Author Archives: Clarke Community Schools

ScoopCloud Newswire

New Tech Advisory Board Helps Launch Career Academy Program in Rural Iowa

OSCEOLA, Iowa /ScoopCloud/ -- 2017 marks the inaugural year for the Clarke Community Schools Career Academy program in the rural town of Osceola, Iowa. School administration, instructors, and local businesses have set forth a program focused on helping local students build a deeper understanding of how their education is integrated into future career options as well as learning the skills needed for trades available outside "traditional" secondary education tracks.

Education trends and academic planning have evolved a great deal throughout the past decade. With funding for Iowa public schools becoming more limited* (*note:1) and costs for student administration continually on the rise, manipulating the models in which schools can best affect the learning for each student has forced participants to innovate and grow or suffer. Programs implemented throughout the 90's and 2000's have shown to be less effective* (*note:2) on student preparation, and for smaller communities like Osceola, this comes as a particularly tough challenge.

These types of programs continue to force school administrators as well as teachers and parents to find alternative answers to educating their students by moving student and curriculum focus from rote test score achievement and class rankings to a more "hands-on" approach, offering career-focused programming for students from kindergarten through high school.

"While we understand testing is an integral part of benchmarking and measuring progress for our students and faculty, it can't be the sole curriculum focus for a learning child," explained Steve Seid, Clarke Community Schools' (CCS) Superintendent. "Creating a better understanding of how specific coursework is applied in real-world scenarios builds on the achievement of the students, encouraging a deeper engagement and commitment to a future-focused perspective."

A policy research study performed by the National Council of Teachers of English* (*note:3) found results of standardized or high-stakes testing not only affects the nature of how instructors administer course information, but also narrows curriculum and limits student learning. Much of the information in the study led researchers to suggest policy changes that include diversifying assessments for student achievement as well as helping the students understand how the testing functions in determining future successes and opportunities.

"That's where our Career Academy really hits," said Jean Bahls, CCS Curriculum Director, "We realize not all kids will be college-bound. Some see that financially and logistically impossible. But through this Career Academy, students can discover a broader world beyond the halls of Clarke Community Schools and have the opportunity to prepare for it."

Local businesses and associations have answered the call for support of the Clarke Community Schools Career Academy. With connections fostered through Clarke County Development Corporation (CCDC), the administration and Mr. Dave Lydon, the Industrial Tech Courses Instructor, an Industrial Tech Advisory Board - the first of such advisory boards planned for the Career Academy program - has been assembled to start the development of a system for helping students prepare for careers in the industrial sector. With that, the board will also work with the school, administrators, and instructors on procuring modern equipment and teaching the skills needed to be successful in the trades.

"With the District taking on all the challenges associated with the Career Academy, the CCDC wanted to facilitate ongoing communication between the business community and the District Staff," said Bill Trickey, Executive Director of the CCDC. "As we reached out to the business community for membership in this first Advisory Board, we found a real willingness to participate in this very important process."

Clarke Schools' Career Academy Industrial Tech Advisory Board members are:
* Susan Miller - Altec, Inc. (www.Altec.com).
* Dave Opie - Clarke Electric Cooperative (www.cecnet.net).
* Jason A Gibbs - Clarke Electric Cooperative (www.cecnet.net).
* Joe Greving - Iowa Steel (www. IowaSteelFabrication.com).
* Dan Zielke - Hormel Foods (www.HormelFoods.com).
* Kerry Richardson - Miller Products, Co. (www. MillerProductsCo.com).
* James Rawson - Paul Mueller Company (www.PaulMueller.com).
* Tom Kober - Salford Group (www.SalfordGroup.com).
* Doug Hamilton - Simco Drilling Equipment, Inc. (www.SimcoDrill.com).
* Dave Lyden - Clarke Community Schools (www.clarke.k12.ia.us).
* Jean Bahls - Clarke Community Schools (www.clarke.k12.ia.us).
* William Trickey - CCDC (www.clarkecountyiowa.com).

As members of the Clarke Community Schools Industrial Tech Advisory Board, their input, support, and experience will help Clarke Community Schools facilitate and foster a deeper understanding of future career options and skills for trades available outside secondary education. The success of the Career Academy program hinges on full, community-wide engagement and support. With school administrators, staff, and students on board as well as a diversified group of local Osceola and Southern Iowa businesses lending their knowledge and expertise, the future of the program looks bright and poised for growth.

If you would like more information on the Clarke Community Schools Career Academy program or have questions or comments, please contact Steve Seid, Superintendent, or Jean Bahls, Curriculum Director for Clarke Community Schools at 800 N Jackson St. Osceola, IA, 50312 or call (641) 342-6505.

1: Des Moines Register, "After Contentious Words, Iowa State Senate Passes 1.1 Percent K-12 School Aid Increase" - http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/02/after-contentious-words-iowa-senate-passes-11-percent-k-12-school-aid-increase/97384150/

2: National Education Association, "Parents and Educators to Lawmakers: Testing is Not Learning!" - http://neatoday.org/2015/03/12/parents-educators-lawmakers-testing-not-learning/

3: National Council of Teachers of English. "How Standardized Tests Shape - and limit - Student Learning" [PDF-STUDY] http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/CC/0242-nov2014/CC0242PolicyStandardized.pdf {http://www.ncte.org/}

2017 marks the inaugural year for the Clarke Community Schools Career Academy program in the rural town of Osceola, Iowa. School administration, instructors, and local businesses have set forth a program focused on helping local students build a deeper understanding of how their education is integrated into future career options as well as learning the skills needed for trades available outside "traditional" secondary education tracks.

This version of news story was published on ScoopCloud™ (ScoopCloud.com) - part of the Neotrope® News Network - all rights reserved.

Clarke Schools’ Career Academy Focuses Students on Future Success

Joe Greving

OSCEOLA, Iowa, Dec. 18, 2015 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- Clarke Community Schools in Osceola, Iowa is developing a Career Academy that will provide a specialized course pathway for career-minded students. Aligned with Governor Branstad's new Future Ready Iowa initiative, this program is the genesis of Clarke's new curriculum director Jean Bahls and Bill Trickey of Clarke County Development Corporation. In recent weeks, the team kicked off meetings with local industry leaders to get their input on this unique education program.

The Career Academy will collaborate with local businesses to help develop a resource pool of young people in our community who will have the skills and knowledge necessary to be career-ready right out of high school. By establishing a career pathway early on, the Career Academy hopes to help lay out a sequence of courses and real-world experiences for kids as early as 8th grade, to get them ready to begin a career and not just get a "job" right out of school.

Through a curriculum that combines classroom time with immersion on the job site, students can get a true feel of all the different factors that go into keeping a business thriving. Industry experiences can be gained through guest speakers, internships, job shadowing or simply touring the facility, giving students the opportunity to ask questions and see first-hand the skills needed to be successful in a variety of career paths.

"I think the idea is fantastic. This program will allow for real-life scenarios to demonstrate the importance of learning concepts that incorporate math, physics and even the arts," said Joe Greving of Countryside Tank Company in Osceola. "I look at a picture of one of our trailers and think about all the components that went into making it. I would use that as an example for real life application to show them why it's important they're learning what they're learning in school and I think they'll maybe become better students because of it."

During her recent town hall meeting, Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds spoke about the importance of Future Ready Iowa.

"An initiative that we just launched a few weeks ago is 'Future Ready Iowa,' and it's a collaborative effort with schools, community colleges and business and industry to create job-training programs," she said. "We really want to make it a seamless pipeline, that we can work with students so they can see the various jobs available in communities all across the state of Iowa, what each career pathway looks like, the skills needed for each, and then align them with the local businesses that are ready to hire them immediately."

Clarke Community Schools hopes to launch their Career Academy by the 2017-18 school year. They will shape the curriculum to ensure young people are able to integrate their core classes such as math and science with real-world skills needed to be successful in a long-term career.

"A component, for sure, would be a class on leadership and other 'soft' skills such as communication, personal habits and interpersonal proficiencies that they may not necessarily know," said Jean Bahls at her recent meeting with Countryside Tank Company. "We want to give them usable skills while they're still in high school, help them earn training certificates, college credits, whatever is needed to take them down their particular pathway. We want to help them see that there are great opportunities available and they don't automatically have to go to a four-year college to have a good career, although some pathways may require that. There are positive role models in their own community who can show them what is needed in the industry for they have an interest and an aptitude for, and we want to facilitate that partnership."

For more information, contact Jean Bahls, Curriculum Director, Clarke Community Schools, 800 N Jackson Street, Osceola, IA 50213; phone: 641-342-6505

Or contact Bill Trickey, Executive Director, Clarke County Development Corporation, 115 East Washington Osceola, IA 50213; phone: 641-342-2944, Fax: 641-342-6352, WEB: http://ClarkeCountyIowa.com/ or email: info@clarkecountyiowa.com

*PHOTO for media: Send2Press.com/mediaboom/15-1218-career-acadamy-300dpi.jpg

*PHOTO Caption: Joe Greving of Countryside Tank Companies talks about the manufacturing processes students would be exposed to through the Career Academy.

To view the original version on Send2Press Newswire, visit: https://www.send2press.com/newswire/clarke-schools-career-academy-focuses-students-on-future-success-2015-1218-03.shtml.

NEWS SOURCE Clarke Community Schools :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (who is solely responsible for its accuracy) by and Copr. © 2015 Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®.