How to get Involved in Aim Higher

• How to get involved
• Benefits for businesses
• Business Document

Are you an employer who needs better skilled workers for the next century? Do you think you lack the time and/or financial resources to make a meaningful difference for students and teachers? Imagine having a dream team that will help your business prosper and grow. You now are being given the opportunity to make it happen. Here at the Western Quebec School Board (WQSB) we will enable you as the employer to make contact with some of the most talented students in Quebec. We offer an opportunity for you to participate in an initiative in the WQSB called Aim Higher. This initiative provides vital links between school, post secondary institutions and the world of work. Active involvement from you as the business is critical, not only to develop on the job learning for students but also to prepare a future workforce that will make Canada more economically competitive in the future.

Aim Higher Mission Statement:

“Aim Higher has been developed to raise educational standards by building alliances of mutual benefit between education, business and the wider community. The program aims to equip students with the information and employability skills needed to make successful transitions from High School to Post-secondary education and/or the workforce.”

Employers will play a vital role in deciding the standards for the Aim Higher program. The Aim Higher program is voluntary for our students, which ensures that participants are highly motivated and enthusiastic. The interview process of which the students are selected for a work placement will give you “the business” an opportunity to accept the applicant of your choice. It will also give you the opportunity to provide training, which can be more specifically targeted to your own business needs. The Aim Higher program fosters many work based learning activity opportunities for businesses and agencies to partner with educators. These opportunities include:

• Business/classroom partnerships.
• Field trip opportunities to students.
• Work experience opportunities to students.
• Structured Workplace Learning (SWL) programs to students.

How to get Involved

If you would like to get involved and become a member in the Aim Higher initiative please click here.

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Benefits for Businesses

It will give you, the business, an opportunity to provide training, which can be more specifically targeted to your own needs. Employee skills are becoming increasingly important in the face of globalization, technological change, trade liberalization, deregulation and other external pressures, therefore:

1. Increase the productivity of your business

   What company doesn’t aim for better productivity? In today’s competitive business environment, productivity is a vital factor to a companies performance and engaging with students play’s a key role.
    

2. Increase your employee skill base

   Involving students in the workplace helps your business achieve a flexible workforce and grows your skill base by sharpening the skills of existing staff who act as supervisors.
    

3. Solve any current recruitment problems

   Finding good quality staff is always difficult not to mention costly. Student work placements can give businesses a head start in recruitment.

   • Partnering will give you the opportunity to invest in training your future workforce.
   • Be a leader in creating the solution to workforce preparation needs.
   • To upgrade the quality of education in your community, which in turn will attract new business opportunities.
   • To provide public relations exposure for your company to the surrounding community.



4. Gain personal satisfaction – the feel good factor

   Employees keep citing the feel good factor as one of the most important rewards of student work placements.
    

5. Give your corporate reputation an edge

   Many companies have improved their image by supporting schools and students.
    

   • Partnering with “Aim Higher” will improve your image as an organization – you will be seen as actively involved in the quality of the community as a whole, therefore providing public relations exposure.
   • Partnering will increase local networking opportunities for you influencing the community.
   • Educators will be made aware of your interests and expectations.



6. Boost the bottom line

   Improving the bottom line is a collateral benefit of employing students.

   The above benefits have been adapted from the “Enterprise & Career Education Foundation” Australia

To have all the benefits of this site and opportunities to partner with the Western Quebec School Board you should be registered. It is free to register, all you need to do is click on the ‘register button’ below and enter your name and contact details.

* If you would like to find more information on the Aim Higher program you can either email mydestiny@wqsb.qc.ca or for a information booklet click on the links above:

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