Institutes

Mission: Better Jobs at Better Pay
  September 14, 2006

A group of NW Florida education leaders took a school bus to tour the CHOICE Institutes at Niceville, Crestview, and Choctaw. They are interested in participating in a WIRED grant to help start CHOICE in their areas.

School Board member Cindy Frakes (foreground) and Chairman Cathy Thigpen (right) listen to a presentation about Crestview's broad range of CHOICE courses. Standing: Wayne Harris, Director of the Crestview Chamber of Commerce.

CHOICE Director Jeff Scroggins explains the rigorous requirements for NCCER certifications, earned by students at the CHOICE Construction Institutes. On his right, Linda South, Director of Florida's Agency for Workforce Innovation.

CHOICE Aerospace Dean Leo Murphy points out that classes are taught by real pilots, meteorologists and flight physicians. Some students have already earned FAA Ground Control certification.

Superintendent Don Gaetz stresses the importance of latching education to the economy. The CHOICE program has had great success with students, teachers and business leaders, because it prepares students for both college and the workforce.

“Everyone deserves a shot at the American dream. We have a moral obligation to these kids,” stated Board member Cindy Frakes, addressing a group of educational leaders, who toured Okaloosa’s CHOICE Institutes with Agency for Workforce Innovation Director Linda South. 

About twenty educators from Leon to Escambia County visited the CHOICE facilities to get a better glimpse of how to provide career education that is tough enough to prepare students for college, and practical enough to enable them to walk out of high school with the knowledge and skills that area business leaders need in their employees.

The visitors are interested in replicating the CHOICE model in their own counties. Thanks to the WIRED (Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development) initiative of the US Department of Labor, the schools can apply for up to $500,000 in matching grants for the start-up costs of  launching their own CHOICE institutes. The grant is administered by Florida’s Great Northwest, a non-profit organization which allies business, academic and economic development leaders.

Up until now, there has been a significant divide between education and the workforce. Most students graduating from high school don’t obtain the specialized knowledge they need to flourish in well-paying jobs. Meanwhile, companies experience great difficulty finding the skilled workers they need to be successful in an increasingly competitive global economy.

While about half of all Florida students continue on to college, less than half of that number will follow through to graduation. If they have no specialized skills to offer, they remain mired in low-paying jobs, with little hope for advancement.

“We’re not doing enough to latch education to the economy,” explained Superintendent Don Gaetz. “Education has to be a full partner in the development of the economy."

Industry certification is a key component of the CHOICE model. It demonstrates to businesses that their employees are truly competent in their field. All of the CHOICE programs include industry certification, which means that students are learning what they need for success in the real world. By partnering with post-secondary institutes and the local Workforce Board, CHOICE Institutes guarantee that the education they provide is both relevant to industry and rigorous enough to merit post-secondary credit.

“This is a cause, a mission, a movement,” emphasized Dr. Frank Fuller, Assistant Superintendent of Non-Traditional Schools.

One of the key obstacles blocking students is the ever-increasing number of core courses they are required to take for graduation, which leaves them very little space for electives. Fuller believes that students would be better served if courses such as CHOICE’s college-level Meteorology or Flight Physiology could substitute for high school biology or earth science.

He noted the irony of the fact that a simple call from a guidance counselor in Florida to an unseen counselor out-of-state can mean the adjustment of a course name to meet the requirements of graduation, yet the state does not currently recognize rigorous college-accredited courses and national industry certification as fulfilling those same core requirements.

“Career Education can’t live in the margins this way,” stated Fuller. “We have got to get equivalencies through the DOE. Remember: the students still have to pass the FCAT. That's the quality control.”

The response of business to the CHOICE model has been enthusiastic. Workforce Florida, Chambers of Commerce and business leaders all recognize the necessity of having highly skilled workers and support CHOICE in many ways, from classroom visits by specialists in the various fields, to donations of cash and classroom equipment. Most significantly, they offer CHOICE students  internships and jobs at higher-than-average wages.

Wayne Harris, Executive Director of Crestview’s Chamber of Commerce, says businesses tell him that the program works. “It gives them employees who are ready to work,” he told the group.