Congratuations to Erin Sweeney  & Antonio Valla  

Erin Sweeney (HKS '07) and Antonio Valla (GSD '08) each came to Newark over five years ago, Erin to return to the urban nonprofit sector after a stint in the Foreign Service, and Antonio to continue his dream work as an urban planner; each fell quickly and deeply in love with Newark. Antonio was first to connect with GlassRoots, an incredible nonprofit glass art studio that uses the power of fire and glass to transform lives, especially those of Newark youth. A year after joining the Board, Antonio introduced Erin to the organization and they have each been devoted volunteers and supporters of GlassRoots ever since.

GlassRoots is more than an art studio; it is an organization that has been changing the lives of thousands of youth, young adults, and adults since its start 15 years ago. GlassRoots uses various types of glass art methods to teach students not only about self expression and creativity, but about business, entrepreneurship, teamwork, patience, persistence, and much more. As volunteers and Board members, Erin and Antonio work countless hours each month assisting the organization. The highlight for both of them is whenever they teach career or life skill sessions to students in the programs.
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Erin says, "It has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life to watch our students grow in front of our eyes from timid, self-conscious, unsure teenagers into confident, proud, and motivated young adults. GlassRoots changes lives every day and is a true force for transformation, not only for our youth, but for the greater Newark community."

November and the first week of December were very busy for the apprentices in the Varis Program.  Students had a number of site visits:

• Eastern MillWorks  - wood crafting manufacturer in Jersey City.  This visit, hosted by NJIT presented a state-of-the-art- manufacturing shop floor featuring cutting edge design and engineering efficiency; high tech machines guided by skilled personnel largely trained on the shop floor.  Eastern Millworks is responsible for many stunning wood installations including theaters at Lincoln Center.
• Q Glass – Former instructor Bob Suplicki and owner, Dan Dottorich offered a tour of the shop floor, exposure to new and classic equipment, and quality control demonstrations. Each student had an opportunity to speak with workers there and to use an industrial lathe to build a piece of glassware. 
• NJIT – Organized a discussion and presentation with the executive director of Student Career Services on resume writing, interviewing and networking for manufacturing jobs.  NJIT has provided ongoing access to their career resources.
• Markel Fine Arts – NYC.  Kathy hosted a visit to her gallery and tour of galleries in the Chelsea district.  This was useful to build and understanding of how the art market works.  Importantly, Kathy pointed out how many artists earn their living in related fields (gallery management, curation, etc.) as they pursue their passion.
• Salem Community College – 4 students were able to travel for a day of scientific glass at Salem. Each student was able to work on an individual torch alongside first and second year students at Salem.  Dennis Briening taught making glass coils, tube offsets, bubbles, bends and a variety of seals.  He was impressed by the skills demonstrated by our students.  Several students are interested in continuing in glass at Salem. All that are able will attend the International Flameworking Conference in March 2017.  Each student is aware of the networking possibilities offered by this conference and will prepare accordingly.

As the program comes to an end, we’re looking at employment opportunities.  Each student will have an up-to-date resume upon completion of the program.  We will provide a resume book to potential employers including United Silica, Precision Engineered Glass,  Eastern Millworks and other companies.  With the help of staff at NJIT, some students will apply to PSEG’s mechanic’s assistant position.  One student is being considered for part time employment in the glassblowing shop of Rutgers University. 

Following the presentation by NJIT, we will conduct job search on the new CareersConnectionNJ website of the NJ Department of Labor for both glass and related manufacturing employment.  According to Ray Vaccari, the head of the manufacturing talent network, there are many openings and companies struggle to fill them.  Finally, a number of positions have been listed on the ASGS employment board that we will explore. 

From the earliest days of the program, we have emphasized the need to be willing to move for work in scientific glass.  At least one of our students will consider moving. All of the students are aware that the vast majority of jobs are obtained through networking and word of mouth.  They will seek information interviews to jumpstart this process post-graduation.  Students created LinkedIn pages as a part of the program.

We continue to work on freelance production opportunities and the students have learned to make the vial pendants that may be commissioned by Aspiring Artists of the Earth and spreader tools used in the biology and life sciences departments of local university labs.

Funding for this session of the Varis Scientific Glass Apprenticeship Training Program was provided by the Agnes Varis Charitable Trust, and by the M & T Bank Foundation.  We are grateful for the support of these two organizations.
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Graduation is scheduled for December 15th at 4pm at GlassRoots.  Graduates will invite friends and family to this festive event.  They will receive their certificates of completion from GlassRoots, and the American Scientific Glassblowers Society via Mike Souza.  

Upon completion of the GlassRoots-Penland Collaborative “launch week, six students officially completed the first offering of this new exciting program. Two of the students have already reported their admission to Rutgers and we anticipate hearing about the other students who applied. In addition to college applications, students completed resumes, biographies, and cover letters for future jobs. Throughout the week students worked with Emma Stein and other staff, photographing the work they completed from Penland -- they even had extra time for students to study and take their drivers written test. The culmination of their experience was a show that students curated together and had a wonderful opening where images they took while at Penland were displayed. Students will now be on their way with pursuing a college career and having regular check-ins with GlassRoots and studio time every month. We are all very proud of the students for having completed this 9 credit program and look forward to seeing how this experience will shape their futures.