Energized by strides made over the past few years, organizers of the School-to-Career movement of Nassau County this week honored their best and brightest education and business leaders.

The movement, which seeks to make a stronger connection between what students learn in school and the skills that they will need in the workplace, is built on partnerships between schools, businesses and other community players. It was hatched in the county in 1995, spurred by a need for skilled labor that arose as Long Island's economy climbed out of a recession. Now, as Long Island businesses seek to fill a void of skilled workers in a booming, full-employment economy, the movement is gaining greater momentum, as evidenced by a healthy turnout at the awards ceremony, held Monday at the Long Island Marriott, Uniondale.

Collaboration is key to the School-to-Work movement, as those involved seek to engage students in internships, mentoring programs, and other forms and life skills and career training that will better prepare them for the world of work. The award recipients represented a broad spectrum of organizations involved in that collaboration throughout Long Island.

Those honored were: Gerard W. Dempsey, Jr., superintendent of Farmingdale Schools and member of the LI Works Regional Advisory Board - Educational Visionary Award; Duane Albro, vice president for Regional Suburban Markets for Bell Atlantic - Corporate Leadership Award; Alan Granat, president, Artisan Columbia Graphics - Small Business Leadership Award; Karen Tenenbaum, board president of Commerce Plaza - Individual Leadership Award; Gene Silverman, Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction for Nassau BOCES - Educational Leadership Award.

Several of the award recipients spoke about what they believe to be the movement's crucial role in the future of Long Island.

For example, Dempsey, who in his role as a member of the LI Works Regional Advisory Board is seeking to create School-to-Work advisory boards for school districts throughout Long Island, excited those in attendance with his aspirations for the organization.

"I am happy to accept this award on behalf of one aspect of this vision that I do believe in. The thing that's most important about this effort, I think, is finding people who care about children, who care about their future and who care about their society's future, and are willing to work together," he said.

Dempsey thanked those in Farmingdale who have worked on School-to-Career efforts through the district's Citizens Advisory Council, as well as his business and educational partners in the LI Works Regional Advisory Board. The board is an arm of the LI Works Coalition, a year-old non-profit organization spawned by the Long Island Association to develop a competitive Long Island workforce.

"The vision is the same there. Collaborate together to make Long Island a better place, to provide opportunities for our children, and to share in that way, in some small part of a vision that will make our community a better place," he added.

Several representatives from the Farmingdale School District were at the event, including teachers, parents, students, administrators, business representatives and School Board President Josephine Macchia, who expressed pride in the community's award-winning superintendent.

"It's always a great feeling to know that other people - other groups and organizations - recognize and value the insight that he brings to things," said Macchia, noting that those in Farmingdale also value his efforts.

Perhaps one of the greatest strides the School-to-Work movement has made on Long Island is the development of a student-run, mock business center, known as Commerce Plaza. In accepting an award for her efforts related to this, Tenenbaum, president of the Commerce Plaza board, noted that the program will open a tentative site at Plainedge High School in September. She added that this is being done with the help of business sponsor EAB bank, and that the board is looking for additional sponsors in order to acquire a permanent site.

"I am fascinated each month as our Commerce Plaza Board meets, at how much business partners and educators can learn from one another, and how we work together to create something truly unique and wonderful. This is not something you can do alone," she said.

"We at Commerce Plaza, the children's business center, hope to reach out and prepare the next generation of business leaders and consumers through our hands-on participatory economics program. This is a program which culminates in a one-day experience where children and students get to be both business operators and consumers. And, they get to put the lessons that they learn in school to practical use."

Through the center, students act as employee and employer, consumer and entrepreneur, as they participate in exchanges at banks, stores and other businesses. Tenenbaum is a business professional and parent in the Levittown School District who initiated the Commerce Plaza concept on Long Island a few years ago, after observing a highly successful similar model in Florida.

Several school districts' School-to-Career advisory boards were also recognized at the Monday's celebration, for exemplifying the movement's philosophy through programs for students. Freeport, Lawrence, Sewanhaka and Wantagh school districts, as well as Nassau Tech/BOCES received this honor. They related successes with life and career training programs, internships and other partnerships with businesses which are motivating their students to succeed.

Monday's event was hosted by the county-wide Nassau County School-to-Career Partnership, in conjunction with the Partnership for Change, a consortium of southeast Nassau schools, businesses and community organizations, including the Farmingdale, Bethpage, Massapequa, Plainedge, Levittown, Wantagh and Seaford School Districts.