Minnesota’s Twin Port schools pledge assistance ‘on steroids’ to keep local students at home

High school students in Duluth have long been able to earn college credits by taking post-secondary classes or gain experience through internships or apprenticeships before they graduate Local civic business and educational leaders are putting those efforts on steroids as one school official put it to create a streamlined educational experience they hope will ease students ability to find the development they need and encourage them to stay once their studies are complete As part of the Duluth Promise local constituents schools the city of Duluth s Workforce Improvement Initiative the Duluth Chamber of Commerce the Area Partnership for Economic Expansion and three local colleges and universities will partner to make learning more accessible and help the region fill a growing workforce shortage by getting students who evaluation in Duluth to stay in the port city Part of what I m excited about is the opportunity for all four of the educational segments in the Duluth area to come together to say How do we help the educational aspirations of the group while simultaneously partnering with the locality itself around workforce necessities and helping to really make clear the paths and opportunities that exist around training says Charles Nies chancellor at the University of Minnesota-Duluth He added For me it s the opportunity for all four of us to come together and say Here is how we encouragement the workforce growth in Duluth and here is how we create paths for everyone in the society Clearly laid plans to keep people in Duluth Nies acknowledges that in the past those pathways whether to certain degrees or to financial promotion or to opportunities in the region haven t been as clearly laid out as they should be he says As part of the Duluth Promise the educational institutions which also include Lake Superior College and the College of St Scholastica will partner to make those opportunities clear and transparent so kids know before they become adults that they can go from kindergarten to a master s degree without leaving Duluth That will be especially helpful for students who come from families in which earlier generations didn t go to college says Patricia Rogers president of Lake Superior College Sometimes students will come out of high school and get ready for that step and it s a whole new world for them there s really not a smooth transition she says That could mean for example someone who gets an associate s degree from one of the local institutions before deciding to pursue an advanced degree at another will more easily see credits transfer Or they could take classes at different Duluth institutions simultaneously to progress more swiftly toward their goals or even progress toward and receive that associate s degree before graduating from high school Patricia Rogers Credit Submitted photo This Duluth Promise is not business as usual Rogers says This is us doing something very different and deliberate to make sure students can move between and among our institutions The project will focus initially on three areas including medical care manufacturing and machinery Students will start receiving guidance in high school but can continue seeking assistance as they begin post-high school studies or even mid-career should they decide to seek career advancement or a new direction This is really thinking about the life of the worker recognizing that there are different times where people need on ramps or off ramps to additional training says John Magas superintendent of Duluth Society Schools Sometimes people are late bloomers Sometimes people might get a certified nursing assistance license in high school and decide later they want to become an RN or even go to health school The idea would be to provide guidance and then necessary training so they could fulfill those requirements without leaving Duluth Related To fill schooling deserts more states want area colleges to offer bachelor s degrees The concept is basically a career pathways initiatives on steroids with partnership with both the business public the trades workforce evolution and all of the higher-ed here Magas says We re really trying to get all the players at the table from the get-go and designing it more cohesively than it being islands of work trying to get done Duluth business region on board Magas who joined Duluth schools as superintendent in helped establish a similar initiative Turbocharge that brought academic business and civic bureaucrats together in Green Bay Wisconsin John Magas Credit Submitted photo That plan he says significantly contributed to creating a civilization aimed at ensuring students received the sponsorship necessary to understand afford and have success in post-secondary instruction Participants have not entirely yet defined he says exactly what the business locality s role will be in executing the Duluth Promise It could involve providing students with internships and apprenticeships So far one local company that bought various new welding equipment donated its old lightly used equipment to Lake Superior College so students there could get hands-on training Specifics will clear over time but the concept has the backing of the business group It s high time says Dante Tomassoni director of corporate affairs for Cirrus Aircraft a supporter of the Duluth Promise Related Iron Range on the ropes Mining and school layoffs test the region s resiliency again The economic system is changing and he says it s time schools put out graduates with specific training rather than a generalized mentoring It s good to see university schooling evolving in a way that serves the modern-day workforce Tomassoni says There s a few good foresight there and it s going to be really beneficial for the business region The business neighborhood is going to start to see educated employees come out with the right kinds of skills Seeking state funding Participants are hoping to secure in funding from the state Legislature to help kick-start and coordinate the scheme That hasn t been allocated at this point but that s not going to stop participants from getting started The funding would be a great catalyst or accelerator to what we want to do but we will be doing this with or without state funding Magas says adding that the money would allow faster implementation in potentially more areas of evaluation He thinks this project could draw attention to Duluth from other cities and regions that might benefit from similar collaboration It s not just a Duluth thing he says It s an innovation hub that we could have that could be shared and replicated in other districts The post Minnesota s Twin Port schools pledge assistance on steroids to keep local students at home appeared first on MinnPost