The quality and variety of workforce development initiatives taking place in eastern Lake County schools is impressive.
We arrived at that conclusion after reading a News-Herald story recounting how local educators spoke about their workforce development efforts at the Eastern Lake County Chamber of Commerce’s State of the Communities event on Nov. 12.
Superintendents from the Educational Service Center of the Western Reserve, Auburn Career Center, and the Fairport Harbor, Madison, Painesville City, Perry and Riverside school districts shared updates with the audience, The News-Herald’s Bryson Durst reported.
Some of the highlights included information provided by:
• Auburn Career Center Superintendent Joe Glavan: He said that growth in the center’s enrollment can have an impact on local employment.
The center enrolls 2,000 students, and Glavan said that the last two years have seen its highest enrollment since it was founded in 1965. It has also seen 36 percent enrollment growth over the past five years.
“Ultimately for us, the more students we can bring out to Lake and Geauga and train them, showcase these careers, it’s a better opportunity we have to hopefully retain them and have them stay working in our county,” he said.
Those students can participate in Auburn’s 23 high school programs and 21 adult programs, he added. The center also offers customized training in partnership with local employers.
After graduating, Glavan said that 98 percent of high school students are either employed, enrolled at a two- or four-year university or enlisted in the military within six months. Auburn has an 85 percent post-program employment rate for its adult students.
• Painesville City Schools Superintendent Josh Englehart: He said the district has “experienced a tremendous amount of improvement in measured outcomes” in recent years.
“I attribute much of that improvement to the expansion and enrichment of our career readiness programming,” Englehart said.
While he said Auburn is the center of Painesville’s career development efforts, the school district also offers its own classes. The district partners with Lake Erie College to offer state-tested nursing assistant and heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration classes for students, with St. James Episcopal Church for a culinary arts program and with Painesville City for a construction course.
The district’s improved outcomes have come at the same time that it has increased career programming, Englehart said. Chronic absenteeism has dropped by about 20 percentage points since the pandemic and is now below the statewide rate.
He added that its graduation rate is the highest it has ever been in the state report card era, reaching 96.1 percent last school year.
• Perry Schools Superintendent Todd Porcello: He said the district’s goal is to see all students graduate ready for a viable career or college. The district aggressively pursues state and federal grant funding to offer career-focused programs.
The district offers the Paxton-Patterson Lab at Perry Middle School, which Porcello said provides hands-on modules in fields like nursing, engineering and robotics for seventh- and eighth-grade students.
Perry has also worked with Lake Erie College and Lincoln Electric on a welding program, and he said that the certifications students are earning have exceeded educator expectations.
“Not only are kids learning the essential skill of welding and being marketable out there, but they’re learning about life, they’re learning what skills are needed to be successful in workplace,” Porcello said.
He added that other opportunities include courses in home renovation, certified nursing assistance and service learning.
• Riverside Schools Superintendent Chris Rateno: He said the district is focused on “building tomorrow’s workforce today.” One way it has done that has been to partner with local businesses to develop a “Portrait of a Riverside Beaver,” including the skills that are important for students.
Rateno said that the district starts its career pathway with a second-grade career exploration fair. Later in their studies, the district aims to prepare high school students to figure out what they want to and what they don’t want to do.
Riverside offers learning opportunities in fields like medical careers, transportation and construction, he said. It also integrates certifications into its general education courses, gives students chances to lead community events and shows students what their futures look like with the growth of artificial intelligence.
“We believe in personalized learning, that’s a passion for us,” Rateno said.
He added that the district is also opening a new career-technical education wing next year. It will house courses in manufacturing, healthcare careers and construction.
In conclusion, The News-Herald commends school districts in eastern Lake County for their ambitious efforts to offer innovative, interesting and meaningful workforce development opportunities for students. We also believe that the Eastern Lake County Chamber of Commerce’s State of the Communities event provided a great opportunity to raise awareness about these important educational programs.
