Sixteen new titles will be launched this fall, including Managing Your Money, Getting on the Internet, Using Your First PC and Getting Out of Debt . No mention yet of a Cliffs Notes guide to managing an ERP implementation or Y2K remediation, but we'll keep hoping. In Kansas City, Mo., a transition system linking schools with businesses may offer a salve for staffing crisis wounds. The program, the brainchild of the Kansas City Civic Council, began in 1992 as a way for students and teachers to explore workplaces outside of school during the summer months but has since expanded to include the school year. In return, students work at internships, both paid and nonpaid, and help create a more prepared local workforce for the future.
Participants range from kindergartners to high school students.
Activities for young children emphasize awareness of the variety of jobs that are out there by taking kids on tours of work environments and visiting their parents' workplaces. As children get older, participation takes on an exploratory approach, allowing students to job-shadow and spend time as interns. Kansas City boasts a low unemployment rate, which is good news for the economy but bad news for technology companies. And many of them are finding that they like it. One student became so involved in his internship at a local business that he made his family come back early from a fishing trip so that he could finish the Web page he was building for the company.