COVER STORY continued from 24 An example is the Students2Work program, in which chamber members offer students a two-month paid internship at their places of business to expose students to the workplace environment and strengthen the “soft skills” students will need for workplace success. “We’ve heard from the business community,” Bradshaw said. “And their goal is to retain our students in the workforce and to have an educated workforce that can actually transition from high school to work.” Richmond County School System’s CTAE program incorporates 16 program areas and 34 career pathways in 11 high schools throughout the district. The district’s most visible program is arguably the four-year-old RPM campus, located in a former county-owned warehouse at 2950 Mike Padgett Highway. RPM, short for “Reaching Potential through Manufacturing,” is a school-towork partnership with Augusta-based Textron Specialized Vehicles that gives at-risk students part-time jobs building components and sub-assemblies for E-Z-GO golf cars and other Textron vehicles as they work toward graduation. Students earn $8 an hour on the manufacturing floor – which is housed in the same building as the classrooms – while learning marketable skills and a work ethic. The main goal, of course, is for the student to earn their diploma. RPM principal Dr. Jason Moore said the program has grown to 100 students and is annually graduating about 60 students, nearly all of whom were potential dropouts. “It has increased the (county’s) graduation rate 1.8% alone,” Moore said. “The message we send to students is ‘You come in behind, but you leave ahead.’” Many graduates end up working full time for Textron’s assembly plant on Marvin Griffin Road and its newer facility at 3646 Mike Padgett Highway, earning $40,000 a year with benefits building the company’s growing line of utility and offroad vehicles. Moore said one RPM graduate who went to work for Textron, a teenage dad, was recently approved for a mortgage. Other RPM graduates have enrolled in Augusta Technical College to further their skills. Some have gone to work for other RPM-Textron student-employees assemble golf cart components at the RPM campus on Mike Padgett Highway, which lets potential dropouts earn their diploma while earning $8 an hour for their work. area manufacturers, such as Kellogg and John Deere. From Moore’s perspective, any student who graduates is a success story, as dropouts account for roughly 80% of the incarcerated population. “Our kids just get out and work,” Moore said. “Even though they may not have gotten that job at that specific place that they want to be, they’re out there working and contributing.” FUTURE JOBS, FUTURE SKILLS Georgetown University’s recent study, “Recovery: Job Growth and <strong>Education</strong> Requirements Through 2020,” shows nearly two-thirds of all jobs do not require a bachelor’s degree. Many of these jobs are lucrative to those with the right skills, such as automobile repair technicians, who can earn up to sixfigure salaries working on complex hybrid vehicles, computer-laden luxury cars and high-tech driverless vehicles. Turning students on to “blue collar” jobs is challenging because for years parents and students have been told the only path to a meaningful career is through four-year universities, said Al Young, the district’s CTAE coordinator. The result has been a worker shortage in many skilled-trade industries. U.S. Department of Labor figures show an excess of 1.1 million available jobs in building trades and craft occupations such as HVAC, plumbing and electrical – none of which require four-year degrees. “None of these jobs are menial jobs – they’re all well-paying jobs,” Young said. “You can make a nice life and, if you still want to go to college, you have the opportunity.” The newly constructed Marion Barnes Skilled Trade Center at T.W. Josey High school offers HVAC, electrical, masonry, welding, plumbing and cosmetology for all district students seeking marketable skills. Dr. Jamie McCord, the principal at Marion Barnes, said students at the center can earn forklift operator certificates and other Occupational Safety and Health Administration credentials that many area employers seek. “If you call up these businesses, the jobs are readily available,” McCord said. Young said the school system is trying to boost CTAE participation by elevating it to the level that other, more highly-regarded high school activities enjoy. “We’re trying to make it ‘cool’ to train toward a workforce-specific skill, just like athletics is ‘cool’ and ROTC is ‘cool,’” Young said. One of the “coolest” programs in the district is cybersecurity, which grew out of the industry’s increased presence in Augusta because of the relocation of Army Cyber Command to Fort Gordon, and the numerous cyber-related companies located in Augusta, such as Unisys, Raytheon and Parsons. Richmond County is the only system in state offering a K-12 computer science curriculum. It also has a stand-alone cybersecurity program, the Cyber Academy of Excellence, which COVER STORY continues on 33 28 | <strong>1736</strong>magazine.com 1117_T_13_AM____.indd 28 10/25/<strong>2019</strong> 11:54:53 AM
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