Pipelines and Pathways: Partner of the Year Awards 2024

P3 Manager Christy Betit with P3 Partner of the Year winners Sarah Grasso, Terry Davison Berger, Linda Alvarez, Erin Lovett-Sherman, and Heather Waryas.

Four Windham County educators received Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation’s Pipelines and
Pathways (P3) Partner of the Year Award this spring. The award is presented to outstanding educators
who support career education for all students, whether college or workforce-bound. Each awardee is a
leader, community-builder, and student champion at their respective schools. They demonstrate a stalwart
commitment to improving postsecondary outcomes for their students and support a thriving local
economy and improved quality of life for Windham County residents.

This year’s winners are Sarah Grasso, High School Counselor at Leland & Gray; Heather Waryas, Work
Based Learning Coordinator at Bellows Falls Union High School; Erin Lovett-Sherman, Business and
Entrepreneurship Instructor at Twin Valley Middle/High School; and Linda Alvarez, Business and
Entrepreneurship Instructor at the Windham Regional Career Center. This year’s winners join previous P3
Partners of the Year Terry Davison Berger, Multiple Pathways Coordinator at Leland & Gray, and Mark
Gebo, Dean of Students at Bellows Falls Union High School. All serve on the P3 Advisory Board led by
Christy Betit, P3 Program Manager, and collaborate on P3’s annual Reality Fair, Fearless Futures Fairs,
Sophomore Summit as well as worksite tours, employer career panels, job shadows, and professionalism
classes throughout each school year.

About Pipelines & Pathways
BDCC’s Pipelines and Pathways Program (P3) provides career education within the five southeastern Vermont
public high schools. P3 helps students develop their personalized learning plans (PLP) through learning
experiences to develop knowledge about career opportunities, and achieve their goals after graduation. Students
develop soft skills, financial literacy, knowledge about economic sectors and skills in-demand through hands-on
activities, work-based learning, and mentorships. Pipelines & Pathways is a BDCC Workforce Center of Excellence
program based on SeVEDS strategies to increase the size and quality of the region’s workforce. For more
information please visit https://brattleborodevelopment.com/engaging-with-high-school-students/
P3 was launched as a five year pilot, thanks to historic investment from the Vermont Community Foundation and
McClure Foundation, the Vermont Training Program, WCEDP Vermont Yankee closure funds, and municipal
contributions to SeVEDS. In 2023 P3 reached a major program milestone by commitments from the private sector.
M&T Bank, whose support was matched by local employers G.S. Precision and C&S Wholesale Grocers joins
funding partners McClure Foundation, the George W. Mergens Foundation, the Windham Regional Career Center,
the West River Education District, and the Windham Southwest Supervisory Union, in supporting P3 across
southeastern Vermont.