Local business and industry leaders met with school officials on Thursday to give input on which soft skills they feel students will most need as they enter the work force.
About 18 industry representatives attended the career and technical education advisory meeting at the Siloam Springs High School. Over lunch, they heard a presentation by Ross White, director of the school's career and technical education program, then broke into small groups to brainstorm with teachers about which soft skills are essential to their industry and how to best teach those skills to students.
The Siloam Springs School District's CTE program has six programs of study, including agriculture and career academy of Siloam Springs, business, family consumer science, health science, engineering and audio visual. Students can start taking CTE classes in seventh grade, Ross said.
So far, students have earned a total of 582 industry certifications in areas such as child care, finances, Adobe software and Microsoft software, and from organizations such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Ross said. Last year, 161 students who completed the program graduated. Of those students, 96 are pursuing post secondary education, 26 are employed in a non-related field, 13 are not employed or in post secondary education, three are in the military and the school has lost contact with six students.
The district recently started an internship program that allows high school seniors to work 10 to 15 hours per week in 10 different areas of interest. Highlights of future plans for the CTE program include adding classes about digital and social media, unmanned aircraft, marketing and small business operation.
Ross told industry representatives that a survey of managers found that 77 percent of employers said soft skills were just as important as hard skills when making hiring decisions and 16 percent said they were more important. He explained that managers don't mind teaching employees new technical skills on the job, but expect employees to come equipped with abilities such as work ethic and teamwork. Examples of important soft skills include showing up regularly, arriving on time ready to work, following instructions, showing willingness to learn, performing quality work and completing work in a timely fashion.
After Ross' presentation, industry representatives broke into small groups to meet with a teacher who facilitated discussions about topics such as attitude, work ethic, attendance and dress code.
Thursday marked the first time that all industry representatives in the advisory council met as a large group, according to Principal Jason Jones. Previously council members met in smaller, industry specific groups, he said.
Jones said the objective of Thursday's meeting was to get in front of business leaders to thank them for their involvement, and to talk about the next steps the CTE program needs to take.
"Today went overwhelmingly great," he said.
Ross said that the advisory council will meet as a large group annually. The next meeting is planned for next July when teachers will have more time to work with council members. The school will also continue to meet with advisory council members in smaller, industry specific groups at least once a year, Jones said.
General News on 12/03/2017