Students and adults in Mississippi County are being offered help with career and education planning through the Arkansas Works program administered here through Arkansas Northeastern College.
"You may have heard about Gov. Beebe's new economic development and education initiative called Arkansas Works," Sherri Bennett, vice president of advancement for ANC, said. "His initiative is a two-pronged approach to help Arkansans at every age. The first part of the initiative is called The College and Career Planning System -- this in an online resource that helps to equip students and adults with information regarding the skills and education required for the opportunities that await them. This online resource provides tools and new information that will guide both career and college plans."
Bennett went on to explain that there are three levels to this online system: Galaxy for elementary kids, Navigator for secondary students, and Journey for adults. Whether a person is a student looking for career ideas, an adult looking for a new career, or a business searching for qualified employees, all Arkansans can find help at the online site at http://arworks.arkansas.gov. This online tool provides resources to search for jobs, explore education and training, and planning for college or careers.
"The second part of the Arkansas Works Initiative is a grant through the Arkansas Department of Career Education, which will fund 12 community college programs placing Career Coaches in the school districts of the 20 poorest counties in the state, hiring a total of 43 coaches," Bennett said. "Arkansas Northeastern College received five of these career coaches through the grant. The grant began Jan. 1, 2010, and will conclude June 30, 2012."
Bennett explained that the five career coaches have been hired to work as ANC employees, serving Mississippi County and Buffalo Island School Districts for a total of seven school districts. She said the coaches are assigned to a primary school location and will work approximately two days per week at their designated schools.
"The ultimate goal of the grant is to increase the number of students attending post secondary education," Bennett said. "Specific objectives will be to increase the college going rate, reduce the remediation rate, increase ACT test scores, and increase the number of students receiving financial aid/scholarships in Arkansas. Placing career coaches in the high school brings post secondary resources directly to the student. The career coach will provide students with assistance for ongoing development of a personal career portfolio, and will connect them with resources to expand their employability skills. This will include job search strategies, professional networking, interviewing techniques, resume building, and portfolio development."
Bennett said some of the benefits of the program will included focused career counseling for students throughout their educational years. She said the initiative will help students not only establish a career plan and e-portfolio online, but will also provide multiple opportunities to revisit and update the career plan each year.
"This career plan will be developed using information regarding each individual's abilities, skills, interest, values and goals all in relation to current labor market information," Bennett explained. "Students will also be advised and encouraged to select a career pathway to explore and to begin building a foundation for a successful future. Making these choices early allows students t build a solid foundation of prerequisite courses needed for their career plan, and can also provide access for early college credit opportunities to occur in high school."
Career Coaches will function under guidance from local planning teams that have been established at each high school to determine specific strategies and interventions to supplement the school's current career planning activities. Bennett said coaches will also work to make stronger connections between industry and education by bringing in guest speakers, by establishing job shadowing programs, internships and apprenticeships programs that will bring workplace relevance to the students.
"Research has shown that early planning leads to a successful career, and thus a better economic future," Bennett said. "Students who plan early and explore career options are more likely to understand the importance of graduating high school, and thus are less likely to dropout; understand the connection between education as preparation for career opportunity; understand the relationship between educational attainment and income; and know what path they want to follow, and thus are less likely to change majors in college multiple times which can waste time and money."
czolman@blythevillecourier.com