R A I S E
T H E
B A R ®
|
H A N C O C K
N E W S L E T T E R
C O U N T Y
VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1
IN THIS ISSUE WORKFORCE WINS VOCATION PREPARATION MAKING CONNECTIONS SPRINGBOARD STUDIES
WORKFORCE WINS It’s time to celebrate while looking toward the future! The connection between students and employers within our region is stronger than ever, fueling career-focused synergy and economic development gains. More high school graduates are landing financially rewarding jobs that they love, advancing in their careers, and becoming leaders in their fields. In turn, by investing in students, businesses and organizations are reaping rewards, too.
For this newsletter, we decided to do something different. We looked back by gathering a lot of data to help illustrate last year’s key accomplishments set against a backdrop of baseline statistics. Information ranging from graduation rates to the number of schools that have embraced the Leader in Me program to the number of times Raise the Bar Hancock County (RTB) is proud to be a part of the that businesses talked with students (and employment-related progress being made to bridge gaps and foster vice versa) was collected. The results are advancements. Seeing educators learning even more from each remarkable! We hope you enjoy learning from other, knowing that more students are experiencing those “ah ha” this special issue, which graphically illustrates moments when exploring career possibilities, and encouraging how the area’s schools, businesses and industry leaders to further embrace our exceptional emerging and organizations joined forces. existing workforce reinforces the fact that we’re all making a very positive difference.
R A I S E
T H E
B A R ®
|
H A N C O C K
C O U N T Y
LOCAL STUDENT INTERESTS AND APTITUDES
VOCATION PREPARATION Enhanced career assessment platforms are benefiting many K-12 Findlay and Hancock County students. As antiquated notions of how to identify a suitable career are falling by the wayside, educators are starting students earlier and with more intentionality to help them better define what they “want to do when they grow up.” Implemented at some area schools is the Leader in Me program that helps position nearly 7,800 local students as leaders in their classrooms and communities. Students take the lead by forming “action teams,” identifying ways they can serve, and then collaborating to strategically achieve those goals. Fundraisers, food drives, mentorship activities, and more are rapidly becoming student-centered hallmarks. Also, several grants secured by RTB and the Hancock County Educational Service Center have funded Pathful Explore software implementation. As part of their career preparation curriculum, the interactive software is helping more than 300 students make more insightful, informed career choices. Liberty-Benton 7th graders, for example, are using Pathful for a new 7-week career exploration course. Another online program adopted by several local districts is YouScience. The digital platform assesses students through its Brightpath software, using “decades of data powered by artificial intelligence” to help students make “purposeful decisions.” More than 7,000 educational institutions use YouScience, including Liberty-Benton, Van Buren, Cory-Rawson, and Findlay. Brightpath also offers an Employer Spotlight subscriber platform for businesses and organizations to upload available jobs into a database, too. Employers are encouraged to subscribe for a more integrated job search and recruiting approach.
N E W S L E T T E R
MAKING CONNECTIONS Strategic collaborations between schools and employers are blossoming, as the numbers here show. Thanks to internships, talks with employers, presentations, tours, and more, students are pinpointing great jobs they want to pursue, and businesses and organizations are hiring career-ready graduates. From learning marketing basics to understanding a company’s culture and vision, students are finding themselves more prepared than ever to enter the workforce and soar in it. Some schools and employers form exclusive partnerships to offer students opportunities to acquire unique and specific job skillsets that will put them at the top of the interview list once they graduate, while other employers cast a wider net by opening their workplaces to anyone interested in learning more about their industry and professions. Most connections today teach important lessons about areas such as company culture and values, cross-departmental collaborative approaches, and what it takes to move up in the company. These partnerships are more intensive and involve more preparation, particularly on the employer’s part, but offer the chance for businesses, organizations, and future employees to start early, learn more, and grow. We are heartened to see so many proactive, motivated, and enthusiastic individuals coming together between the schools and workplaces to connect students with mentors and real-world experiences.
NUMBER OF INDUSTRY EMPLOYERS ENGAGING WITH SCHOOL DISTRICTS
123 E M A IN CROS S ST R E E T FIN DLAY, OH 4 5 8 4 0
R
A
I
S
E
T
H
E
B A
R H
A
N
C
O
C
K .
O
R
G
SPRINGBOARD STUDIES
Given that Ohio’s College Credit Plus (CCP) program can potentially shave off years of study and tens of thousands in tuition costs, it’s no secret why all school districts in Hancock County offer it. The program, which launched in 2015, is free – yes, free – for all public school students in grades 7-12 who wish to attend an Ohio public university or college. It provides students with the opportunity to concurrently take high school classes and college courses, thereby accelerating their schooling. CCP is intended “to promote rigorous academic pursuits and to provide a wide variety of options to college-ready students,” the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) explains on its website. According to an August 2022 article in The Columbus Dispatch, students on average earn about 15 college credits, which is the equivalent of about one typical college semester, “but some earn enough for an associate’s or even a bachelor’s degree.” Depending on each school district’s resources and their partnerships with area colleges, some students can enroll in college courses offered at their high school, take online courses, or venture to college campuses for traditional classroom learning. Introductory courses and more advanced classes on a wide range of topics give college-ready students a variety of options. Here are the number of districts in our county using CCP with specific colleges:
Number of Hancock County School Districts Using CCP with Specific Colleges