The South Jersey Summer Institute for Educators was started in 1992 to help the education community keep pace with the changes that have occurred in the regional business community, and to give educators the tools to better prepare the future workforce – their students. Now in its 29th year, the Institute will be different than in previous years as the South Jersey Chamber Foundation, the nonprofit entity of the Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey (CCSNJ), continues to monitor the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

The goal of the Institute is to build a link between the business and education communities by: familiarizing teachers with key economic, business and public policy issues that impact business and industry; providing teachers with a better understanding of the skills and characteristics their students will need to be successful in the workforce; and, involving participants in team projects to develop curriculum that incorporates the lessons of the Institute in the classroom.

The Institute takes a truly unique approach to better preparing the future workforce by targeting educators, who can reach hundreds of students each year, with the lessons necessary to make their students successful in the workplace. This year, 15 educators who teach grades 7 – 12 in schools from throughout Southern New Jersey will participate in the Summer Institute. In its 28 year history, the Institute has graduated 623 teachers from dozens of schools throughout southern New Jersey, who we estimate have reached more than sixty thousand students with the messages they learned in the Institute. The business community ultimately benefits by having a pool of better prepared workers.