Several educational departments of Blytheville High School joined forces Wednesday to host their semi-annual community advisory committee breakfast.
Janice Hudson-Owers, business educator, served as host for the meeting, which brought together professionals from many different vocations into the school to evaluate the training being given to students.
"I hold these meetings because I want to know if what I'm teaching these kids will be useful in the community," Owers said.
The community advisory committee helps educators determine if the courses being offered at BHS will serve not only the students but the community in the future.
"The community advisers come in to help us zero in on the needs of the community," she said.
The event also helps BHS show the community the range of educational programs being offered in Blytheville schools.
"We have the largest business and marketing program in northeast Arkansas," Owers said of BHS. In fact, the district's program is the second largest in the state, she added.
The breakfast also provides an opportunity for some school organizations, such as the Family and Consumer Sciences and Future Farmers of America, to practice their skills.
Members of the two organizations cooked breakfast for the meeting Wednesday and their sponsors spoke of the groups' importance to the community.
Both groups, as well as others at the school, require community service as part of their membership dues. The FFA chapter has 56 members and was awarded first place in the state's million hours community service competition.
Sponsor Ben Rutherford explained that one million hours is the ultimate goal nationwide. BHS' FFA chapter is well on the way to meeting that goal. The group performed nearly 3,000 hours of community service during the last school year alone.
"We're not the biggest program in the state," Rutherford said of BHS FFA. "But we're certainly active."
After a brief introduction, those attending broke into small groups and evaluated the current programs and courses being offered at the school. Suggestions for improvements and deletions were well-taken by the educators.
That was the purpose of the meeting, Owers sad.
"We want to make sure we turn out children with quality educations so they can be productive members of society."
dhilton@blythevillecourier.com