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LISBON -- Educators and business leaders from around the area met this past week to talk about future partnerships linking local schools to the businesses providing the jobs future graduates will be filling.
The event named Business/Education Vision Casting 2019 "Prepared for Success" marked the one-year anniversary of the Columbiana County Business Advisory Council, a group formed through the Educational Service Center. The group meets quarterly with committees meeting on more of a monthly basis.
Led by Howard Rohleder, the chairman of the Business Advisory Council, the event included speakers from both businesses and educators talking about the difficulties in getting students ready for the jobs actually in the area.
Rohleder started the event off with some numbers, noting 16 percent of the 1,200 Columbiana County students currently in the ninth grade will graduate from college with a four-year degree they will actually use in their career. That number is out of the 380 students, who actually completed their degree, a number of which are thinking I have all this student debt and nothing to show for it. Another 330 local students who will attend college, but never finish. About 390 students will graduate from high school, but will not go onto any additional school and 100 will not graduate at all.
Additionally, Rohleder said Ohio's current test results include the prepared for success indicator, which is more of a measure of whether the student is prepared for a four-year college.
Two schools in Mahoning County received a C on this indicator and all the others in Columbiana and Mahoning County got a D or an F. Rohleder cited figures that 520 out of the 608 schools in Ohio received a D or an F, while only nine schools from the wealthiest suburbs of Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati received an A.
Rohleder also made a correlation between the wealth of those living in a school system and the ability of students to achieve on these tests, noting the median income in Columbiana County is less than $30,000, a figure less than half of the median income of $69,632 in Ohio in 2017.
The speakers who followed at the Business Advisory Council focused on a number of topics, including how to get more students interested and trained for numerous manufacturing jobs available in the county. Speaking on behalf of U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, Sarah Keeler said they have sponsored some events in other counties where they work with manufacturers to have open houses for students to tour facilities and learn about the jobs.
State Rep. Tim Ginter also said legislators are looking at the ways to improve education in the state, including career tech education, and make sure students are not falling through the cracks while employers are "screaming for employees."
He spoke of one bill that would require high schools to have two events per year where both employers and universities could come out to speak with students about their futures. Additionally he talked about changes to graduation requirements and allowing students to use a computer science class to meet a particular requirement.
Additionally, Ginter talked about the upcoming budget and how the formula needs to be changed overall, not just tweaked from year to year.
Rohleder gave some other figures, including how manufacturing is still the largest employers in Columbiana County and how our population is aging, leading to fewer people in the labor force. At this point 61 percent of the people who live in Columbiana County and work, leave the county each day for their job.
The event included information from Executive Director Penny Traina about what the Port Authority's role is in the county and some of the current and future projects, which are going to mean jobs here.
ESC Superintendent Anna Marie Vaughn talked about the county-wide survey and how the county's children are losing their sense of a positive identity, as well as increasing in engaging in some risk taking behaviors such as eating disorders, depression and attempted suicide.
Vaughn also talked about some of the positive programs currently happening through the ESC and in local schools to try to counteract the problems and train students in work-related skills.
Dean David Dees of Kent State University's Salem and East Liverpool branches spoke about the problems facing students as well. Dees talked about education beginning in the 1980s when schools were told students were at risk of falling behind students in Japan and China to today where students are tested repeatedly to keep their schools accountable.
Dees said there are many myths involved in all of this, including whether test scores actually measure good teaching and learning or just the poverty of the district. When Columbiana County students come to the KSU branches, Dees said 88 percent need some form of developmental education courses to catch up with what is expected.
Dees also talked about the Rural Scholars program, which began about 17 years ago. Through the program a local nominated student going into 7th grade and dealing with economic hardship can receive mentoring and a free education at the branches later. The program is supported by foundations in the community and has been successful with 107 students going through the program.
What Dees said is important is finding something students are passionate about and teaching them the perseverance to succeed when things go wrong.
The council also heard from Robert Kimpel and three others who are a part of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes about their program, which sends mentors who bring love and morals into the schools.
Additionally, Mark Lamoncha, the CEO of Humtown Products and a newly appointed member of the Ohio School Board, talked about the partnership between businesses and education. Lamoncha, who has been involved in the 3-D printing, which is now being taught in local schools through a Straight A grant partnership, talked about the importance of developing your team members not just in technology, but to become the best they can be.
Tony Miranda, the CEO of SilverApple, was the last speaker, talking about a program partnering businesses with teachers. The program encourages teachers to engage students in problem solving. Teachers bring a real-life business or manufacturing problem into their classroom and allow students to try to come up with the steps to resolve it.
While the Business Advisory Council may not have resolved the partnership difficulties between local businesses and education, the group has created a list of ways people can get involved in bridging the gap.
djohnson@mojonews.com