will receive a set of the 22 videos which can be used for both high school and middle school students. Hudak said she was putting the videos on the district’s website for easy access.

Sebelin said he was glad to see Hudak taking charge of such programs. She is also working on a careers camp for students which, when fully running, will rotate through the three districts.

There are also job shadowing programs and Hudak is working on internships for students going to college for some careers such as financial information technology.

She is working with the Wall Street West project and thought besides the opportunities that will be available is the project is completed, there are also opportunities available in local financial institutions. The Program is also providing a funding stream to help to provide training, something Hudak used to fund the career camp.

Lorraine Kloss, WASD assistant superintendent, said, “We have to focus on opportunities for students. Students are unfocused because there are so many choices.”

Wayne Highlands Superintendent Thomas Jenkins said it was good to pick out the three or four priorities.

He added he was surprised after a meeting with Wayne Memorial Hospital to find the kinds of jobs that were available there.

The three schools will meet regularly to develop a unified plan to provide the educational opportunities so their students can take advantage of the career opportunities that are available.