Page 9 - SPIRIT-Spring2017

Initiative
CORPORATE PARTNERS
CORPORATE PARTNERS
Initiative
CORPORATE
PARTNERS
Initiative
“Teaming up with Cor Jesu since 2012 to create ways that give students exposure CORPORATE PARTNERS Initiative
to STEM fields, such as engineering, is truly a partnership. As we plan our fourth
S.E.E. Week this June, I can look back and say we have taught – and learned – along CORPORATE
this journey. And, consistent with the goal of continuous improvement that we
share with CJ, it is incredibly exciting that S.E.E. has gone deeper, touched more lives
and yielded more results each year. It has also been the seed from which multiple
opportunities for students have grown, including and perhaps most immediately
impactful for us – the Watlow Scholars Award. Cor Jesu stays in close contact with PARTNERS
the recipients of this scholarship, and their individual stories are not only inspiring,
they validate the very foundation of this initiative. The efforts we began five years
ago are truly changing lives!”
– Melissa Lanham, Senior Project Engineer, Watlow
Initiative
EXP Medical Immersion Day – Saint Louis University Hospital, November 2016
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We’re putting more “SPIRIT” into Spirit! From the Explore Select the CorJesu Tap the view icon
To see your Spirit magazine come to life, menu, touch the Public Auras option
download the free Aurasma App for magnifying glass and and then select (center icon
Android or iPhone. search for CorJesu. FOLLOWING. You on bottom row) and
should see the circle point your device on
change from an open any page where you
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Corporate Partners Initiative PROGRAMS FOR STUDENTS of scientific hands-on learning. By STUDENT PROFIlE:
and watch working directly with a professional Olivia Collier ’17 | Emma Collier ’18
the page come to life!
mentor from industry and academic
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By expanding beyond classroom constraints and opening doors to hands- EXP : Exposure, sectors, students choose a topic, write Looking toward the future and considering possible career paths can be both exhilarating and
overwhelming for high school students. That’s one of the many reasons why Cor Jesu launched
on learning and future career discovery, the original team of those 10 Experience, Exploration a research proposal, perform their own the CPI program: to provide our students with hands-on opportunities that allow them to explore
professionals in 2013 has grown five-fold to nearly 50 corporations and In November 2014, Cor Jesu launched research and process data. Each par- and discover their interests and passions as they relate to potential careers, before they start col-
lege. That’s also why two sisters, Olivia ’17 and Emma ’18 Collier – with encouragement from their
. organizations today. By providing expertise, experience-based learning and its second career-exploration program ticipant is required to enter her project parents, Jeff and Pam Sorich Collier ’90 – jumped on board when they learned about two of the
a shared mission with Cor Jesu, CpI programs provide students with myriad for students at every grade level. The in the Honors Division of the St. Louis CPI programs offered.
“S.E.E. Week helped me figure out what I like and narrow down my future,” Emma, a junior, stated.
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opportunities that will: EXP (Exposure, Experience, Explora- Science Fair and present her research Mulling over engineering as a possible career option, she took part in S.E.E. two years ago, when
tion) program allows Cor Jesu students at various area symposia. the students explored a Peabody Coal mine in Indiana.
• help direct them to the right fit for their gifts and passions; to choose from among a growing list Over the past few years, academic “It was cool to be there and walk around the mine, but it made Olivia
• allow them to make educated choices about the college and major(s) of careers in corporations, professional and industry partners – SSM St. Joseph me realize that I like business more than science.” With the Col-
liers owning a FastSigns franchise, that instinct for numbers and
they will eventually pursue; practices and non-profit organizations Health Center, Washington Univer- accounting felt very natural for Emma. So, this past November,
and spend a full day immersed in that sity in St. Louis, and Watlow – have she signed up for EXP at RubinBrown to gain another perspec-
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• provide a springboard to other self-directed student opportunities; career experience – interacting with partnered with Cor Jesu to outfit the tive on the business front. “They taught us about different areas
in business and how they are integrated, like accounting and
• open doors for internship and employment offerings. professionals, participating in hands- Independent Science Research lab business consulting. That was really interesting to me.”
on activities and learning about the with state-of-the-art equipment that is For Olivia, a senior who always wanted to be a doctor but also
academic and professional paths the exceptional in a high school environ- considered mechanical engineering, the opportunities she ex-
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Summer Engineering Experience (S.E.E.) sponsors have taken to arrive at their ment. Student mentors include profes- perienced through EXP Medical Immersion Days and at Boeing,
as well as those through S.E.E. Week, helped her discover where
current position. The day is held each sionals from Danforth Plant Science her true passion lies.
The first CPI program to make its debut was the Summer Engineering Experience Center, Enterprise Holdings, Monsan- “The S.E.E. Week and going to Boeing with EXP were helpful for
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(S.E.E.), which is designed specifically for 20 rising juniors and seniors to survey year on the Monday following Cor to, Panera and Washington University. looking at engineering and what engineers do, but I realized
various engineering specialties. Held each June since 2014, corporate partners Jesu’s Open House. it wasn’t for me,” Olivia acknowledged. “I have a lot of energy emma
within the engineering industry team together to give participating students the Courses and Cocurriculars COCuRRICuLARS and know that I don’t want a desk job. I loved biology labs and
anatomy class, so looking into medicine made sense to me.”
opportunity to spend five days discovering and exploring within a wide variety of Students have multiple opportuni- After partaking in the CPI programs, Olivia was given the oppor-
engineering disciplines. Each day, Monday-Thursday, offers a different industry INDEPENDENT SCIENCE ties to pursue possible career interests tunity to shadow Dr. Scott Martin after a shared CJ Appalachian
focus, immersing students at various sites into activities reflective of that focus RESEARCH through cocurriculars, such as the Service experience. That connection, following the CPI experi-
ences, helped “push me toward medicine,” Olivia said.
and the varied engineering disciplines involved therein. The week concludes For the past few decades, the Indepen- Coding Club, mock Trial Team and ro- “Participating in the [CPI] programs made it a lot easier to under-
back at Cor Jesu with a team of participating professionals and CJ STEM faculty, dent Science Research (ISR) honors botics Team. These clubs are facilitated stand where I’d fit best,” she continued. “If I hadn’t done them, I
who help facilitate student discussion/presentations about the material they have course has offered juniors and seniors, by professionals, who bring their work might still be thinking about engineering and not medicine.”
learned and what conclusions – about the field of engineering and about them- who possess a strong interest in pur- experience and insights to students for Instead, Olivia will be heading to Rockhurst university this com-
selves – can be drawn and applied to Cor Jesu’s mission to transform the world. suing science as a career, a solid base in-depth understanding. ing fall to pursue a degree in the field that she discovered – as
a high school student – fits her best. Going in as a Pre-Medical
Scholar, it looks like Olivia chose wisely.
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