With a little help from Whitewater High School German teacher Patrick Wallace, Fayette County became the first stop of the 2015 Georgia Skills Initiative Road Show on Feb. 9.
The road show is designed to highlight work skills needed now and in the future and to initiate discussion on how businesses and schools can build partnerships that will allow students to get skills-based instruction in real-world settings. The partnerships will also provide businesses with potential employees.
Wallace, who delivered a welcome statement to the road show officials at the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce, is a firm believer that business-school partnerships need to become a fundamental part of the educational process to prepare students for real-life work settings. He has been successful at building partnerships with local German companies to provide apprenticeship opportunities for his students. He says he would like to see more of these partnerships develop across the school system, as well as the state.
“It is our hope that our success will embolden other programs of its kind to be launched across the state of Georgia, and that enhanced communication between school systems and community industry will take place,” Wallace said.
Presenters at the Road Show included representatives of Grenzebach (a German–based manufacturer of automated systems with a facility in Newnan), Atlanta Technical College, and Go Build Georgia. Also, Lakisha Bonner, work-based learning specialist for Fayette County Public Schools, gave an overview of the school system’s work-based learning programs. Georgia School Superintendent Richard Woods, and General Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany Christoph Sanders attended and made brief statements. Other attendees included Fayette County Schools Superintendent Joseph Barrow, members of the Fayette County Board of Education, local business leaders, and parents of students in the school system.
The Georgia Skills Initiative Road Show will visit communities throughout Georgia in the coming months to promote discussions about work-based learning and apprenticeship programs, and their importance in building a future workforce to meet industry needs while helping to ensure the state’s economic success.
