Workforce integrity and integration:An interview with Ulster BOCES District Superintendent & Chief Executive Officer Dr. Jonah Schenker

Ulster BOCES District Superintendent & Chief Executive Officer Dr. Jonah Schenker

By Zac Shaw for Ulster Strong

As Ulster County’s economy evolves, Ulster BOCES is at the forefront of fortifying our area’s workforce resilience. Local businesses grappling with staffing challenges and ever-changing skill sets will be encouraged to know BOCES is hard at work bridging the gaps between education and employers. 

Ulster BOCES President Dr. Jonah Schenker says his organization’s work starts with a philosophy of “belonging, equity and access.”

“These concepts don’t work in isolation. When students connect through experiences, internships, externships, and relationships with the community, they begin to see themselves as viable contributors—part of the fabric of the community. Then they can earn a living wage, become homeowners, and help break cycles of poverty. We want to move students from low-wage, high-churn jobs to stable, middle- or high-income careers. That’s our overarching approach.”

To develop not only the technical but also the foundational skills employees need to thrive in the modern economy, BOCES has shifted from siloed vocational training to broader economic development areas.

“For example, rather than isolating Electrical, HVAC, Carpentry, we think of it as ‘Building Arts,’ and within that, everyone needs proficiency in sustainability, clean energy, business basics, safety, and so on,” he says. “Of course, each area has its unique technical skills, but the core set of professional and interpersonal skills—like teamwork, creativity, communication, leadership—applies no matter what students ultimately pursue.

“We hear from industry partners that while basic technical skills are great, they change rapidly. They need students who are self-directed, coachable, and able to work in teams. Those qualities make them trainable for whatever technology or processes a business uses.”

Schenker says part of what makes it difficult to link students to local employment opportunities is that the process often relies on “one-on-one relationships” with family and friends, guidance counselors, and other “personal and situational” connections.

“We exist to connect public school districts, private sector partners, and state resources in the most efficient, economical way possible, ensuring access to all students,” he says. “If we embraced that model fully for workforce and economic development, we’d have a foundation that supports every student’s pathway… My hope is to build this cohesive network so we can ensure that every student has access to these opportunities.”

An important part of building that network has been to work closely with industry partners to identify regional staffing needs and deeply understand the unique workforce dynamics at play within each business sector. To this end, Schenker encourages area businesses to reach out to BOCES to communicate their needs openly in whatever way works for them.

"If a business wants to serve on a steering committee and help design projects or come in to interact with students, that’s great. If they prefer to host interns, that’s also great. If all they can do is a quick Zoom call to talk about their field, we welcome that too. We want an ongoing infrastructure that keeps industry, the workforce, and the community at the table as partners in designing and evolving our approach to teaching, learning, and curriculum content.”

Central to these efforts is BOCES’ Future Ready Center, where coordinators work with students, industry partners and community organizations to handle things like job placements, internships, and industry engagement, “making sure these real-world experiences inform our classroom projects.”

This integrated approach is scaling rapidly to meet workforce demands, including the development of a new 110,000 square foot Ulster BOCES facility at iPark 87. There, students will learn side-by-side with actual industry, in what Schenker hopes will be a “lighthouse” for collaboration between educators and employers.

Schenker encouraged local businesses to participate in developing a stronger workforce by connecting with BOCES’ Assistant Principal of Career and Technical Education scasa@ulsterboces.org or 845-331-6680 ext. 2825. A detailed overview of BOCES’ workforce efforts can be found at ulsterboces.org.