The Knoxville Chamber has released a report detailing the Workforce + Education Summit Follow Up Meeting events.
Various task forces and groups were created from this event, and will continue to meet to discuss the challenges and issues facing education and workforce.
Three upcoming high school freshmen students visited the Knoxville Chamber as part of Knox County Schools “Schooled for Success” program.
This program’s purpose is to introduce entering HS freshman to career opportunities. The program is conducted each year after school gets out at various local businesses.
The student’s that participated in the Chamber's events were Abby Burroughs, Carter Middle School; Preston Johnson, Holston Middle School; and Marc Cooper, Powell Middle School.
The student’s spent two work days at the Chamber offices, during which time they had a tour of the building, interviewed staff members in various departments, conducted an internet scavenger hunt of the Chamber website and completed a project. The project was to create a brochure that can be used by the school counselors to help students understand what the chamber does and why it is important to the region.
The Crossville Chronicle recently ran a story about a meeting Mitch Steenrod, VP/CFO of Pilot Travel Centers, held with Crossville residents about education.
According to the Crossville Chronicle, "Steenrod wants to see a cause and effect from funding for public education. He said the Knox County school system is instituting a new accounting system that will allow them to know the total costs down to the building level ... Knox County is also trying to integrate the value added scores from standardized test into the data reports to be able to look at educational success.
"Steenrod added he felt If taxpayers can be shown the results coming from their investment, they are much more likely to be comfortable with their tax money supporting the school system.
" 'The business community is telling the schools what they want in their employees,' said Steenrod. 'Those things are communications skills, decent math skills plus confidence and problem solving skills.' "
Read the Crossville Chronicle story about Steenrod's meeting in Crossville.
Knoxville Chamber CEO and president Mike Edwards recently participated in an education roundtable conversation with other community leaders, which was held by the Knoxville News Sentinel.
The group discussed issues facing East Tennessee public education and what steps need to be taken to ensure a bright future for the region.
Edwards said, "Well today … we can't write off 50 percent. So, whatever we've been doing that doesn't work has to end. And I think by the time we strip it all down we're going to have to get to individualized learning and individualized teaching. We've got to build a model that will do that."
Read an edited transcript from the News Sentinel's quarterly business roundtable.
The Education and Workforce Summit will take place on March 24 at 8 a.m. in the Knoxville Convention Center.
Everyone in the community is welcome and encouraged to come -- parents, educators, students, business people, community leaders and faith-based institutions.
To register, click here.
The goals of the daylong summit are to outline what the region's future workforce looks like, to identify the barriers that may be standing in the way of achieving such a workforce, and for each attendee to leave with a plan of how he or she can individually contribute to the overall goal of developing a skilled and educated workforce.
Note: The following is from Arthur Stewart at ORAU, who shared the comments he received after the recent Science Bowl competition.
The Vols4STEM site identified the 2008 Tennessee Science Bowl as an event worthy of volunteer efforts.
Here are some comments from coaches who brought teams to the competition:
“Our students had a wonderful time and we look forward to participating next year, possibly even with two teams! Our hats off to you and the staff who worked to make this weekend a success." -- Analice H. Sowell, Memphis University School
"My students and I had a great time competing and experiencing the whole event. Thank you for all the time and effort that went into planning it and please pass my appreciation on to all the volunteers and sponsors. It was an amazing experience for the ten students I brought along from our school. Only three are seniors, so most are already looking forward to 2009." -- Laurette Carle, Independence High School
"Thanks for a great tournament this weekend. Although my team did not make it into the playoff rounds, my students enjoyed the experience and are already looking forward to next year's tournament." -- Joe Meko, Franklin Road Academy
“The kids are already planning for next year and have requested to be in more advanced science and math classes so they can be more competitive. My JV captain (rising sophomore) has signed up for 2 AP classes and he has challenged every member of his team to reach outside their comfort zone take at least one honors science or math class next year. You may have created a monster.” -- Bob Gant, Morristown Hamblen High School East
The competitions included 54 teams of students from 34 high schools across the state and involved more than 200 volunteers and 30 sponsors. The Tennessee Science Bowl clearly energizes and rewards the coaches and students, to Tennessee’s longer-term science-education benefit. The event cannot be made sustainable without sustained sponsor assistance.
In its continuing series of guest columns on education, this week's Knoxville News Sentinel featured Bob Hirche, president of ICMAS Inc.
Hirche's suggestions on education are two-fold: allocate monies to necessary programs such as reading programs for elementary schools, and look at how teachers are respected by students and as seen by the benefits given to those in the position.
Hirche mentioned that Ireland had a superior method of education in which teachers were paid more and were respected by the community and the students.
Hirche writes, "I would suggest that what we need to do to improve public education in Tennessee is already out there; we just need to have the will to adopt and execute."
The Public School Forum, an organization concerned with ensuring Tennessee's schools are implementing best practices in education, has launched a new website.
The site features three public service commercials, two of which include Tennessee Lady Vol women's basketball coach Pat Summitt. The announcements concern raising educational standards and equipping students with the right knowledge and equipment to succeed in their studies.
The commercials are currently airing on seven East Tennessee television stations, and can be re-viewed on the site. The site is supported by the Knoxville Chamber and the Great School Partnership.
Science Magazine recently featured a story about a Chicago utility company and its executives donating money to a open a math and science charter high school.
The company hopes to both do good in the community and prepare students for the types of positions the company knows that it needs to fill in the future.
According to the article, the executives are taking a hands-on approach to the school and monitoring its success.
U.S. Chamber President and CEO Tom Donohue had a column this week about the lack of financial education in American public schools. He said that this leads to poor financial decisions for adults who do not know better.
Donohue writes, "For too long, America's education system has failed to equip students with the knowledge they need to make good financial decisions. An alarming number of adults are unable to balance a checkbook, understand the terms of a basic mortgage, realize the benefits of compound interest, and properly manage credit card debt. Today we are suffering the consequences."
Tennessee's State Board of Education this year added personal finance to the curriculum for high school students, along with additional courses in math, science and foreign languages.
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