Educators: Students need real-life experience

By Bob Stuart

Published: August 13, 2008

Area educators say there is a need for more business mentorship programs for students and a greater communication between business and education to bridge the disconnect that now exists.
The comments came a during a Wednesday morning forum sponsored by the Greater Augusta Regional Chamber of Commerce, held at Kate Collins Middle School.
Staunton Schools Superintendent Steven Nichols said mentorship programs with employers offer students experiences that can motivate them.
“We’ve got to demonstrate success and encourage students into real life experiences,’’ Nichols said. “We need to open the door wider for mentorships so kids can see why they need skills.”
Nichols said students will be motivated to perform better in the classroom if they see the long-term need for learning subjects they are taking.
Mentorship programs in the area come from a variety of sources,  and each area school district has a mentorship coordinator.
Ernie Landes, the mentorship coordinator for the Augusta County Schools, said about 120 high school students participate in mentorship programs a year.
“The sky is the limit,’’ Landes said. “If a student has a particular interest whether they aspire to be a mortician, a firefighter or whatever.”
Landes said his position as a coordinator is part-time, but it is necessary for the program to have a coordinator to track the students’ progress.
Landes said students both rule out future job choices and confirm them through the mentorship program.
“If they find out it’s not what they want, that’s positive too,’’ he said.
Students must spend 150 hours in a semester to get elective credit for a mentorship experience, Landes said.
Waynesboro Schools Superintendent Robin Crowder said the disconnect between employers and education is a two-way one.
Crowder said teachers have different experiences than those in business and industry to communicate to students.
He said it would be helpful for teachers to be exposed more to the business world.
And Crowder said employers often do not have a reading on the skills students possess. “Business and industry do not know what skills kids have,’’ he said.
“You are so diverse,” Crowder said of the needs of various employers.
The Valley Alliance for Education, a business-education partnership serving the Waynesboro, Staunton and Augusta County Schools, does provide an online resource manual of area business experts who will visit classes, said Ken Boward, the VAE president.
The organization’s Web site can found at http://www.vaeva.org.
Meanwhile, concerns about the current economic slump were heard during part of Wednesday’s program.
Augusta County Schools Superintendent Gary McQuain said questions remain about whether state funding for schools will be cut.
McQuain said while it is possible to cut back in some expense areas, school personnel is not one of those areas.
“Eighty-two percent of our budget is personnel. It is critical we don’t lose those people,’’ he said.
McQuain was among a group of Virginia superintendents who last week were briefed by Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction Billy Cannaday on a recent drop in state revenues.
The Richmond Times Dispatch reported Wednesday that the commonwealth could be facing a two-year shortfall of $1 billion, forcing more cuts in services and layoffs.