Pathways to Prosperity Network - Fall Institute
Long Beach CaLL was fortunate to attend last month’s Pathways to Prosperity Network Fall Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with partners from the Long Beach Unified School District, Long Beach City College, California State University Long Beach, Pacific Gateway, and other organizations.

The  Pathways to Prosperity Network  seeks to ensure that many more youth complete high school, attain a postsecondary credential with currency in the labor market, and get launched on a career while leaving open the prospect of further education. State and regional stakeholders across education, business, and government lead the work in each Pathways to Prosperity state, with the long-term goal of creating statewide systems of grade 9-14 career pathways that serve most students. Key sectors of the economy identified for building career pathways across the states include STEM fields such as information technology, health care, and advanced manufacturing. The Network is a collaboration of states, Jobs for the Future, and the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Hosted by Jobs for the Future , a national nonprofit that builds educational and economic opportunity for underserved populations in the United States , participants from seventeen different states attended various sessions to share effective policies and practices. CaLL brought back new, innovative strategies that will support our work here in Long Beach. 
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Business Spotlight
Toyota Auto Body California (TABC), Inc. is a Long Beach manufacturer and leader in our business community. They are Toyota’s first North American manufacturing operation. This year they celebrate their 45 th anniversary. TABC originally produced truck beds for vehicles destined for the U.S., and today, they produce stamped and welded parts and steering columns.

Mike Truax, President of TABC, was introduced to Long Beach CaLL in January 2017, and by the summer, TABC was hosting three high school interns at its manufacturing facility. Rhonda Gilyard, Manager-Administration at TABC, worked with Long Beach CaLL to place our high school interns in different departments, giving each of them a rewarding experience. “It’s refreshing to have such a positive impact on young minds and the decisions they may make regarding their educational path in the future”, she said. Each of our interns’ TABC supervisors and co-workers made them feel welcome and offered help and guidance during their internships. 

TABC, its supervisors and employees are strong supporters of Long Beach CaLL. In addition to our internship program, they also participated in the Engineering, Manufacturing, and Building Trades Career Fair at Long Beach City College last month. Long Beach CaLL appreciates TABC’s commitment to supporting future careers of Long Beach students, and looks forward to strengthening our partnership in the time ahead.
Student Spotlight
Lombardo (pictured on the left with his father at the TABC plant) spent Summer 2017 interning for TABC. Lombardo referred to the company as “extremely organized, and a safe facility. Quality and safety are priorities for the company and everyone adheres to high standards.”

Lombardo is a senior studying in the engineering pathway at McBride High School. He plans to earn a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, and eventually, a master’s degree. Although Lombardo does not plan to pursue a career in the automotive manufacturing field, he expressed that, "TABC only affirmed my passion for the field". His internship at TABC is “one of my [his] strongest motivators to pursue higher education, as the internship experience proved that hard work and dedication lead to better and more fulfilling opportunities.”

The highlight of Lombardo's internship was presenting his 3D design for a staircase to a water cooling tower on the TABC property to his supervisor, fellow colleagues, and his father. TABC is actually using Lombardo's design to build it!

From Long Beach CaLL’s interaction with Lombardo over the course of his internship, he definitely lives by his favorite quote, “Recognize your opportunities. Seize them and run with them.”
With the Thanksgiving holiday around the corner, we want to express our appreciation to our business partners, community partners, teachers, and everyone else who supports us in connecting students with businesses through work-based learning activities.
Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving!

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