Over the horizon

 

Covid has taught us that life changes on a dime. Planning for the future has always been both art and science, but as the pace of change accelerates, it’s a leap of faith. Educational institutions need to prepare students for jobs that do not yet exist.

Every day we hear about good jobs that go begging because there are not enough workers with the right skills to fill them and young people drowning in student debt incurred to fund degrees for which there is no demand. Something is seriously out of whack. Conversations about the cost versus the value of a college education are far too rare.

Interest in mastery of practical skills that are in great demand in the labor market is growing. College students banned from in person learning during the pandemic have been exploring other options.

For the past few years, Goochland schools have held business roundtables where employers and educators discuss how to prepare our kids for good jobs to enable them to have fulfilling and prosperous lives without a four-year college degree.

Goochland High School has a Career and Technical Education (CTE) department, under the direction of Bruce Watson, that prepares our graduates to go on to the military and the world of work if they chose not to continue formal education.  Through apprenticeships and on the job training in addition to coursework taught in very special classrooms, graduates have learned skills and earned certifications that led to good paying jobs right out of high school.

The CTE curriculum includes a wide range of offerings including advanced agricultural concepts; building trades; computer aided drafting; culinary arts; diesel mechanics; and military science in the Marine Junior ROTC program. (For the complete list of CTE and other GHS course offerings go to https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KQaU8iTfRrzqKIG-KMOMcXOQjdX1Qwl3/view)

During the latest business roundtable held virtually on March 11, Watson announced a new offering, The Academy for Sustainable Energy. Governor Northam’s recently announced goal for Virginia to be fully powered by renewable energy by 2050 creates challenges and opportunities in this field.

Wind turbine technicians will be needed for renewable energy.

Watson explained that student interest in sustainable energy as well as opportunities for partnerships with local community partners and colleges lead to creation of this CTE career cluster. He said that one third of Virginia’s current energy workforce is expected to retire by 2025, creating a need for skilled workers. Jobs in solar energy alone, said Watson, are expected to increase dramatically in the next few years. Virginia wages for solar thermal installers and technicians, for instance, are higher than the national average. The average annual salary for a wind turbine service technician is $76,250.

Virginia ranks tenth for the number of clean energy jobs. A survey of Goochland students indicated that there is sufficient interest in an instruction “energy cluster” to create the option. This is expected to include a certificate/degree program to move students who complete the requirements to move directly into the workforce upon high school graduation without pursuing a four-year degree.

Energy courses will be woven into a curriculum that includes traditional subjects like history, English, and “soft skills” of resume writing, interviewing, conflict resolution, and social skills. These areas of instruction are geared to producing well-rounded individuals prepared to take their place in the workforce.

Dr. Paula Pando, President of Reynolds Community College—it dropped the J. Sargent a few years ago—also addressed the roundtable. (http://www.reynolds.edu/) Reynolds CC is a valued partner in Goochland education. A dual enrollment program allows GHS students to earn an Associate’s degree before their high school diploma (Reynolds’ commencement is a few weeks before local graduation) so they can enter qualifying four-year colleges as academic juniors, reducing the cost of higher education.

Community colleges provide opportunities to obtain necessary post high school credentials in many fields. Students who successfully complete these programs realize the personal satisfaction of a lucrative career by developing individual talents to support businesses that form the foundation for healthy communities.

Enrolment at Virginia’s community colleges declined during the pandemic lockdowns, as did the number of students completing the programs. A system-wide look at why student fail to complete programs, and what changes are needed to foster greater student success is underway, said Pando.

The focus of programs at the community college level is middle skill jobs, which Pando contended, will be 45 percent of job openings in the immediate future. Course offerings at Reynolds include a wide array of skills in the fields of healthcare, human services, information technology, and skilled trades.

A challenge faced by Reynolds and the Goochland CTE program, is a dearth of qualified instructor to teach the next generation of workers.  Skilled workers nearing retirement, who are well-equipped to share their knowledge and experience could be the answer. However, overcoming regulatory hurdles to get these people into the classroom could be an obstacle. For instance, should completion of college level education courses be required to teach welding?

Pando said that Reynolds and other community colleges are taking a hard look at what they need to offer to fill their role in education. Hard questions are being asked, which, hopefully, will lead to productive answers.

Reynolds’ Goochland Campus in the heart of Courthouse Village is a beautiful but underused facility. Pando believes that it can become a region-wide educational resource, playing a larger part in the community college system. How that will happen has not been identified. Pando hopes to lead community conversations on this topic. Stay tuned.

Reynolds' Goochland Campus is an underutilized asset.

These business roundtables are another way that Goochland Schools works toward its goal of helping every student achieve maximum potential.