Tech Center Advisory Panel Launched

      The Allen County Career and Technical Center (ACCTC) welcomed around 50 leaders from industry, business, and the community Monday morning for the first meeting of the community advisory panel.

   The panel is a partnership between the Tech Center and community designed to explore ways for greater collaboration between ACCTC teachers and students and the local business and industrial community.

   The panel is divided into nine committees---agriculture, automotive, business/marketing, drafting, family and consumer science, health services, industrial maintenance, information technology, and welding. Based on a leader’s area of expertise, panel participants were invited to the individual committees which are led by ACCTC instructors.  

  “There are a lot of good things coming in career and technical and it’s going to take community awareness and input to drive our curriculum,” explained Allen County-Scottsville High School principal Joseph Cosby in his opening remarks. 

   The leaders in attendance were given a brief overview of the purpose behind the advisory panels and each committee.  

   “The purpose of our advisory committees is to make sure that our school is meeting the needs of the community.” Cosby said. “For example, in Industrial Maintenance, if there is something that Mr. Spears needs to be teaching to get our students ready to go directly from school to the workforce that we are not doing, we want to know about it. We want input. We want to make sure our students are qualified for the workforce. We want to know how we can adjust our curriculum to meet the needs of local industry.”

   Cosby pointed out that the advisory panels are the ones who can offer the school the feedback needed to better prepare students for the type of workforce that industry and business is looking for. Questions that the advisory committees will be asked to answer include, are students prepared for future job markets, what training should be included, is the current curriculum addressing industry needs, and how ACCTC instructors verify competencies to industry standards.

   “You all are in the trenches every day,” Cosby added. “If you are in industry, you know what’s up to date. You know what’s going on in business and industry every day and we need to know that. We may think we are teaching good technology, but we may actually be behind on things. You know what you are looking for and we want to hear from you.”

   The leaders were given tours of the career and technical classrooms including agricultural and family and science consumer sciences at the high school and the Tech Center---for many, their first walk through of the $11 million facility which opened to students in January of 2015. Teachers were on hand to briefly explain their program, talk about their equipment, and answer questions.

   “With the building of the Tech Center, the Workforce Development grant, support from the Laura Goad Turner Foundation and local industry, we have some of the best programs of any school in the state,” Cosby noted. “Our technology and equipment is some of the best in the state. Our teachers are well-educated in their fields.”

   Cosby also explained that the leaders will be asked to become a “voice” to the community on behalf of the Tech Center. 

   “A lot of people drive by and see this building and don’t know what is going on,” Cosby said. “We want you to be our voice and tell people what is going on here.”

   Once the tours were completed, each individual committee met with ACCTC teachers for their area pathway advisory committee meetings. The instructors further explained the purpose of the committee as well as went into greater detail about their area’s curriculum, program, and activities. The instructors were also able to gather initial feedback from the committee members. The committees will meet again in the spring of 2019.