Have a commitment to….

Workplace Readiness = +

Our consortium decided to return to the basics and focus on the relationship piece of our partnership by: Establishing a CCC/CCS Educational Partnership Committee Developing a Local Articulation Agreement Return to Industry Opportunity

The goal is to remove the barriers between the two school levels as well as to remove the walls between CTE and core curriculum program areas Key stakeholders were identified and a quarterly meeting schedule was developed CCS Individuals included Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction, Directors and Coordinators CCC faculty included President, Vice-President for Academic Affairs, Directors and Department Heads

The agendas covered everything from the Tech Prep Grant to how CTE and core courses could support and enhance each other Opportunities to make a connection between the two institutions such as a Craven Expo Day coordinated with CCS students attending or the offering of summer camps and bridge programs Aligning the two calendars, with built-in meeting dates, to allow the teachers and faulty to have collaboration time

Establishment of Craven Expo Day on a school day so that high school students could visit the community college College Faculty being invited as guest speakers in CTE classes Quarterly meetings between teachers and faculty to help facilitate the student’s transition from high school to the community college

Summer bridge opportunities: Career Pathways Institute helps high school students identify and analyze career possibilities related to individual and educational interests, skills, and abilities and develop college success skills

The second prong of our relationship building process was to develop a local articulation between CCC and CCS Teachers and faculty devoted a day to learning about each other’s program areas Syllabus and SCOS of studies were carefully explored Agreement was reached on what courses were aligned

Teachers and faculty laid the foundation for faculty to visit the high schools and students to tour the community college The framework for a crosswalk was developed Quarterly meetings were scheduled

Both groups learned to appreciate the challenges each face Brainstorming of how to build stronger foundation skills in reading, writing, and math Appreciation for what it takes to facilitate the transition from high school to higher education

As a natural outgrowth from the articulation agreement, the faculties discovered a need to experience what the ultimate goal of the student was—successful and rewarding employment which became the third prong of our relationship piece Thus, we began stage one of the Return to Industry Opportunity

Teachers from all high schools and in all program areas were invited to spend two days shadowing a business/industry in their program area Teachers were to experience the career goals of their students to help better understand how to relate their curriculum to employment needs Teachers were part of stage 1 to allow them to build a stronger foundation of the connection between the community college and the work place

Teachers will report out to their program areas in county-wide PLCs. Teachers will use information learned to aid in discussions with college faculty in future meetings Community college faculty will participate in future Return to Industry initiatives in conjunction with teachers to help design the crosswalk from education to work and life-long learning