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Strong leadership yields strong partnerships for New Jersey’s county vocational-technical schools

March 28, 2022

Jackie Burke Fostering PartnersipsAs NJCCVTS Executive Director, Jackie Burke is the point person for the critical collaboration that connects businesses with county vocational-technical schools. Those schools thrive with the support of over 3,500 active business partnerships that include companies, small business, government agencies and unions.

“The role our local business partners play in the success of our schools cannot be overstated,” Burke explained. “They are the reason our schools can proactively prepare students for the economic needs of the state and can create a critical pipeline of well trained graduates for employers as they struggle to find qualified workers.

Burke was recognized in March 2022 as a strong leader among ROI-NJ’s Women in Business influencers, a testament to her success as an advocate for career and technical education (CTE) programs statewide. Her determination helped pass the Securing Our Children’s Future Bond while promoting the value of CTE. Today, those funds are enabling New Jersey county vocational-technical school districts to expand programming and classroom capacity. As Burke’s time with the council has grown, so has the number of valuable business partnerships she has helped form.

With thousands of already established partnerships and many more forming in the future, a mutually beneficial relationship exists between county vocational-technical schools and the businesses providing them with mentors, classroom lecturers, employers, and advisors. The council’s efforts, led by Burke, encourage businesses to become business partners, and are at the root of a strengthening statewide workforce.

Burke was also recognized in February as an ROI-NJ Influencer under the category of Associations & Organizations. She was additionally recognized in May as an ROI-NJ Influencer for Manufacturing 2022.

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The Burlington County Institute of Technology in Medford recently unveiled its renovated welding and heating, ventilation and cooling system shops, and a new video game design lab. About 17 miles down the road, the Camden County Technical School’s Pennsauken Campus expanded its culinary arts program. These are just two projects across the state that have benefitted from a 2018 bond measure that appropriated $275 million to expand county vocational schools and their programs.

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When 17-year-old Eric Mora Jimenez arrived in the United States in 2016 from his native Dominican Republic, he spoke little English and enrolled in a fourth-grade ESL course in the Camden City School District. Jimenez, who still lives in the city, will graduate in June with a 4.0 grade-point average at the Gloucester Township campus of Camden County Technical Schools and pick up an associate’s degree he earned at Camden County College while in high school.

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