Interviewer: What does CVE stand for?
Marissa Copeland: Cooperative Vocational Education. Tuesdays and Thursdays, we make coffee for the staff and they pay like a dollar for it. But we make it and then I just set up and then I wait for some star students that come down and then help with that. And it's just a nice morning thing where they come get their coffee in their donut.
Sharon Bergfeld: The most important thing about our business partners is the fact that we can't duplicate an authentic workplace in the classroom. It just isn't possible. So we need our business partners who are so gracious and open their doors and host our students and allow our students to experience the spontaneity of working with the public, of having problems come and then they have to problem solve.
Marissa Copeland: My favorite part about being in CVE is going to Brokaw, the early learning center, to do a job shadow. And then I'm also studying to be a TA and then I'm going to take the test over the summer. So they actually, aside from CVE, they help you pursue what you want to do.
Betty Augustine: A vocational coordinator is a very unique role. We wear lots of different hats. A vocational coordinator has a passion for trying to help students find and match their interests, their strengths, their skills, and what environment that they would do best in. Marissa is a great story. She is a charming young lady who came to me the second week in CVE and told me she wanted out of the class, thought she might be past what we were going to learn and what we were going to do. So we started off with, of course she was doing the martini coffee roaster, but we thought there's something more for her.
But at that time we didn't have permission to be in the community. We went on to partner with Brokaw who accepted her, and she's been going over there. She's got great rapport with the students and she's currently working on her paraprofessional certificate. Certainly it's been a joy working with her. She is our coffee maker. Every Tuesday and Thursday she shows up with a smile on her face. She supports all students. She works well with all of our students and we've just built a great relationship and she's definitely going to be a success story. We believe in her. We know she will go on to do far more in her lifetime, so we're happy to have the privilege to work with her.
Marissa Copeland: What I'm going to miss most is just the environment and just the really kind people and just everybody.
Pouring a Cup of Happiness! The Community Partnering with Local Students to Make a Difference
Oswego High School and Oswego East High School have partnered together to help special needs students thrive in school and thrive in life. They partner as a part of the Cooperative Vocational Education (CVE) with local businesses to allow students to try out different careers firsthand. Two days a week, the students even sell and pour the students a cup of happiness with coffee and donuts.
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