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Illinois School District U-46 Awards over 600 NCRCs
School District U-46, in conjunction with Education for Employment (EFE) Region 110 consisting of many area school districts and Elgin Community College, held a National Career Readiness Certification (NCRC) Celebration reception for students who received the NCRC in May. School District U-46 is located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago and is the second largest school district in Illinois serving five high schools. In addition to recognizing students who have attained their NCRC certification, the event provided an open house for students and parents to network with local employers who accept NCRC certification.
Speakers at the event included Dr. José M. Torres, Superintendent of School District U-46, Dr. David Sam, President of Elgin Chamber of Commerce, and Patrick Hayes, owner of Fabric Images. This year, 619 U-46 students received their National Career Readiness Certification, a dramatic increase from prior years. To earn the certification, students voluntarily take a third WorkKeys test beyond the two tests required on the Prairie State Achievement Examination (PSAE). The WorkKeys tests necessary to achieve an NCRC are: Reading for Information, Applied Mathematics, and Locating Information. Students are awarded certificates of bronze, silver, gold or platinum level based on their skills and achievement on the three WorkKeys tests.
Carol DePue, Career and Technical Education Coordinator said "The NCRC initiative in Elgin, 1,500 NCRC recipients to date, has created an opportunity for education, business, and government to partner at the local, regional, state, and national level to ensure that we are preparing a highly qualified future workforce armed with a credential that validates specific Reading for Information, Applied Math, and Locating Information skill level achievement."
Platinum certification, new this year, is achieved by earning a score of level 6 or above on the Reading for Information, Applied Math, and Locating Information WorkKeys tests. This level of achievement is only accomplished by one percent of persons nationally and qualifies the recipient for all identified entry level positions as profiled by ACT. Four U-46 seniors received their Platinum Level NCRC for 2010, including:
1) South Elgin High School Andrew Boston
2) Bartlett High School Courtney Bernat Christopher Fry
3) Streamwood High School Katherine Villena
Several local employers recruiting students at the NCRC reception included Agency Staffing, Fabric Images, Krisdee & Associates, Hendricksen, Arthur J. Rogers & Company, Books at Sunset, and Hoffer Plastics.
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