Institutes

CHOICE Talks business at EDC Breakfast
  February 20, 2007

Monesia Brown spoke to the gathering about the importance of communication between educators and business leaders. She was appointed by Governor Charlie Crist to lead the Agency for Workforce Innovation.

School Board member Cindy Frakes told the group that the majority of jobs being created require more than a high school degree and less than a four year degree.

CHOICE IT students answered questions about their program, which prepares them to become web designers, programmers or network technicians. Some of them have outsourced certain projects to India.

At the Construction Technology Institute, students prepare to become either construction managers, architects, engineers or professional tradesmen.

CHOICE Aviation students prepare for FAA ground control certification and train on the same software used by pilots. They can choose from a vast array of careers in the growing field.

They answered questions about their studies and certifications underneath the CHOICE Institute banners, looking every bit like business people at a trade fair. Okaloosa's CHOICE students were a hit at the Economic Development Council (EDC) breakfast at the Emerald Coast Conference Center last Friday. The students enjoyed the exposure to the business world, a rare opportunity at their age.

"I liked being able to interact with business people and hearing what the demands are for what we do here," said IT senior Brad Barker.

"It was good to see all the potential work out there and what kinds of companies need IT support," agreed senior Curt Lavigne.

"It made me feel kind of useful to see that a seventeen year-old knows how to run a computer system that businesses would die without," added junior Cassie Robison.

The close partnership between business and education is one of the key elements of the success of the CHOICE program, which allows students to earn high school credit, college credit and industry certification all at the same time.

The EDC breakfast was sponsored by Workforce Florida, one of the CHOICE program's greatest supporters. One of the key goals of CHOICE is to ensure that businesses have a voice in the skills that students are learning at school, so that once they graduate, they have what it takes to flourish in the "real world," and businesses have a field of qualified workers to choose from. 

The students' classes are designed to incorporate industry standard software, like Microsoft, Adobe, and Oracle for IT, AutoCAD for the Construction Technology Institute and flight simulators for the Aerospace Institute. They are not just learning to use the software, the certifications they earn prove to employers that they are experts at what they do.  

Businesses along the Emerald Coast and throughout Florida have great difficulty finding qualified workers in certain fields. The CHOICE team works closely with Workforce Florida to identify key growth industries which offer higher than average wages. Workforce researches the needs of the business community and CHOICE Institute deans ensure that the curriculum addresses those needs. Through internships, field trips and classroom visits, the partnership with businesses continues to enrich the program, benefiting both students and employers.

Workforce Development Board Vice-Chair Al Ward spoke to the gathering about the necessity of businesses becoming involved in education, in order to build the workforce that serves them. "Economic development is the sum of all the success of businesses. One of the keys to success is having qualified workers," he said. "We can't expect to  have qualifed workers come knocking at our door, especially when we have 2% unemployment. There are people who are willing to work and we have jobs, but we don't have qualified people to fill them."

School Board member Cindy Frakes spoke about the early days of CHOICE, when a Haas Center survey showed that there was a real need for the education system to prepare the local workforce in ways that would meet their needs. The creation of the CHOICE program was a direct result of that finding. Now in its third year of operation, CHOICE continues to attract support because of its unique capability of filling actual business needs in the local environment and because industry certification is becoming the yardstick for measuring certain sought-after skills.

Florida's recently appointed Director of the Agency for Workforce Innovation, Monisia Brown, praised CHOICE for its innovative partnership with the business world. "I'm looking forward to working with you to take it statewide," she said.

CHOICE currently has four institutes:

• Construction Technology Institute: for future architects and engineers, construction managers and qualified tradespeople;
• Aerospace Institute: for future pilots, navigator, ground control crew, UAV engineers
• Information Technology: for future web designers and developers, programmers and network technicians and engineers;
• Creative Arts Institute: for future illustrators, graphic designers, art directors and web designers

There are several "pre-institutes" that are preparing students to enter other fields: Hospitality (Salon & Spa and Culinary Arts), Utilities, Allied Health, Manufacturing and Automotive. All are preparing students to continue on with their studies at the post-secondary level or to enter the workforce straight after high school.

"Our students are not competing against the kid sitting next to them, like you and I did," Superintendent Alexis Tibbetts reminded the group. "They are competing with students in countries like China, Singapore and Pakistan. Our nation cannot remain strong if our children are not innovators."