1. Empowering Indiana’s Future Workforce: Pilot Project Proposal
Presentation to
Conexus & Workforce Development
November 2, 2007
Presenter:
Carla Lundman
Regional Sales Manager
Bridges

2. Agenda Company overview Market share for Indiana
Pilot Project Partners
Choices Explorer and Choices Planner resources
Indiana Pilot Project Overview
Phase One
Phase Two
Pilot Project Implementation Schedule

3. About Bridges Transitions
North America’s largest supplier of education and career planning solutions
Over 25 years of experience
Bridges Products are used by over 40% of public high schools in the country
A record of innovation driven by …
Listening to our customers
Adapting our products to their changing needs
Understanding the importance of implementation

4. What Else Do You Get From Bridges Transitions?
Friendly live support
Knowledgeable account management
24/7 product access
Newsletters and updates
Comprehensive product training and professional development
Product tutorials
Product webinars
On-site professional development workshops
Valuable online resources

5. Future Partnership Opportunity
Bridges is excited for the chance to collaborate with the
Conexus, Workforce Development and local businesses to
engage and retain youth within the state.
By customizing our existing education and career planning
solution with Indiana-specific content and
connections, Bridges will help to address the needs of
Indiana youth, educators, parents, and local industry alike.

6. Market Share
Currently 25% of Indiana senior high schools subscribe to Bridges’ Choices products
High usage with over 17,000 new personal online portfolios created by students and professionals during the school year 2007 for Indiana
Our strong market share and high usage provides Bridges with the distinct advantage to easily implement this initiative
Success = less barriers
33% represents how many students – ed Bill Spittle

7. Pilot Partners
Bridges proposes to involve the Fort Wayne Community Schools who are currently subscribers of our Choices Explorer and Choices Planner resources.
Indiana Career and Technical Education Area # 14
Six Public School Systems (15 High Schools; 22 Middle Schools)
Five Private/Parochial Schools
Three Social Service Agencies
All Public Library Branches

8. Choices Explorer Benefits
Captivates students’ attention with colourful graphics
Entertaining magazine-style content written at a grade 6 reading level
Helps students prepare for successful transition to high school and beyond
Demonstrates the connection between academics and careers with ready-made lesson plans and real-life activities
Career Clusters and Pathways
An engaging online education and career exploration system that creates the motivational foundation for meaningful planning
Real-life activities (math, communications and decision making)

9. Introduces students to non-traditional careers
Interactive features that allow students to communicate with experts and request new career articles
Regularly updated blogs written by students’ peers
Helps students make a smooth transition from exploration to planning with a common platform shared with Choices Planner

10. Choices Planner Benefits
Empowers students to make confident career choices with multiple validated assessments
Increases effectiveness with self-directed Guideways
Creates a seamless transition from exploration to planning with an integrated portfolio
Career Clusters and Pathways
Continued….
CP works with CE to help students build personalized plans.

11. Students can compare two careers or schools side-by-side
Saves time with ready-made lesson plans and activities
Enables greater accountability with powerful reporting
Align with BluePrint for Life/Work Design curriculum

12. Indiana counselors have already been saying great things about Choices Planner
Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance seems to be a given--yet many schools resist giving students the tools they need for planning, and then wonder why student performance is so poor. We have been very pleased with not only the Bridges products we use, but also with the relationship that has developed with the company itself around the very important theme of graduating students with meaningful future plans. As our use of Choices Planner and Choices Explorer expands, so do the number of our graduates who move on in life with post-secondary plans that have a high probability of success.
Ron Flickinger
Area Director of Career & Technical Education Anthis Career Center
As every school counselor in training must take the Career Course, they get the opportunity to explore the Choices program.  My students comment every semester on the user-friendly aspects of the program and how comprehensive it is in regards to career exploration.  It is by far their favorite career tool to use with high school students.  From my perspective, Choices offers everything on one site to enable school counselors to be an effective career counselor.
Dr. Thomas Keller, Ed.D., NCC, LMHC
Associate Professor/Program Coordinator, Counselor Education, Butler University

13. Pilot Project Overview
Expand career horizons for middle school students as they explore all the options available in their own back yard
Empower high school students to effortlessly connect their personal interests, values and skills to relevant career and post-secondary opportunities offered in Indiana
Involve more parents in the planning process with online access that extends the program beyond the classroom and into the home
Continued….

14. Enable counsellors to track and report on students’ planning progress
Message students about specific local opportunities offered by sponsoring industries
Create greater exposure for Indiana businesses with tiered product sponsorship, and the ability to target and connect to their future workforce
Develop a new revenue stream for the Indiana with profit-sharing of funds from ongoing tiered industry sponsorship
Internships, apprenticeships, scholarships or employment openings

15. Phase One Indiana customization Accountability reporting
Indiana employer and scholarship databases
Implementation and professional development

16. Indiana Customization
Develop a unique online portal where students, parents and educators can access Choices Explorer and Choices Planner anytime, from anywhere
Enhance the program with employer information and scholarship data
Work with Workforce Development and Conexus to determine how founding sponsors will be defined within the portal

18. Accountability Reporting
Accountability Reporting tools will provide counselors with the flexibility to track and report on student’s planning progress
Sponsors may contact schools about upcoming career fairs or internship openings
Counselors can quickly identify students who may be interested in attending upcoming events and message them
Benefits industries with the power to directly target and reach their future workforce

19. Indiana Employer Database
Students will have access to a complete employer database
Exposes students to career opportunities close to home
This all-inclusive format will better serve students and the economy as a whole
Paid sponsors will receive high exposure within Choices Explorer and Choices Planner

20. Employer Finder

21. Indiana Scholarship Database
Integrate Indiana-specific scholarship data
Alphabetical search or by using the new Scholarship Finder tool
List of scholarships identified based on customized criteria

22. Scholarship Finder
Scholarship database???

23. Pilot Subscription Implementation
Introduce Pilot Partners to the Indiana version
Six Public School Systems (15 High Schools; 22 Middle Schools)
Five Private/Parochial Schools
Three Social Service Agencies
All Public Library Branches
Launch to parents, community and industry partners
Develop marking communication and support plans
Promote to industries
Deliver product training
Monitor product usage

24. Implementation & Professional Development
Each participating division will receive customized Choices Planner and Choices Explorer training through:
Custom Webinars: allow counselors to conveniently learn from the comforts of their own office
On-Site Workshops: full day of hands-on training for up to 25 members of a division's staff
Possible train the trainer program with in the state

25. Phase Two Review pilot subscription with Partners
Launch Choices Explorer and Choices Planner statewide
Add to employer database
Secure additional industry partners
Report on usage
State-wide roll-out to all Indiana students and adults in career transition
Create a customized Indiana Guideway within Choices Explorer and Choices Planner

26. Sponsorship
Founding sponsors in Phase One will provide funding for pilot project
Phase Two – invite new industries to invests on an annual basis
Define tired elements and pricing for Bronze, Silver and Gold Sponsorship
Exposure will be based on investment
Sponsored areas might include the Career Cluster profiles, occupation profiles, and program profiles
Outline model for profit-sharing for on-going revenue stream

28. Reach Beyond the Classroom
Extend access to post-secondary institutions and employment centres
Clients section will be added to the online portal
Access to Choices Planner CT (Career Transitions) – the adult version of Choices Planner
Local industries are presented with a short-term solution to fill the labour gap
Access to post-secondary students and adults empower industries to reach a new market of skilled workers immediately

29. Choices Planner CT

30. Create a Buzz about Indiana
Bridges will create a series of engaging Indiana
specific articles to be regularly updated in the online portal
Users will be informed via , keeping them up to date on all the latest news and trends
Topics will included:
Career Trends
Indiana At Work
Post-Secondary Programs
Articles provided to MB and Ontario

31. Professional Tools
Improve accountability and empower greater achievement
Professional Tools Include:
Resource Library
Ready-made lesson plans
Site Administration
Customize course plans
Reviewer
Access student portfolios
Reporter
Show site usage
Tracker
Real-time activity tracking reports

32. Working together we can help Indiana’s future economy grow to its
fullest potential.

33. Questions?
Next Steps?