May 22, 2009

ITHACA -- Everyone's talking about green jobs in this economy, and teachers are learning to prepare their students for a green world.
     The New York State Labor Commissioner Patricia Smith said Thursday that more employers are providing green job training these days.
     “For younger people going into that field, there are entry-level jobs, but they are jobs that have good career paths,” said Smith.
     So on Friday, teachers learned how to teach green at the Finger Lakes Project Workshop at Ithaca College.
     “We realize that there are going to be more jobs in the green economy coming forward,” said IC professor Susan Swensen.
     Swensen says sustainability is about more than just the environment.
     “Unless we deal with social issues and economical issues we're facing because of environmental change, then we're really not addressing the issue of sustainability,” she said.
     St. Bonaventure professor Darryl Mayeaux says his students are catching on to the green movement.
     “I would hope what they take away from my classes would be the perspective of wherever I go I have to make it a green job, even if it's not advertised as a green job,” said Mayeaux.
     A grant from HSBC Bank helped fund the workshop.