Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Program Works With Educators, Industry

A program exists to help bridge the distance between education and industry.

The "Bridging the Gap" Program was discussed by Clayton Cranston, director of economic development at Henderson State University, at the regular meeting of the Gurdon Rotary Club Thursday.

Cranston said companies across Arkansas voice the same complaint about the quality of the available work force it can't handle new technology. The same, unfortunately, can be said today.

According to Cranston, Bridging the Gap began as an outreach-type program 11 years ago to try and answer the problem of getting a trained work force for industry.

The first idea, he said, was to try and reach teachers in public schools see if they would work to impart the kind of knowledge students would need when entering the world of work.

This didn't work because of the 1,000 companies in Arkansas surveyed, all different needs and a variety of specialized training.

So, this idea was pushed aside and the group began looking in a different direction. Cranston said the problem was finding one program to address the needs of all of the industry.

Fortunately, the survey also showed one key element all industry needed people with basic skills in communication and math. With these skills, Cranston said, businesses could train the employees in the specialized areas.

With this knowledge in hand, the Bridging the Gap program came into existence.

But this didn't mean the problem had been solved. It meant, instead, the work was just getting started.

Cranston's group again returned to teachers and found most had never had a job outside the world of academia and especially not in the area of manufacturing.

He told the Rotarians 50 percent of graduating high school students will attend college. Of this, 50 percent will drop out and not finish. This means 75 percent of high school graduates may complete some form of training, but will definitely be looking for work.

Cranston said the problem was approached on a simple level teach the teachers the skills companies would need for their workers on a local level, so when the students graduated they could be further trained by the industries for the available jobs.

This would get the graduating high school students into the job world at entry level positions so they could learn what would be required of them and advance accordingly.

Teachers, in the program, are taken to a "boot camp" at Petit Jean Mountain and are exposed to people from industry's private sector. The teachers then go through a six-week internship with companies to learn what is required.

The teachers must keep a journal and "build a bridge" for their classes.

The program, Cranston said, costs the state nothing, as the funds for it are raised locally.

Last year, he said, 50 industries and 80 teachers participated in it, with even more wanting to get involved this year. However, the program is limited to five teachers from each participating school district. These instructors are selected by the superintendents of their districts.

Teachers in the program are paid a stipend and given three hours of college credit. Being in this program, he said, acts as their summer in-service.

This program, Cranston said, is not affiliated with the Arkansas Department of Education.

"We must find a way to do a better job of sending our children from school with better skills," he said. The main skills needed are reading, writing and mathematics. The math needs to involve the ability to measure accurately, he added.

"We try to impress upon the teachers to do a better job teaching these skills. I think the program will spread statewide."