District Considering Partnership With Henkel Corp.

The district is investigating the possibility of a cooperative arrangement with Henkel Corporation, in Bridgewater, which would create the opportunity for partnerships between the company and Bridgewater-Raritan High School.

Board member Evan Lerner said he and other board members recently had an extensive tour of the company's building and spoke with representatives about what they could do to benefit the students.

“We have two large institutions to form a relationship to help the kids, and have their people do community service,” he said.

The next step, Lerner said, is to have the members of the corporation take a tour of the high school.

“We are going to try to figure out simple ways to get the ball rolling,” he said.

Discussions, Lerner said, have included having Henkel Corporation host a job fair to discuss with students the kinds of jobs they could look for, as well as having students volunteer in the different divisions of the company.

“We could also bring subject matter people in to have some kind of talk, and have the kids learn about where different concepts they learned in school are being used,” he said. “Maybe we can do something like that at the primary level too.”

In Bridgewater, Lerner said, the company’s primary product is a variety of adhesives.

“They study sustainability, and much of their goal in creating new products is a result of environmental pressure,” he said.

Bridgewater-Raritan High School senior Ryan Pearce said he thinks the program, particularly a job fair, would be especially beneficial for juniors.

“I think something targeted to juniors would help because they can find out what they like to do and see what majors suit them,” he said. “The earlier it is done, the better.”

What are your thoughts on bringing in a corporation to partner with the high school?