Relationships Create Opportunities

The power of relationships is the key to BB2C’s work. We foster relationships between schools, businesses, and communities to inspire career choice. But sometimes, it’s our own relationships that can lead to greater things. The synergy that developed between three public school teachers in Appalachia Ohio is a great example.

Jacqueline Yahn and Allison Ricket first met as brand new public school teachers. Jaqueline and Tasha Werry met as Ohio University doctoral students. And Tasha and Allison met when they both spoke at Marietta College during a student-led women empowerment event. 

Allison became involved with BB2C through our Real World Problem Scenario program as a public school teacher at Athens City School District. Jacqueline was able to observe Allison's involvement with BB2C’s program. As Jacqueline moved into higher education and started teaching future teachers through Ohio University’s education program, she reached out to Tasha and Allison to explore how to prepare her student teachers to engage their future students in Community and Career Connected Learning.

While BB2C has traditionally offered professional development opportunities to current educators, engaging them in our Real World Problem Scenario program and assisting them in bringing the program to their classrooms, Jacqueline saw the potential of bringing the program to her student teachers before they became educators. Doing so left a strong impression on her students. So much so that she was nominated for, and received, Ohio University’s 2022-2023 University Professor award for outstanding teaching. 

Jacqueline shares that her partnership with BB2C and her ability to bring Community and Career Connect Learning into her classroom has been a large part of her success. Her Ohio University Experts page talks about the power of the partnership she has forged with BB2C and how she uses it to better prepare her student teachers:

Yahn partners with Building Bridges to Careers (BB2C) a 501c(3) based in Marietta, Ohio which provides programming that connects P-12 learners to Community and Career Connected Learning opportunities. This learning system integrates community partnerships and career awareness into experiential, place-based learning. It intentionally disrupts threats to the viability of rural communities and rural schools by forming connections between educational institutions and communities that build the social capital of participants engaged in this form of learning. Yahn’s BB2C partnership includes the OHIO Rural Teacher Fellowship Pilot and a research network.

Community and Career Connected Learning has been a great connector for her passions, which include education, teaching, Appalachia, and rural communities & schools. Watching her bring this concept to life to support both students and communities highlights what happens when things, or people, come together. Whether it’s bringing students, businesses, and communities together in a classroom or bringing three educators together who are passionate about Appalachia, rural schools, and student career exploration, relationships matter. And those relationships can lead to amazing things…something we strive to teach the students we work with.