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SubscribeBy Jennifer Brislin – JCPS Communications
Some students gear down their learning when they leave the classroom, but Saif Haqi revs his up.
That’s when the Southern High School senior, a student in the school’s Automotive Engineering Academy, heads to the Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) bus garage, where, as part of his yearlong co-op, he immerses himself in the workings of a professional auto maintenance facility and shadows seasoned mechanics as they maintain the district’s vast fleet of buses.
The job earns him $10 an hour, valuable industry experience, and the opportunity to get his foot in the door with a potential employer.
“I’m learning a lot things, and I’m 70-80 percent certain I want to stay in this job. I really love it,” he said, adding that the work means more to him because “I’m basically doing something for my school.”
That’s just the reaction JCPS is hoping for.
The auto mechanic co-op is just one of 10 apprenticeship programs that JCPS will launch this year in a broad scope of fields, ranging from early childcare and graphic design to information technology and culinary arts.
In fact, “JCPS is offering registered apprenticeships in more industry sectors than any other program sponsor in Kentucky,” according to Diana Jarboe, registered apprenticeship program coordinator with the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet.
The apprenticeships will give students an opportunity to ‘earn as they learn,’ and offer JCPS the chance to develop and hire home-grown talent.
“The talent we’re seeing in our kids is incredible,” said Christy Rogers, JCPS assistant superintendent of transition readiness. “We have a tremendous opportunity to not only reinforce what they’re learning in the classroom with actual hands-on experience, but we can benefit by preparing our own future employees to succeed by training them in the settings they’ll be working under.”
Apprenticeships are one of the core tenets of the JCPS Academies of Louisville initiative, offering students the chance to earn money while they gain vital industry-specific experience.
The move underscores the importance of apprenticeship programs to businesses, which depend on the continued development of workers adept in increasingly technical and high-skilled fields. Employers not only gain experienced workers who are trained to industry and employer-specific quality standards; professional apprenticeship training also reduces turnover, increases productivity and lowers job training costs. Businesses across the country are highlighting the impact of apprenticeship programs as part of National Apprenticeship Week, which runs through Nov. 18.
Randy Frantz, director of transportation for JCPS, said auto mechanics are in high demand, and, with an unemployment rate around 4 percent, it’s difficult to find trained and certified mechanics.
“Hopefully, we’re producing a pipeline for future mechanics,” he said. “And at the end of the co-op, they may just decide to make a career out of being a JCPS mechanic.”
It’s a similar goal in the area of early childhood, where there’s a shortage of highly skilled, qualified educators, according to coordinator Stephanie Johnson. The apprenticeships will lessen the impact of vacancies in the district while allowing students to work with mentors and gain hands-on experience.
“Our hope is to grow our own employees and resolve our own staffing issues through the utilization of our students while they’re in high school,” she said. “And when they graduate, they’ll have the skills necessary to seek gainful employment, and maybe they’ll stay with JCPS.”
John Owen, an automotive instructor at Southern High School, said the apprenticeship opportunities bring real meaning to what students have learned in the classroom. “They’ll be working with an employer who is continually educating these kids; they’re going to grow leaps and bounds,” he said.
The pay may be what entices them, he said, but the practical experience is just as valuable. “An apprenticeship is the end of that long four-year process, where everything comes to fruition. I think it matures them a bit.”
Perhaps most significantly, the students themselves see the benefit of an apprenticeship program. “The students talk about what a great opportunity this is,” said James McCabe, the talent development academy coach at Southern. “This is a success because I know it can lead to a career job for our kids. They could literally work for JCPS if that’s what they want to do.”
JCPS apprenticeship fields include:
- Accounting Technician
- Automotive Technician Specialist
- Cook
- Early Childcare
- Graphic Designer
- Information Technology
- Kentucky Diesel Mechanic Work
- Kentucky Office Manager/ Administrative Services
- Maintenance Repairer, Building
- Medical Assistant
The Southern Automotive Women’s Forum (SAWF) welcomed more than 150 middle school girls from Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) and Clark County, Indiana, on November 13 to its All Girls Auto Know program at the Kentucky Science Center. All Girls Auto Know is a one-day event where SAWF invites middle school girls, along with educator chaperones, to explore the many opportunities that are available to each of them through STEM education and in the automotive industry.
During the event, girls from Knight Middle School and Thomas Jefferson Middle School worked on a hands-on STEM activity and had the opportunity to speak to representatives from automotive manufacturers, automotive suppliers and college training programs. Nearly 2,000 girls from South Carolina and Alabama have participated in this program since its inception in 2011. This is the first time the program has been brought to Kentucky.
“We are excited to bring this program to Kentucky,” said Tami Hatfield, Labor Relations Supervisor for Ford Motor Company at the Louisville Assembly Plant. “There are many opportunities for careers in automotive and it is important that we introduce girls to them.”
Ford Motor Company is the principal sponsor of the All Girls Auto Know event in Kentucky with additional support by the Kentucky Girls STEM Collaborative, Ivy Tech Community College Southern Indiana and Frost Brown Todd LLC.
The Southern Automotive Women’s Forum is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the personal and professional advancement of women in the auto industry.
Fifteen students at Eastern High School scored among the top business students nationwide on rigorous exams to test their business knowledge. The exams are part of the school’s High School of Business™ program, a national accelerated business administration program of MBA Research and Curriculum Center. Approximately 8,000 students from across the nation participated in the program during the 2017-18 school year.
Receiving top scores were:
- Emily Kuprion, Business Economics
- Samuel Ackerman, Business Strategies
- Ali Id Lougssiyr, Business Strategies
- Morgan Dailey, Business Strategies
- Joseph Humphrey, Business Strategies
- Austin Stephens, Business Strategies
- Natalie Buie, Leadership
- Zachary Bivins, Leadership
- Luke Sullivan, Leadership
- Jasmine Warren, Leadership
- Matthew Mitchell, Principles of Business and Principles of Management
- Alec Shaw, Principles of Management
- Hunter Funk, Principles of Management
- Katherine Gerber, Principles of Management
- Nathan Potter, Wealth Management
Students participating in High School of Business™ complete real, hands-on business projects through a series of six courses. The program also includes observational internships, opportunities to earn college credit, and local oversight via a steering team of college faculty, business professionals, and school personnel.
High School of Business™ is a program of MBA Research, a non-profit organization specializing in educational research and the development of business and marketing curriculum for high schools and colleges across the U.S. The accelerated program is designed for college-bound students with interest in business administration careers, such as marketing, finance, entrepreneurship, or management.
For more information about the national organization, click on this link.
Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) will hold its annual Showcase of Schools this weekend, offering parents and students a convenient opportunity to visit with JCPS staff and representatives of each school and get information about optional, magnet and career programs before deciding which school the student will apply to next year.
The Showcase will feature all grades—elementary, middle and high—during the event. The event will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27. It will be held at the Kentucky International Convention Center, North Halls C, Upper Concourse, 221 S. Fourth Street.
Representatives from the Optional, Magnet and Advance Programs Office; Student Assignment; Transportation; Parent Teacher Association (PTA); Academies of Louisville; Diversity, Equity and Poverty Programs, JCPS Backpack of Success Skills, and Demographics will also be available to answer questions and explain application procedures to parents.
“JCPS is a district full of outstanding choices for students and families, and we appreciate the opportunity to show our community all of the great options that are available here,” JCPS Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio said.
The online registration/application period for the 2019-20 school year opens Monday, Oct. 29 and runs until Dec. 19, 2018.
Families can learn more about the school choices available in JCPS here.
Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio announced today that Kevin C. Brown, an attorney with extensive experience with education and administrative law in Kentucky, has been named the district’s general counsel. Brown most recently served as associate commissioner and general counsel for the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE). Brown joins JCPS on November 1 and is the latest hire as part of Dr. Pollio’s restructuring to reflect best practice urban school districts across the country.
“Kevin Brown is a leading expert on education law in this region and the right person to guide our district through legal questions and provide expertise on a variety of matters,” Dr. Pollio said. “His background as associate commissioner and general counsel for KDE will be tremendous for JCPS. With Brown’s addition, we continue to build one of the top school district leadership teams in the country.”
Brown joined KDE in 2004 as staff attorney and assistant general counsel. He transitioned to general counsel in 2008 and associate commissioner two years later. As associate commissioner, Brown managed and supervised various offices and divisions, served as a congressional liaison and as a member of the commissioner of education’s senior leadership team. During his career at KDE, Brown oversaw state processes involving the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), provided legal guidance in support of the requirements of the federal Child and Adult Care Food program, and coordinated the promulgation of administrative regulations for the Kentucky Board of Education. Brown served as Kentucky’s federal liaison for the Council for Chief State School Officers. Before joining KDE, Brown served as an assistant attorney general in the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General.
“I’m excited to join the leadership team being assembled by Dr. Pollio and the board,” Brown said. “What’s clear is that Superintendent Pollio is serious about transforming education in our largest school district. I look forward to playing a role in that transformation by supporting the district through legal guidance and counsel.”
Brown graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 2001 and received a bachelor’s degree from Transylvania University. He is a member of the National Council of State Education Attorneys and the Kentucky State Government Bar Association.
The creation of the general counsel position was among the recommendations from the Council of the Great City Schools’ organizational review of JCPS. Dr. Pollio called for the review to improve the district’s organizational coherence.
For the very first time, two people were selected to receive the annual Joan Riehm Memorial Environmental Leadership Award—and both recipients are connected to Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) and Fern Creek High School.
Fern Creek teacher Lauren Neimann and Fern Creek Class of 2018 graduate Jack Leppert were presented with the award on October 11 during a ceremony at the school. The annual award honors public service employees, volunteers or students who have gone to great lengths to make Louisville a clean, green and healthier place to live, work and play.
Leppert earned the award for a project he designed to renovate the school’s senior courtyard. The renovation included green infrastructure and storm water mitigation as well as a space where students could spend time and relax. He received a $5,000 grant from the Partnership for a Green City and worked throughout the summer to see his project come to life.
“Jack Leppert is a perfect recipient of the Joan Riehm Award because he took the passion he gained from his teacher and literally became the change he wanted to see at Fern Creek High School,” said Dr. Glenn Baete, JCPS assistant superintendent of high schools.
Neimann, his teacher, also earned the award for guiding the project through the necessary steps like building modifications, budgets, and consultations with landscape designers. JCPS leaders say Neimann’s courses prepare students to leave Fern Creek well-equipped to enter sustainability degree programs in college.
“She is that incomparable teacher we remember from our own school days and the teacher we hope our children experience,” Dr. Baete said. “Her love of teaching, motivational methods, and passion for students are inspirational to those who come in contact with her as well as her community at Fern Creek High.”
The Joan Riehm Memorial Environmental Leadership Award was created after Riehm’s death from pancreatic cancer in 2008. Riehm became the first female deputy mayor for the city of Louisville in 1985. She left government 10 years later to serve as a consultant specializing in public issues management and communication, but returned to city government in 2002 to co-chair the merger transition team.
Riehm later initiated Metro government’s inclusion in the Partnership for a Green City, a collaborative effort to improve sustainability internally and in the community by four of Louisville’s largest public entities: Louisville Metro Government, University of Louisville (UofL), JCPS, and Jefferson Community & Technical College.
Thousands of students and teachers at five middle schools in the Jefferson County Public School (JCPS) District began receiving their very own, brand new iPads complete with a monthly data plan on October 9 as part of the Verizon Innovative Learning rollout. The initiative represents a multi-million dollar investment by Verizon in JCPS to bolster technology-infused curricula for underserved students.
As part of the initiative, every student in the five schools—Olmsted Academy North, W.E.B. DuBois Academy, the Academy @ Shawnee, Lassiter and Newburg middle schools—as well as every teacher at those schools will receive a new iPad equipped with a data plan for two years. Additionally, the schools received funding to help support a full-time instructional coach and professional development for all teachers and staff, as well as ongoing project planning and implementation support. More than 3,400 iPads will be distributed as part of the initiative in JCPS.
“Strengthening access to technology for students is critical—and our partnership with Verizon Innovative Learning is helping do that in a big way,” JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio said. “This partnership helps ensure classrooms are integrated with the latest technology, teachers have relevant and professional coaching and assistance, and most importantly, our students are equipped with the latest devices to learn on and reach their full potential.”
At Newburg Middle School, where students and their parents filed in and out of the school’s gym throughout the day on Tuesday, each student received and learned how to safely and responsibly use their iPad. The device will be the personal property of the student to use throughout the school year.
The initiative in JCPS runs through the 2019-20 school year.
