by nearly 10,000 jobs over five years, this partnership approach has reached unprecedented scale. “We actually have 16 distinct advisory committees that are composed of up to 600 community partners,” says Amy Baker, Executive Director of Career and Technical Education. “Within each of those committees, we work with various local, state, and national partners to make sure that we have that continual industry connection.” The district requires teachers to host industry partners in their classrooms at least twice yearly, creating direct pipelines between education and employment. Healthcare partnerships exemplify the model’s depth. Covenant Health Systems, the region’s largest healthcare provider employing over 5,000 people, offers skills bootcamps, live surgery viewing opportunities, and middle school summer camps. “They help with our middle school lunch and learn events where we bring our industry partners into the middle schools and we let kids engage in handson training,” Baker explains. “They’re touching and using stethoscopes, they’re looking in each other’s ears, they’re taking each other’s temperatures and measuring their heart rates.” The trades programs demonstrate similar industry commitment.“Those partners have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to our facility for training equipment, and then they walk hand in hand with us in coming into the classroom and doing interviews with our students, hiring them for internships, and then hiring them for post-graduation, full-time employment,” Baker notes. CERTIFICATIONS AND REAL-WORLD READINESS Career and Technical Education programs nationwide increasingly focus on industry-recognized credentials that provide immediate workforce entry points. Research shows CTE concentrators are more likely to complete postsecondary degrees and earn higher wages than traditional associate degree recipients, while businesses benefit from programs that directly address skill gaps in high-growth industries. Lubbock ISD has transformed this concept into measurable outcomes that rival university placement rates. “Last school year, we had 1,063 students who earned an industry-based certification that is recognized by the Texas Education Agency,” Baker reports. “Additionally, we had around 550 students who earned college dual credit in our career and technical education programs.” The dual pathway is part of the district’s recognition that modern careers often require both technical skills and continuing education flexibility. The HVAC program illustrates how workforce demands drive curriculum development. “We had folks come in to say,‘Look, we need a workforce. We need people to work,’” recalls Ann Archer, Principal of the Advanced Technology Center. “HVAC was one of those areas where we heard loud and clear that there is a shortage in our area of certified technicians.” Industry partners, including Armstrong Mechanical and Robert Madden Industries, responded by 292 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 08
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