Moving Forward

State effort will boost St. Landry career training program Photo

State effort will boost St. Landry career training program

A new state effort to enhance career and technical education will lend additional support to an initiative in St. Landry Parish and across Acadiana to build a skilled and credentialed workforce, local leaders say.


The new state effort is a strengthened version of the Jump Start program established five years ago to improve career and technical education for high school students. That first program was the catalyst for a big increase in the number of students pursuing career education and earning important industry-based credentials.

It dovetails nicely with an initiative put forward by a local consortium of educators and business, civic and government leaders to give workers in St. Landry Parish and across the area the skills they need to advance themselves and build a stronger regional economy, according to Bill Rodier, St. Landry economic development director.

The goal of that initiative is to increase the proportion of working adults in the region who earn post-secondary degrees, professional certificates, or other high-value credentials to 55 percent by the year 2025.

Jump Start 2.0 seeks to build on the success of the first program and to do away “with the last vestiges of stigma associated with pursuit of a career education,” according to State Education Supt. John White.

“Jump Start has fundamentally changed the opportunities available to young people in Louisiana,” White said in a statement. “However, it remains the case that too often those credentials are not translating into full-time employment after high school.”

The new program is also aimed at high school counselors who are reluctant to place students in Jump Start courses, according to the draft proposal prepared by the Louisiana department of education.

“Louisiana is not fully preparing all students for their next step, [and] a stigma around [Career and Technical Education] remains,” according to the department.

The goal of Jump Start 2.0 is to “ensure [that] students graduate with real-world experience, rigorous and valued credentials, and a plan for the future.”

Goals for, Jump Start 2.0 include:

  • That every Jump Start Career Diploma student who graduates will have demonstrated success in the workplace, and be prepared them to work in a high-wage, high-growth industry.
  • That every Louisianan will know and value the Jump Start Career Diploma path as much as the TOPS University path. 
  • That community leaders will create systems that bridge education and employment.

Rodier noted that these goals “are very much aligned” with those of Acadiana’s “55 by 25” effort, which stems from studies that show that 65 percent of the jobs in the United States require education beyond high school.

He also pointed out that both “55 by 25” and Jump Start 2.0 go hand-in-hand with a new focus in Louisiana on two-year colleges such as LSU-Eunice and South Louisiana Community College. He said the that schools serving St. Landry Parish have been consistent leaders in providing courses that give students the degrees and credentials they need for successful careers.

“These programs all recognize the need for education and training, no matter which career path a student may choose,” he said. “We have come to recognize that not everyone needs a college degree, but that education and training are necessary for mastery of the skills needed for a rewarding career.”

Three things to know about this story:

  1. The new state effort is a strengthened version of the Jump Start program established five years ago to improve career and technical education for high school students.
  2. The new program is also aimed at high school counselors who are reluctant to place students in Jump Start courses,
  3. It dovetails with an initiative put forward by a local consortium of educators and business, civic and government leaders to give workers in St. Landry Parish and across the area the skills they need to advance themselves.

 

 

 

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