By Sean Guess
CORRESPONDENT
WALL TOWNSHIP -- N.J. Natural Gas Co. and Wall Township High
School are making academics come alive by bringing the business world into the
classroom. About 75 students will be using marketing, earth sciences, statistics
and mechanical drawing with the help of five gas company employees in a program
called Cirriculum Connection over the next two weeks. A fictitious company
called Town Gas will use the real world business applications used at gas
company [sic] to persuade a homeowner to pick natural gas over electricity and
oil.
"I think this program is cool," said Jason Menser, a
senior in Colleen Badecker's marketing class. "This allows us to get away
from textbooks, which can be boring, and allows us to take these lessons and
skills into the real world."
"This is exciting for the
students that are participating," said Badecker. "The students in this
program are operating off a business flow chart and are learning what is
expected of them in business."
The business world does not always
have the same priorities as that [sic] taught in school as to what is most
desired in an employee, Dana Egreczky, director of educational programming for
the state Chamber of Commerce, told the students.
"I know you have
been told that bosses are looking for computer skills, math skills, writing
skills and communication skills, but that is not all they are seeking,"
Egreczky said. "In a survey bosses desire these three attributes from an
employee as being most important: They are respect for deadlines and being
punctual, being a team player and respect for individuals."
James
Prino, science supervisor at the high school, said the program was great
exposure to business for his students.
"The whole purpose of this
partnership is to identify the job skills required in this industry and work
toward accomplishing the project's proposed goals," Prino said.
"I
feel I will be able to apply the lessons over the next two weeks to future
studies," said Maureen "Mo" Lawson, a senior in Badecker's class.
"While I won't be going into business, but teaching, I still feel you need
to know how to work as a team," Lawson said.
After the school
completes the prototype program for the gas company and incorporates it into the
school cirriculum, other schools will have the opportunity to access the plan
from the company's web site (www.njng.com).
The school and the gas company agree programs such as this one are needed to
give students an edge in the business world.
"This project
exemplifies the kind of skills and creative thinking you'll need to excel in a
competitive work environment," said Thomas Kononowitz, senior voce
president of marketing at gas company.