Middle School Literacy Grants Target Future Work Force

WATERBURY — Connecticut Light & Power (CL&P) and Yankee Gas recently announced new community partnerships that will support middle school literacy programs in Waterbury and Danbury, and professional development for Hispanic engineers across the state.

With $26,000 in grant money, the companies will support Aspira of Connecticut, Inc and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) of Connecticut. Company leaders announced the partnerships during a summer reading and writing program at the River-Baldwin Recreation Center in Waterbury.

Aspira of Connecticut is part of a national organization dedicated to developing the educational and leadership capacity of Hispanic youth. Its programs encourage Hispanic students to stay in school and succeed in the educational arena, develop their leadership skills, and serve their community.

Locally, 80 percent of the students who graduate from Aspira’s youth development program enroll in college.

SHPE is the state’s leading social-technical organization for Hispanic engineering professionals. The group works to enhance and achieve the potential of Hispanics in the study of science, technology, engineering, and math.

“As a major employer in Connecticut, we are here to support our communities and the organizations that serve to educate and develop the young people who are our workforce of tomorrow,” said Jeff Butler, president and chief operating officer at CL&P. “These two partnerships will serve that mission well.”

Mr Butler was joined by Rod Powell, president and chief operating officer of Yankee Gas.

“These partnerships will allow us to inspire young students through positive peer support, and to work directly with older students interested in pursuing careers as engineers,” Mr Powell said.

A total of $20,000 will fund Aspira’s after school literacy programs from June 2010 to June 2011. In Waterbury, the programs will be held at two locations — the North End and West Side elementary schools. In Danbury, the programs will be held at Rogers Park Middle School.

“The value of these programs extends far beyond the dollar value,” said Vincent Siberon, executive director Aspira of Connecticut. “This partnership is about a human experience that can hopefully be developed into a long-term partnership. Our kids need to know that you don’t just pay electric and gas bills. You can have careers at these companies, too.”

The remaining $6,000 in grant funding will help the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers reach out to community colleges; update its website; support its high school mentoring programs; develop a speaker series geared toward professionals and college chapters in Connecticut; and conduct a one-day professional development conference.