FOUNTAIN LAKE -- Fountain Lake administrators are set to utilize information provided by local businesses and industries to develop classes and programs at the new charter high school.
Megan Greeson, economic development manager for The Greater Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce, emailed surveys to local companies in April. Representatives from the chamber and National Park College accompanied school officials to meet with the Arkansas Department of Education board last semester.
"We bounced the idea of this business partnership off of them at that time," said Fountain Lake Superintendent Darin Beckwith. "Now they are really helping us drill down to that next level."
The new Fountain Lake Charter High School will emphasize personal experiences for students and career education. Members of the administration, faculty and staff have been involved in researching career education to develop new programs at the high school.
The school received 34 responses from local companies. The district's next step is to incorporate the feedback into planning for the charter school.
Principal Donald Westerman said the feedback will be used to develop courses, the content, and the sequences in which material is taught. The surveys were used to identify skills needed in employees and if companies would be interested in collaborating with the school in the future.
"We are just trying to create that open door, that line of communication where we can be talking back and forth," said Brad Sullivan, director of curriculum instruction. "As we invite people in to talk to our students and talk about their industry, as we go and visit industry and maybe even take kids to job shadow or intern eventually, that is what we are trying to do in this initial survey too. That is an outcome we are looking for."
Replies from local business and industry indicated dependability, motivation, communication skills and time-management skills as four soft skills most generally lacking in job applicants. The high school will offer a foundation course next school year to teach students the necessary soft skills companies desire in employees. Administrators have visited schools in other states and adjusted the faculty to fit the school's needs.
"By getting input from kids on what they are interested in, we started back when we got back in January seeing an interest inventory from the students about what they were interested in," Beckwith said.
Computer skills were listed by 28 of the 34 companies as general skills employees needed. Replies showed mathematics, presentation skills and reading as top skills most desired in employees.
Twenty-eight of the 34 companies said employment of entry-level positions will increase in the next five years. Sullivan said the district hopes to open a line of ongoing communication with local businesses and industries.
Beckwith said the last two schools they visited in Kentucky had developed successful business partnerships. He said the district is seeking a "bona fide" business partner.
"We are at that reality step for them to tell us what is it we can do," Beckwith said. "If a kid is choosing not to go to college when they walk across that stage, what do we need to do on our end to be able to plug them in the day after they graduate and make them a bona fide, useful employee for you?"
The survey included questions about how companies would like to cooperate with the district in the future. They were asked if they could provide mentors, guest speakers, tours of their facilities, internships or other assistance.
Fountain Lake was approved for a waiver to adjust the school day to fit the schedules of students interested in career education. The waiver will allow students to begin school later in the day and take part in internships, apprenticeships or even night classes related to their areas of interest.
Westerman said the district hopes to modify its approach to advising career and technical education. Beckwith said the district can learn more moving forward and strive to improve every semester.
"We continue to do that, but I think we have watered down that process across career and technical education," Westerman said. "We have tried to group different career areas into one big advisory board to advise the whole CTE program at a school.
"You go back to the early days and look a long time ago, what worked really well was you had specific industry that was advising specific courses in school. That is really what my vision is, that we move back to that."
Sullivan spoke of Reynolds' work with Magnet Cove schools in the past. He studied how the school's shop was equipped to prepare students for work with Reynolds.
"We have got to get back to that mindset," Sullivan said. "I think something else, what we are trying to create with this whole conversion charter change, is we are looking at those students' PSP -- a Personalized Success Plan."
Beckwith said the personalized plans are a key aspect of the charter schools. The district began with plans to convert the high school to a charter school, but believed the career plans should begin at the middle school level. He said exposure to different career fields is important for students to identify their interests.
"Not only are our kids learning what they want to do, but they are also learning what they don't want to do," Beckwith said. "Counselors do have a lot on their plate with testing and that kind of stuff today, but everybody is invested in what that kid wants to do.
"We want to take out as much guesswork about what that kids wants to do or become when they get out of high school. We know we are not going to take all of it out of there, but if we can eliminate a lot of it, we want to be able to do that."
Sullivan said school employees plan to be honest with students in relation to their aptitudes and their career plans. Beckwith said interaction with professionals has provided valuable information for students.
"The Q and A is very enlightening to these kids," Beckwith said. "We can tell them all day as educators. And when you got somebody from the career field that comes in and says, 'Hey, this is what it takes.' I think what has been kind of neat for me, the three that I have sat in, the questions have gotten a lot better from our kids."
Beckwith said he has seen students transition from asking basic questions about visitors' professions to higher level questions about their interests and education. The school intends to interact with students after high school to learn how they benefited from their education.
Local on 05/24/2015