"Stu Silberman, superintendent of Fayette County Schools, stood at the front of the classroom at Eastside Technical Center and intoned hopefully, "Good morning." Just as you'd expect of a receptive class, he soon heard a "Good morning!" chorus in reply. To call this class receptive, though, would be an understatement: the students on this Monday morning in July were all Fayette County public school teachers who had applied to participate in a five-day Teacher Institute sponsored by Lexmark and organized by Commerce Lexington's Partnership for Workforce Development.
The week's focus would be on what Silberman termed the new three "Rs": relevancy, rigor and relationships. By exposing teachers to a broad array of successful businesses in and around Lexington and drawing on business leaders' willingness to speak about applying traditional subjects to the workplace, plenty of "aha!" moments arose. Teachers learned that many employers currently find job applicants lacking in four important areas: communication skills, both oral and written; problem-solving skills; the ability to work well as members of teams; and disciplined work habits. They were challenged to think about ways to relate their classroom material to real-world applications so students can finally stop asking, "How will I ever use this?"
How, indeed!
The week's programming made clear that math and science are all around us. From auto diagnostics and accident reconstruction, to car product development, construction, manufacturing and more, math, physics and chemistry are essential building blocks. Speakers and group leaders also drove home the importance of strong communication skills, both oral and written: English classes must deliver. For advertising and journalism careers, you ask? Of course, but also for every other business you can imagine where documenting efforts and presenting results to staff and clients will matter. Even well written e-mail messages become important!
Central to the week's success was the interaction between business leaders and teachers. Site visits to Lexmark and Toyota created eye-opening moments, including the realization that a career in maintenance today is a world apart from maintenance careers of yore, given the high level of technical sophistication and training required. An industrial maintenance technology specialist not only repairs tool and die equipment but also deals with complex robotic snafus. A two-year degree path through KCTC, followed by some experience in this field, can lead to annual earnings in the $50-60,000 range, or possibly six-figure incomes upon reaching management level. Visits to a variety of other manufacturing and construction sites opened eyes in other ways. Sessions with leaders from a wide array of fields including advertising and biotechnology, and exercises in creative thinking and problem solving, gave participants much to ponder. Perhaps the more important lesson learned, though, was that their students need to learn how to learn actively. The workplace changes constantly, and careers will evolve in ways within the next 20 years that we can't even imagine today.
For generations, students have been clamoring for bridges to the real world to help them understand why math classes, or English, history or science lessons for that matter, are relevant. The long-held view that applied instruction with real-world relevance is intellectually inferior is due for an update. Students aspiring to competitive colleges should be able to schedule such hands-on coursework alongside their advanced placement courses if they wish and should learn how to convey to college admission offices the value of combining the two paths. Students who learn best by doing and wish to pursue a two-year degree path leading to a hands-on career should not be discouraged from doing so. These were important realizations for me as a college advisor, as a former admission officer and as a parent. Our workforce needs young graduates with such interests, and they can earn a good living and have fine career opportunities if they do their jobs well. The Lexmark Teacher Institute made clear that rigor and relevance are not mutually exclusive and planted seeds for inventive thinking among 60 Fayette County public school teachers. These 60 teachers will be ambassadors in their schools for the value of the new three R's: rigor, relevancy and relationships. Lucky students!
Jane S. Shropshire guides students and families through the college search process, drawing on over a decade of college admission experience. Send questions or suggestions to JShrop@att.net or visit Shropshire Educational Consulting, LLC at www.ShropEd.net.
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