The Northeast PA Manufacturers & Employers Council celebrated a year of growth and achievement in its Your Employability Skills (YES) Program, recognizing hundreds of high school students during the annual YES Recognition Breakfast. Held at St. Nicholas Hall, the event brought together educators, employers, lawmakers, and community leaders to honor the students’ accomplishments and highlight the program’s expanding footprint across Pennsylvania.
Now in its 19th year, the YES Program has evolved into a statewide model for workforce development, bridging the gap between high school education and employer expectations. Offered in 20 schools during the 2024–25 school year, the program enrolled 932 students, with 184 earning YES Certificates—a credential indicating the student has met rigorous benchmarks in attendance, professionalism, drug-free commitment, and essential workplace competencies.
Students in the YES Program complete a structured 120-hour curriculum designed to develop both soft skills and job readiness. The course covers 38 modules ranging from conflict resolution and time management to workplace ethics and career exploration. Rather than relying on the traditional lecture-quiz, lecture-test model that has become common in many classrooms, the program is intentionally hands-on and project-based, emphasizing real-world application over rote memorization. Students participate in business tours, mock interviews, and interactive activities that simulate workplace scenarios—giving them the chance to practice and refine their skills in a practical setting. Each component is crafted to mirror employer expectations, helping students build the confidence, communication skills, and experience they’ll need to thrive in the ‘real world’ after graduation.
The YES Certificate is more than symbolic. It represents hours of curriculum covering communication, team effectiveness, personal finance, problem-solving, résumé and cover letter writing, and job interview preparation. Graduates of the program leave with concrete skills and real-world experiences that prepare them for postsecondary education, technical training, or immediate entry into the workforce.
To earn the YES Certificate, students must successfully complete 120 hours of in-class instruction, pass a six-panel drug screening, score at a qualifying level on both the TABE and Wonderlic assessments, maintain a minimum attendance rate of 95%, and earn their high school diploma. These benchmarks ensure that YES graduates are not only knowledgeable, but also demonstrate the responsibility and reliability employers seek.
This year’s cohort marked a record-setting milestone in mock interview participation, with over 500 students from seven schools completing in-depth, one-on-one interviews conducted by more than 50 local professionals. Each student prepared a résumé and cover letter, and engaged in interviews aligned to their career interests—making the experience personalized, practical, and deeply relevant. This milestone reflects the program’s growing network of business partners and its commitment to high-quality experiential learning.
Beyond the classroom, YES students participated in 20 facility tours with local employers, contributing to a cumulative total of 681 business tours since the program’s launch in 2006. These hands-on experiences continue to reinforce the program’s core mission: to prepare students for success by exposing them to real career paths in industries ranging from healthcare and logistics to manufacturing and engineering.
The Council’s postsecondary partnerships also remain strong. Penn State University has now awarded 249 scholarships totaling $249,000 to YES graduates attending the Hazleton or Schuylkill campuses. Pennsylvania College of Technology, now in its sixth year of partnership, offers a $2,000 renewable scholarship to YES Certificate holders and has awarded 25 scholarships to date. Johnson College also provides a $1,000 scholarship and four academic credits through its prior learning assessment initiative, recognizing the value of the skills acquired through the YES Program.
With nearly 500 employers across Pennsylvania offering preferred interviews to YES graduates, the program continues to generate momentum as a workforce development success story—one that not only prepares students, but also helps local businesses find their next great hire.
One district that stood out during the 2024–25 school year was Minersville Area High School, which produced a record-breaking 46 YES Certificate recipients—the largest graduating class from a single school in the program’s history.
Led by YES instructor Morgan Houser, Minersville’s program exemplified how classroom instruction, real-world application, and creative project-based learning can intersect to drive student success. Throughout the year, students completed the full YES curriculum while engaging in dynamic activities that challenged their critical thinking, teamwork, and financial literacy.
A highlight of the program was the Shark Tank Project, part of the Customer Service and Entrepreneurship units. Students selected two random words from a basket and developed a business or product from the pairing. Each team calculated production costs, assessed competitors, structured an investment proposal, and presented to a panel of volunteer teachers who acted as potential investors. Presentations required students to defend their concepts, negotiate terms, and think on their feet—all essential soft skills for the modern workplace.
In the Team Effectiveness unit, students took part in a Scavenger Hunt activity with a twist. A classroom item was “stolen,” and suspects—played by faculty, administrators, and returning YES students—each told scripted stories containing subtle clues. Over two days, students had to question each suspect, piece together inconsistencies, and arrive at a consensus on who possessed the missing item. Correct guesses earned a bonus point ticket usable on future assignments, rewarding careful listening and teamwork.
Financial literacy was brought to life in the Zillow Project, where students chose a home listed on Zillow and walked through the full buying process, including mortgage estimates with both 10% and 20% down payments. They then pitched the home to classmates as if they were real estate agents, integrating public speaking, personal finance, and practical math into a single comprehensive exercise.
The semester concluded with the Financial Football Super Bowl Bracket, a multi-week tournament that tested students’ financial knowledge using the Financial Football online game. Students selected NFL teams to represent them, studied trivia for two weeks, and advanced through bracket rounds leading up to a celebratory Super Bowl party. The final two teams competed for custom 3D-printed championship rings—gold for first place, silver for second—created by students in the school’s new Engineering program.
Minersville students also played a leading role in the YES Recognition Breakfast itself, with Camryn Colna and Lydia Harris delivering powerful testimonies on how the program shaped their confidence and postsecondary goals. Their stories reflected the dedication, growth, and talent of a class that not only set a participation record but demonstrated what the YES Program is designed to achieve: real skills, real preparation, and real opportunity.
As the 2024–25 school year draws to a close, the continued growth and success of the YES Program stand as a testament to what’s possible when education, business, and community come together with purpose. With record-breaking participation, innovative classroom experiences, and a growing network of employers and postsecondary partners, the program is not only preparing students for life beyond high school—it’s actively shaping the future of Pennsylvania’s workforce. The achievements of this year’s graduates, especially those from standout programs like Minersville, reflect a generation ready to lead, adapt, and thrive in a rapidly changing world.
2025 YES Graduates
