Visiting members of Southern Westchester BOCES’ legislative delegations and other dignitaries received a firsthand look at multiple programs and heard directly from students and teachers Thursday as the Center for Career Services hosted the annual Legislative/Advocacy Breakfast.

Guests at the Southern Westchester BOCES/BOCES Teachers Association event toured a range of programs offered by the Centers for Special Services, Adult & Community Services and Career Services.

“There’s been a lot of talk lately about artificial intelligence and there is a lot of fear about what AI may or may not do to the future job market,” said John Filiberti, SWBOCES’ Board of Education President. “Our students who are becoming carpenters, plumbers, electricians, sheet metal workers, iron workers, who are working on HVAC systems, they are not going to be afraid. They will come out of these training programs and move into employment opportunities that pay very, very well. And they are going to be ready.

Attendees included Congressman George Latimer, Assemblymembers Dana Levenberg and Chris Burdick, and county legislators Jenn Puja and Anant Nambiar. Representatives from the offices of State Senators Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Shelley Mayer; Assemblymembers Steve Otis and Amy Paulin; County Executive Ken Jenkins; and county legislator Nancy Barr were also on hand.

The breakfast was prepared and served by members of the Culinary Arts program. Chef John Damiani seized a moment to recognize his students past and present, highlighting the many roles they already fill at restaurants and on staff at country clubs in the region.

One of those students, Dawson Matthews, served as a student speaker and credited his training for a summer job at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale and his student-owned catering business “Faith and Flavor.”

“These programs and the people who run them are the reason why I have so much confidence in my future,” said Matthews, who is also a senior at New Rochelle High School. “By continuing to support and upgrade CTE programs like Culinary, it will produce more people who are ready to take on the job market and develop into future leaders in their industries.”

SWBOCES District Superintendent Dr. Harold A. Coles, Chief Operating Officer/Deputy District Superintendent Dr. Brendan Lyons, NYSUT Executive Vice President Jaime Ciffone and BOCES Teachers Association President Mairead Schuelein also spoke, each underscoring the importance of continued support for BOCES programs.

During the campus tours, the visitors received a look at hands-on learning underway, from pipe fitting in HVAC to Culinary students rolling pizza dough and counterparts in Animal Science caring for their rats.

“If you talk to some of the students here, the leadership skills they acquire are things that are lifelong — and it all starts with their interaction with their teachers and looking at how they develop their skills,” Dr. Coles said. “I want to make sure you are aware that this is the future of education, and we are in the middle of accomplishing that right now.”

As Filiberti noted, the enrollment at Career Services has doubled in the last decade to over 900 students this school year.