Henkel Partnership Could Include Work for BRHS Students

The district is moving forward with a collaboration with Henkel Corporation to offer real-world opportunities to students at Bridgewater-Raritan High School.

The Henkel team recently toured the high school, and saw how several different classes work.

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.

“They were blown away by the high school,” said Superintendent of Schools Michael Schilder. “They were impressed by the offerings and deportment of the students. We made sure they were there when classes were changing to see all 2,800 students changing classes.”

In Bridgewater, Henkel’s primary product is a variety of adhesives, and they study sustainability.

Previous discussions for a partnership 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.

At this point, Schilder said, they are trying to get a couple classes from the industrial tech department to go to Henkel, as well as some from the science department.

“And we want to take advantage of some of their employees coming over,” he said.

Schilder said there are some possibilities they are working on now, although it is difficult at this time of year because of testing and graduation.

Board president Patrick Breslin said the community has always enjoyed support from businesses within Bridgewater.

“This particular exercise is opening up an opportunity for a partnership that far exceeds anything else we’ve done, and could benefit an extraordinary number of high school students,” he said. “It is a really exciting thing that is getting underway. Hopefully we will be taking larger steps throughout the next year.”