Third
Randolph County “Pathways to Prosperity” Project
Will Focus
on Agriculture
ASHEBORO (April 10,
2018) – Asheboro City Schools, Randolph Community College, and the Randolph
County School System unveiled a third pathway focusing on agriculture in their
partnership project, Pathways to Prosperity, at a joint press conference on Tuesday,
April 10 in RCC’s R. Alton Cox Learning Resources Center Auditorium on the
Asheboro Campus.
The project will
include the development of a new associate degree in Agribusiness Technology at
Randolph Community College, said Suzanne Rohrbaugh, vice president for
instruction at RCC, during the event. RCC will be working with local employers,
high schools, and regional universities to develop associated career pathways
to ensure the greatest articulation, according to the plan released today. The
goal is to have the curriculum developed by the end of the 2017-18 school year
so that an application can be submitted to the North Carolina Community College
System for approval. The earliest date for launching the new curriculum would
be fall 2019.
Personnel from all
three school systems, industry partners, and intermediary agencies have been
working on the Agricultural Pathways to Prosperity Plan for months. According
to the Pathways to Prosperity Leadership Team, a strong agricultural climate in
Randolph County, a demand for skilled workers, partnered with the increased
interest in agriculture-related middle and high school classes and clubs helped
them to select agriculture as their next pathway.
Dr. Terry Worrell,
superintendent of Asheboro City Schools, said the agriculture industry has a
$589 million impact in Randolph County. “We believe this pathway will
accomplish three things,” said Worrell, “strengthen the economy, address the
goals of the Randolph County Strategic Plan, and provide a seamless route for
students interested in agriculture careers to obtain certifications and an
associate degree to achieve career and life readiness.”
Dr. Stephen Gainey,
superintendent of the Randolph County School System, said this new partnership
will address “the ever-changing and very competitive field of agriculture,” and
he praised the ability of the three school systems to work together. “Today is
a great day for our community.”
Dr. Julie Pack,
director of secondary education for Asheboro City Schools, explained that the
new pathway will begin by providing students in middle school with exploratory
experiences. But she said there will be on and off ramps, so that students can
start at any point during the pathway.
Nancy Cross, director
of career and technical education and innovative school design for the Randolph
County School System, said, “The goal is to help students have a plan and a
dream. And they can’t dream about something they haven’t experienced.”
Dr. Robert S.
Shackleford, RCC president, welcomed the more than 50 people in attendance at
the press conference, which included state legislators, city and county
officials, and members of the Asheboro City Schools Board of Education, the
Randolph County School System Board of Education, and the Randolph Community
College Board of Trustees.
“If there is anything
we have learned through this process,” said Dr. Shackleford, “it is that we can
do so much more together than we can do individually.”
The project is based
on a report, “Pathways to Prosperity: Meeting the Challenge of Preparing Young
Americans for the 21st Century,” released in 2011 by the Harvard Graduate
School of Education, in which school systems are “called to align Career &
Technical Education (CTE) courses with area and state labor market demands and
create a system of career-focused pathways that span the last years of high
school and at least one year of postsecondary education or training that leads
to an industry-recognized certification or credential.”
The school systems
debuted the project in 2015 with four pathways for advanced manufacturing jobs.
The second initiative in 2016 focused on creating health care pathways.
To read the April 2018
report, “Central North Carolina Pathways to Prosperity: Agriculture,” and the
earlier reports on advanced manufacturing and health sciences careers, go to
www.randolph.edu/pathways-to-prosperity.html.
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