Fixing Hickory - Education Matters and Workforce Development

Dr. Garrett Hinshaw began his presentation by talking about Education Matters. He stated that it's about changing our future twenty years from now, when we have a prepared workforce that is attractive to the diversity of industry that we need to bring into Catawba County.

We have to have systematic changes in our today, so that we can provide options so that individuals have an opportunity to succeed. That is what Education Matters is about. This will help our economy transition. This is something that we can focus on.

The components of education matter is assessing the workforce by doing quantitative and qualitative analysis of industries in this area. Next, they talked about partnerships in the community between business, government, and education. Critical thinking and problem solving are key components of 21st century job skills. The goal is to have graduates that are ready to work, employable, have a good work ethic, and they understand the dynamics of what it takes to be successful here in Catawba County.

Tracy Hall, of the Champions of Education, next addressed the group. She has worked in the Hickory Public Schools. This is a partnership between education, business, and government. This is about changing the culture in our community that states dropping out of school is no longer an option. Students who graduate will have a future rate portfolio that will indicate that students have 21st Century skills that are in demanded in the workplace. Attendance records, writing samples, and community service work are included. Students will be tested on national career readiness certification skills. Following the first year, they will have a report that will assess where they are in the project.

Catawba County Government and Municipalities will continue to promote parental involvement in schools, create economic incentive agreements, help review portfolios to make sure that "Education Matters" has all of the parts and pieces they need, encourage High School diplomas, and continue financial support.

The benefit to employers is that they will have a better prepared workforce with National Certification, better workforce advancement, more loyal-productive employees, and reduce employee turnover. She further went in the three levels of certification that employers can qualify for (Gold-Silver-Bronze).

What can employers do? Help students visualize their future and make them more aware of the opportunities available in the area. Help by mentoring students and participants - like leadership 2000, sponsor scholarships for teachers. Businesses can come out for career days in the schools, share job experiences and expectations at all levels, and hire graduates. Let students come to the work site to see what you do, so they can have an idea where they might fit in to see if it is a place they might feel comfortable working. This will help students see that they have a path and opportunity here in Catawba County. Ms. Hall showed businesses that have signed up.
This can help students that don't have a voice (mentor) or guidance to keep them in a path, while also keeping kids who need job experience.

Joyce Watson next addressed the conference. She is the Human Resources Development Director at CVCC. She talked about the Career Readiness Certification. She talked about the Key Train and Work Keys program. We have a documented workforce of 834 people that have proven that they can do applied math, locate information, and read for information. That is accessible to employers. The program was started in 2006.

Shurtape Industries was instrumental in making this happen. 236 Shurtape employees have been certified and now Hickory Springs is participating in the program. If these employees fail this program then remediation is available, if needed. She then showed the qualification levels of this program - (Gold-Silver-Bronze).

Mrs. Watson then went into some of the specifics of the test. The work keys test takes about 45 minutes for each test. They test two times a month on Saturdays at the end of the month and on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in the middle of the month. They also test independently with companies. The test is very strict and can't be let out of their site. These tests help companies identify employees ability to "do things" and/or "do other things" - Trainability. This helps companies assess where employees may need remediation.

There is a charge to this test. So far, they have been able, with the help of the Workforce Development Board and a $2,000 gift from Wal-Mart, to not have very many people at all have to pay. If you make over $416/a week there is a charge. This is a voluntary program. This is used as a pre-employment profiling measure so that employees can see what they need. This is sometimes employer driven. We need to have a "Proven" workforce and this is a nationally recognized portable credential.

Dr. Hinshaw stated that we are trying to dust off tools. This is not CVCC driven or local schools driven, Catawba County Government driven, or Business driven. It is a partnership. "They (Leaders) are trying to figure out what do we have access to? to help change the economic conditions of our area and insulate Catawba County from allowing this (economically) to happen to us again. Who wants to sit though and go through what we have gone through since the year 2000 again? Not me."

When there aren't any jobs out there, it is frustrating for us (CVCC). Students wonder, "Are they going to be able to get a job when they get out?" We (area leaders) have to take some very risky types of actions in order to move this system forward. This is not something that is going to happen by itself. If you want to stay the same, then keep doing what we have been doing. We have to open our minds up to the opportunities that are presenting themselves and not arbitrarily say no this will never work. You're not going to tell me how to do this. Give it a try and figure out what we can do with this to catapult us forward. This can set us apart. This will give us a unique selling point that can attract businesses.

Dr. Hinshaw stated that when they did the Quantitative and Qualitative analysis, about a year ago, the key component is that business executives told him what skillsets they needed and these skillsets are going to be integrated into the public schools. When they implement there Graduate guarantee in 2012, Critical Thinking and Problem Solving are going to be at the top of the list. Teammanship and working with group projects, working with real world projects, bringing it into the classroom, that is what we have to have. We can't rely on textbooks to solve our issues. Environment and technology are changing so fast. This (education) is a continuum that never stops.

*** Companies can apply for grants to help pay for the Work Keys Training.

*** The cost is $30 per person and $150 for a proctor. They can only test 30 people at a time. they have to have 2 proctors, if they go over 30 test takers.

The Hickory Hound has traded E-mail correspondence with Lamar Mitchell and I now feel comfortable that we better and more fully understand one another's positions. He understands that he was not the focus of what I was addressing and now I understand more fully the focus of his mission.

I think that everyone can see that all of these functions are important to move our workforce, community, and culture forward into the future. This can't be a crutch for Hickory's current industries and business to prop themselves up on for statistical reflection. This is about changing the paradigm of our entire area's culture of intellect and thus Quality of Life. Everyone has a role to play.

Dr. Hinshaw said some excellent things during this presentation. No one can argue with any point that he made. I think CVCC is in excellent hands with someone that moves us in a direction of excellence and this moves us closer to a goal of excellence without casting off those who are caught in the vises of the old paradigm and lack of educational expectations of Old Hickory. It was what he said, and not the way he said it, that made me feel that if Hinshaw is leading the way, then we are going somewhere.