Notes from Community Stakeholders' Discussion Session
Community Stakeholders hold a lively discussion during their breakout session.
Ruth Baker and Robert Gibbs, facilitators, led a small group discussion that brought forth these ideas:
Demographic changes
- Hispanic, etc.
- What is impact on educational system?
- How can system adjust to this change?
- How can needed changes be adopted and implemented?
- Included = aging
- what are their educational needs?
- what resources do they bring?
- how does this shift change tax base?
- how do these shifts affect our sense of "place" and trend toward "place-based education?"
- differences in how different groups value education
What is "place-based education," how do we learn more about it and might it be appropriate for our region?
Attitudes toward education: some don't value it.
- Lack of high-paying jobs; some don't see the point
"Chicken and egg" problem
- Lack of high-paying jobs/lack of skilled workers to fill these jobs (construction, manufacturing)
- Also work ethic issues
- An obstacle to economic development
Are our schools teaching the right skills to fill available jobs?
- Entrepreneurship?
- Who's guiding the non-college-bound kids?
- Do we need to change our concept of guidance counseling?
- How to better connect kids to post-graduation opportunities?
- How do $ streams and testing influence this?
Timely communication, planning and information dissemination across region
- Throughout region re: education and training opportunities
- Between education and industry re: needs: Who should have what role?
- How do we do this regionally?
- Role of schools in community
Pail 1: context for educating
- Demographic
- Economic
- etc.
Pail 2: Community/regional planning and collaboration
- attitude
- dissemination
- education and industry
- connect learners to workforce
- "place-based" education
School's role in community
- after school program
- larger education role (adult continuing education, community activities)
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