School board learns more specifics about Career Academy

At the request of Fairfield school board members, administrators from Indian Hills Community College presented information about high school Career Academy programs at Monday?s school board meeting.

?This is a concept erupting around the state,? said Jim Lindenmayer, president, IHCC. ?Ours is the only model built on economic development needs. Our region in the state dictates we respond to economic needs.?

Career Academies are partnerships with community colleges providing job skills and training to high school students, who earn dual credits for course completion; that is, students enrolled in a Career Academy program learning welding or accounting or nursing skills earn high school and college credits for those classes.

The state?s definition for a Career Academy is a:

? Program of study that combines a minimum of two years of secondary education with an associate degree, or the equivalent.

? Career prepatory program.

?Nonduplicative, sequential course of study.

? Integrates academic and technical instruction.

? Utilizes work-based and worksite learning where appropriate and available.

? Utilizes individual career planning process.

? Leads to associate degree or postsecondary diploma or certificate.

? Prepares for career or field of work.

?We can integrate job shadowing or internships into this program,? said Lindenmayer.

It is a concept Fairfield school district administrators are exploring to offer more content to a variety of students. Neighboring districts, including Cardinal, Van Buren and Harmony, are interested also, and the districts may collaborate to create a Career Academy with IHCC.

The difference in programs running through Des Moines Area Community College and Indian Hills, said Lindenmayer, is in the Des Moines metro area, the community college surveyed students? interests to create a curriculum, offering courses students asked for.

?We surveyed regional businesses and manufacturers to understand the needs of employers,? said Lindenmayer. ?We want to provide job preparation skills so high school graduates can stay in the community and make a living. Population in our area is declining.?

He emphasized the program works only if all three entities ? school, community college and community employers ? support the program and ?buy in? to the concept.

?Each Career Academy is developed locally, and in Indian Hill?s case, in conjunction with area employers, based on industry and community needs,? he said. ?The key is partnerships and sharing resources.?

Lindenmayer shared national, state and regional statistics to support the need for Career Academies:

? 60 percent of high school graduates leave school without the skills to sustain employment or succeed in higher education.

? Training demands from the labor market are more demanding now from those of earlier decades.

? In Iowa 30 percent of high school seniors plan on matriculating to a four-year institution. Of that 30 percent, one-in-five students will persist to the second year. That means 94 percent of high school seniors annually need an alternative plan to make a livelihood.

? It is estimated there are 128,000 ?at risk? youth identified in Iowa between the ages of 16-24 who do not posses relevant skills and may never obtain them.

? In Iowa, there are another 255,000 ?at risk? students already identified between ages 5-14. Most of these youth are economically disadvantaged.

? Only 7 percent of low-income students will ever earn a college degree.

Lindenmayer also shared that Iowa is the only state that?s not increased its population by 50 percent since 1900. School populations in the 10 counties served by Indian Hills have declined from 24,000 in 1998 to 19,500 in 2010 and 2011.

?We are seeing a lot of people moving out from the area, and we?d like to keep people here,? he said.

?Career Academies are a great financial deal for families. Students can earn 15 to 30 college credits by high school graduation, which saves a year?s worth of college tuition if it?s 30 credits. And it?s a good deal for employers, because they get trained, skilled, local workers who want to stay in the area.?

Economic development is an important part of the purpose of community colleges, said Tom Rubel, newly appointed executive dean for regional economic advancement at Indian Hills.

?Most of the students in the 21-month [Career Academy] program go into the workforce,? said Rubel. ?But it doesn?t always have to be working for someone else. We also encourage and support entrepreneurial and leadership qualities in students and can set up business incubators.?

Karen Swanson, IHCC coordinator of high school programs, a Fairfield native and former guidance counselor at Fairfield High School, said Indian Hills is developing partnerships with all schools in the region.

?An old term for some of the courses we can provide would be ?vocational? but Career Education is more, we?ve shifted the model,? she said. ?Vocational education provided job-specific education in six disciplines. It was high school focused and those classes were taken in lieu of academics and were only for some students.

?Career Education offers career preparation in six fields with 16 clusters, can be used K-12, aligns with and supports academics and is for all students.?

A Career Academy can be established inside a high school building or separate. Students, usually juniors and seniors, attend their regular high school classes half the day and Career Academy classes half the day.

?Do you have support from the Fairfield area?? asked school board member Jeri Kunkle.

Agri-Industrial Plastics, Dexter and Cambridge Investment Research are interested, said Swanson.

Fairfield?s Economic Development Association and Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce believe it?s very needed, added Tracy Vance, executive director of both FEDA and the chamber.

?Both organizations have placed this in top priority status,? he said.

?We held an informational meeting in the community two years ago,? said Lindenmayer. ?Fairfield had the strongest support of all communities we?ve worked with. There is such a diverse job base in Fairfield. We know we can?t push this agenda from just one arena; it has to be something the employers, schools and community want. We feel that Fairfield wants this. It had the largest turn-out for that informational meeting.?

Indian Hills currently supports advanced manufacturing classes in Ottumwa; agricultural courses at Centerville, Pekin, Oskaloosa, Sigourney and Moravia high schools; a construction tech Career Academy at Oskaloosa and Ottumwa high schools in which students build an actual house each year; the Mahaska County Career Academy; Keokuk County Career Academy; and a new consortium with Moulton, Seymour and Centerville high schools ? the Rathbun Area Career Academy, offering health career classes.

The Mahaska County academy has classes in engineering and technology, computer networks and security and nursing/health occupations.

The Keokuk County academy offers advanced manufacturing, which includes welding and machine technology, geospatial technology, nursing/health occupations, business and entrepreneurs? class including business incubators, and engineering technology.

?We are flexible with each community as to its needs,? said Swanson.